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ADVANTAGES OF FIRST POSITION
The only real threat to a player in last position is the possibility of a check-raise. Consequently, in poker games where check-raising is not allowed, being last is even more advantageous.
Once players ahead of you have checked, you can feel reasonably confident they are not sandbagging with a big hand. Position you get more check-raising opportunities.
Furthermore, with a lock in first position you might win three bets by betting and reraising.
Finally, you sometimes want to drive players out to make your hand stand up; only raising in early position, before opponents have had the opportunity to call the first and early position advantages are minimal in comparison to the many advantages of being last.
Adjusting Play to Position
There are times when your positional advantage allow you to win a pot you would not otherwise have won. Most of the time, though, the best hand wins, whether it happens to be first or last.
So what we really mean by positional advantage is the extra bets that may be saved or gained by your being in late position a check after your opponent checks, a raise after your opponent bets, and so on. The importance of these extra bets cannot be overemphasized.
Never forger that in online poker we are trying to win money, not pots. Every decent player wins a fair share of pots, but it is the extra bets you can get into the pots you win and those you can save from the pot s you lose that increase your hourly rate and the money won in the long run.
There is little you can do to secure last position from one deal to the next, but when you have it, you should make the most of it. In seven card stud, for example, you should anticipate the position you will be in from one round to the next.
If an ace or an open pair is to your immediate left, that figures to make you last in the next round. You may play your hand a little differently, a little more aggressively, a little more loosely, than you would if you were expecting to be first.
In contrast, when the bettor is to your immediate right, forcing you to act ahead of everyone else, you must tighten up considerably.
It is extremely important that you fold almost all marginal hands in this position. The possibility of a raise behind you plus the chance of a reraise from the original bettor is devastating.
Furthermore, you can frequently count on being in the same unpleasant position not accidentally called under the gun for the remainder of the hand.
If you constantly call bets with marginal poker hands in this position, you will have to fold so many of them either later in the same round when the bet is raised or on the next round when the bet is repeated that you will lose an enormous amount relative to the occasional pots you might win by staying in.
Thus, in five-card draw, if a player to your immediate right in early position opens, you should throw away two aces in most cases.
In the same position in lowball, you’d usually have to throw away a one-card draw to a 7, 6 and possibly a 7, 5, even though these are hands you’d gladly play if you were sure there would be no raises behind you.
In seven card stud if the player to your right raises the opener on third street, you should fold most middle-sized pairs when there are several people behind you who might reraise.
With any of these hands you’d almost certainly call in last position, a fact that underlines another of that position’s advantages: You can play more hand.
You no longer need to fear a raise from players who have not acted, and in most instances you will probably remain last on future betting rounds as well.
Even in seven card stud, when the bettor to your left happens not to be high on board and thus first to act, the other players will usually check around to that bettor on the following round.
Strong Hand, bettor to the Left
Another significant advantage to last position is that when you make a strong hand, you have more opportunity to win a big pot.
You can sit there innocently with your monster hand and let the bettor to your left drive the other players around to you.
That opponent bets, two or three players ahead of you call, and now bang, you raise. You get at least a single bet from opponents who fold after you raise, and you get a double bet from those who call.
You’re also making it more expensive for them to try to draw out on you when there are more cards to come. (Notice, in this situation, the problems faced by players in first and middle positions. Those callers in the middle always risk a raise from a player behind them.)
Strong Hand, bettor to the Right
If you had the same strong hand but the bettor were to your right, you would not be able to play the hand in the same way.
If you raised, you would be requiring poker players behind you to call a double bet to continue. Thus, you’d get fewer callers (if any) than you would if you raised in last position after they had committed themselves by calling the bet.
On the other hand, by just calling in first position, the best you can hope for is to collect some single bets from players behind you. At the same time, when there are more cards to come, you’re making it relatively cheap for the callers to draw out on you.
So with more cards to come, you have to decide whether your poker hand can stand competition or whether you should raise to drive players out.