Poker Position
In every competitive sport or competition, position is important. Your position is your relationship to other players in terms of betting for a particular hand. This is generally self-evident in Texas Hold’em as you want your opponents to make their decisions before you do anything, especially since most of them time, nobody has much of anything. Superior positioning on Poker Rockets does not mean you will win the hand, scoop the pot or even steal the blind. Good positioning means that you will make smarter, better bets, like a General who has studied the lay of the battlefield before committing his forces to war.
At its simplest level, position in Hold’em is just that: Simplistic. Last is best. First position, or second behind a maniac, in front of a maniac can offer advantages but normally, being the last to act, means that most players will tend to play more hands when they are in a late position that an early one.
Texas Hold’em’s positioning is simple enough, Seven Card Stud and Stud High-low positioning is another kind of war. Position is variable as the highest board showing acts first from Fourth Street onwards even if you tend to have an advantage over the player to your immediate right. However, positional considerations are complicated in Stud games as certain hands are more playable when you are not the high hand, unless you act first. Moreover, some hands can be played more aggressively when an opponent shows a king or ace, which forces them to act first throughout the hand.
The greatest difference in positional complexity becomes apparent when you compare Omaha High-Low to Hold’em: Last position generally is advantageous but also has disadvantages. For example, it is harder to bluff when holding last position in Hold’em, and it is the middle position that is prime bluff territory in Omaha. However, Omaha High Low is about sharing pots, so getting stuck in the middle makes it harder to sweep the pot. Hold’em’s simplistic “last is best” positioning concept does not work in Omaha. Holding a low hand means betting first is advantageous, while a nut high hand is best in last position.
Other games often have considerations that are not completely different, are more complex, even if the concepts are not so. It is crucial that you win more that your fair share of situations where no one has much of anything. Position will always matter
(Winning more than your share of situations when no one has much of anything is more important in Hold’em than Omaha for instance.) Position always matters, but it more important, in Stud and Omaha, where you have to think on your feet and adapt on the fly.
Therefore, if you are going to change from Texas Hold’em to something else, remember to take in to account how positioning is going to affect not only your betting, but also the strategies and tactics you employ. Otherwise, just remember that last position is the best position in Texas Hold’em.