Lesson #3 Position Play Basics -Part 1

     New players generally see poker from a singular perspective.  What are the 2 cards that were dealt to them, and do they match the cards on the table.  It can take thousands of games before playing position comes into view.  I have heard new players consistently say what essentially comes down to, “I have not needed to worry about 'position' because I only play good cards and I win games.  And it hasn’t seemed to matter what position I am in since the best hand wins anyway.”
     In the game “Go Fish”, the object is to try to match cards out of your opponents hand with the cards that are in your own.  You make guesses at what he/she is holding and try to match more cards than they do.  What it really comes down to is guessing right and getting lucky.  New players tend to see poker in the same way.  They hope they guess right when they bet and get lucky along the way.  I love getting into a conversation at a poker table with the other players, mainly because it gives me insight into how long they have played and their ability.  In most conversations sooner or later someone will blurt out, “Poker is just luck anyway.”  This is about the best information I could gain on that player.  It tells me that they generally look at their cards only and have little understanding of position and skill play.
     Without understanding position, a player will have a difficult time advancing in skill.  Their game will require that good hands be dealt to them on a consistent basis.  They will need that run of big cards toward the end of a multi-table game to even consider getting near the final table.  Playing low buy-in short handed sng’s (sit and go tournaments, usually single table freeze out games) a player can be relatively successful, without position play if the cards favor the player, as most of these games do not include other skilled players.  This is why they believe that poker is a game of luck.  Playing any other type (heads up matches, higher buy-in sngs, cash ring or short handed games, long tournaments) position is necessary to be consistently successful.
     Where there are complex aspects to position, the basics are easy to understand.  If you have played more than a few games, you have noticed that when you are in the blinds and first to act on every betting round, it makes it difficult for you to make any bet with a weak hand.  What runs through your mind is, “I don’t know if he will bet, but I am afraid he will raise my bet and I will have to fold.”   I am sure you have noticed that this happens to you, not only when you are in the blinds, but when you are sitting just after the blinds and still one of the first to act in each betting round.  It almost does not matter what “great” hand you limped in with, you will feel the pressure the majority of the time.  The other danger of calling in early position, UTG (Under The Gun, first to act after the blinds) is that the players behind you will often raise.  Before the flop is even dealt, you will be forced to put in more chips or fold, wasting the chips you just called with.
     If you are a newer player, before you go on to more advanced thought on position play, I will give you an experiment to try, which will solidify your understanding of position.  Go and play ten 1 dollar sngs (9 or 10 player) in the same fashion you have been playing.  Try to play your cards as you normally would, and for those 10 games, write down what place you finished.  For the next ten games, with 7 or more players remaining at the table, do not play any cards other than AK, AA, KK or QQ in the first three seats after the blinds.  These seats are called UTG, UTG +1, and UTG +2.  Ignore the nice flops and what you would have hit.  Ignore every other hand in these spots.  Write down the results of the second set of 10 games and compare the two.  After running the experiment, come back and post the results here.  Compare your 20 games to those others have posted.