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Position
By Pokerpromotions.eu
Playing your position is one of the most important concepts in poker - especially in No Limit Hold'em.
Players who are first to act are in "early position"; players who act next are in "mid position" and the players who act last are in "late position".
The players who are last to act have a great advantage over the other players.
They have more information to make a decision than players who are first to act.
Also, if players who have to act earlier preflop fold their hands, your chances of having the best hand will go up.
This means you can play more hands from late position than in early position.
You should always keep in mind which position you are in before playing a hand.
Let's say you are in early position and you are dealt 56 suited and call the big blind.
Your hand is nice to see a flop with but to your suprise someone raises behind you and another person reraises.
When you are raised and reraised you are forced to fold your hand and lose your initial investment in the pot.
Therefore, it's recommended to play fairly tight in early position and to play more hands in later positions.
In late position on the flop you have the option to close the betting round if everyone checks to you.
You can also try to take the pot down and bluff or semi-bluff since it is likely everyone missed the flop.
Late position gives you the opportunity to make the best decision.
Example
You are sitting in the big blind with Ten Eight of diamonds and someone in late position raises.
He has Eight Six ofsuit. You have him dominated but you don't know that because you can't see his cards.
The flop comes Nine, Seven, King with two diamonds. This is the flop you were hoping for.
You have a flushdraw and a open-ended straightdraw. You decide to semi-bluff and bet the pot.
Your opponent calls with his open-ended straight draw.
The turn is an Ace, no diamond. You are still the favourite in the hand and you decide to semi-bluff bet again.
You opponent calls again which makes you think he has a good hand.
The river is another Ace, no diamond. You didn't make your flush and missed your straightdraw.
You decide to check.
Your opponent uses his position and decides to make an attempt to steal the pot.
He bets nearly three quarter of the pot which is a substantial amount.
All you can do now is to fold your Ten High all because of your positional disadvantage.
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