Yorky Pud

As a general rule the average poker player in today's game is much more skilled, or at least more knowledgeable, than they were as little as three years ago. There are a number of reasons for this, not limited to poker forums, training sites and the various strategy books that are available for everyone to purchase. But despite the standard of player being higher than ever before the concept of being positionally aware seems to be completely lost on some people.

Having position on an opponent, that is being seated closer to the button than them, is vitally important to consistent and continued success in any form of poker, yet time and time again players play weak hands out of position and fail to take advantage of being in position against their opponents. Having position on someone is such an advantage that Doyle Brunson once said he would be able to beat almost anyone in the world, even if they were dealt pocket aces every hand, as long as he had position on them. So why is it so important? Read on to find out.

One reason is that the strength of a player's hand in position is much stronger than someone who has to act first. Imagine you are in a pot being contested by three or even four players, you would certainly need a premium pair or maybe even a hand that was two-pair or better in order to bet into the field, but being in position you could bet with nothing but a single pair or even less if your opponents had checked to you as they are not likely to have a strong hand themselves.

Being in position also allows a player to take advantage of any possible scare cards that may appear on the turn or the river. Again, imagine you are in early position holding Tc9c against two opponents on a flop reading Ts-9s-6d. You bet into your opponents and both call. Now the turn is the 7s, completing a flush and a straight draw what do you do? If you bet 1/2 to 2/3 pot then you are giving either opponents the odds to draw to the flush if they do not have it but they could also raise any bet you make and represent the flush or straight and leaving you with a real dilemma. Also, simply checking and then calling a bet does not leave you with any idea of your opponent's holding so as you can see being out of position in this spot really sucks, as the American's would say!

Another area that having position really comes into its own is being able to control the size of the pot, a skill that is critical to making money from poker. Being in position allows the player, to some degree, to increase the size of the pot or to keep it small as they have the last say in what happens. For example, if a player in position calls a raise and flops second pair on a Jc-Ts-5h flop and their opponent continuation bets into them, then the player in position can opt to smooth call and see how the hand develops. If they are then checked to on the turn they can choose to check behind, thus keeping the pot small enough to call a bet on the river with a hand that has some showdown value or they can attempt to steal the pot on the turn or river by betting when checked to.

Finally, players who have position on their opponents control who receives a free card and if the hand will get to showdown. Being out of position means the player can only receive free cards if the player in position decides to allow them to have one and not give them, which in itself is a huge disadvantage, especially if the player is wanting to keep the pot small (see above also).

Having position on your opponents means that the decisions you will have to make are more straight-forward, that your time at the felt will be less stressful and you have more control over how the hand proceeds too. Positional play is vital to success in all forms of poker but it is magnified in a game such as Pot Limit Omaha where hand values run so closely to one another. Play tightly in early position and gradually open up your starting hand requirements so that you are playing like a loose-aggressive player when you have the button in your hand. Good luck!