The Importance Of Table Position When Playing Online Poker By Sarah Harrigan At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

If you have ever played online poker especially Texas Hold'em then you will be aware that knowing beforehand what your opponent’s moves are can make a huge difference hence the reason your table position is so very important. A full poker table can be broken down into three parts, the first three players are in what is known as the early position and must play before all of the other players. If you find yourself in this position as you undoubtedly will as the deal goes around the table you should play premium hands only and avoid playing marginal hands since there are up to nine other players to contend with and whom you have no idea what they are going to do.

The next group of players will be found in what is known as the middle position. Since they’ve seen the early position play by the three players seated there they know exactly what they are up against as far as they are concerned. They should always play premium hands and should even raise on a premium hand if no one has raised as yet. But they should only play marginal hands if no one before has raised. Another obvious advantage to being in a middle position is the fact that there are less people to play after you and so the odds of someone raising you are lower.

Being in late position is the last set of players. Having seen all of their opponents play already they have the best advantage. Of course the last player of the three in this late position has the greatest advantage of all because he’s seen everyone play already and can make his decision as to how and if to play with greater control. The options available to these players are if they should call a bet there is no chance that someone will raise them. The players in late position can play a larger range of starting hands knowing how many players they will be contending with. They can bluff by driving a big bet and running the entire table or they can play possum and just call whilst sitting on a "big kahuna".

So in the final analysis, you must play tightly when you are in an early position, staying with only the best starting hand. Middle position players should stick to good starting hands. The late position players can play much more loosely. As your playing improves you can try different poker strategies in early position, one of which is to be very aggressive early in a game in order to build a table reputation in preparation for later betting. Poker after all is a game of the mind, its psychological warfare at its best.

One last word, you can improve your game no matter where you sit, as long you as you pay careful attention to the game and having some good strategies is not a bad idea either. There are numerous strategies that can be employed when you play poker and none is better than the other but rather it's the attitude with which you apply the strategy which will determine whether you are successful or not.

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