Poker Strategy

Position – the most valuable commodity at the poker table

You know what they say: if you’re unable to spot the sucker at your table within a reasonable amount of time, chances are you are the sucker. The good news is though that it doesn’t take a whole lot to catch up with the other poker players and to leave your sucker status behind for good. All you need to do is hammer a few basics concepts into your head and you’re good to go. About 95% of the players you’ll meet online are not any better than that, and it won’t take much to catch up with them.

First thing’s first: there are a few basic advantages you can secure without ever playing a single hand of poker. Take rakeback for example. Don’t know rake back is? Read around, stay informed. Be the guy who reads, and not the one who follows the pack blindly.

Sign up for a rakeback deal like the Absolute Poker rakeback or the Full Tilt rakeback and get about 30% of your rake back. Once you understand how poker rooms take their rake, you’ll understand why rakeback is so important.

Similarly, when you hit the table and you get down to actual play, you need to keep reading. If you do that, you’ll become a reasonable player within an amazingly short period of time.

One of the basic concepts that make a difference between reasonable players and suckers is starting hand selection. Another such concept, possibly an even more important one, is that of the position. Texas Holdem Poker is a fixed position game, which means certain players will enjoy an advantage over other players, simply on account of the position they have at the table. Here’s how position really works. The dealer button is the point of reference when it comes to position. Because the dealer button moves around the table in a clock-wise direction with every hand, nobody will be stuck in a certain position for good. You will still be able to secure lasting advantage over an opponent by sitting down on his immediate left, because that will mean you’ll have to act after him most of the time.

Anyway, here’s how the positions are allotted in relation to the dealer button. The person sitting on the left of the dealer button is the SB, the guy on his left is the BB. Except for the first betting round, these are the people that will act first on every street.

The position on the left of the BB is called Under the Gun. He is the guy who has to act first in the very first betting round. These are all early positions which force the players to act blindly and thus to lose value on their starting hands.

The best position to be in is the button. The button is the last to act on every street. The cut-off is a late position too, which carries the possibility to foil the blinds-stealing plans of the button. As far as the other positions are concerned: the closer they are to the UTG the worse they are.

Here are some of the strategic advantages that late position offers you at the poker table:

- If offers you numerous and cheap possibilities to steal blinds and to bluff.

- It offers you information in the form of reads which you’ll be able to deduce from the betting patterns of those who act before you.

- Value betting properly will be a cinch from late position.

- You’ll have control over the size of the pot. This is probably the most important advantage that position offers you: it gives you control. Most of the advanced strategy moves require that you have control and your success rate sky-rockets every time you’re in control in a hand.

- Your starting hands gain additional value when you’re in late position.

If you need an illustration of how position works in poker, take a look at the hand histories of the durrrr challenge. You’ll see an obvious trend surfacing: both players (Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius) have logged most of their winning hands while in position. They both lost more when out of position.

Given the fact that these two are currently among the best cash game players in the world, this statistic should say plenty about the importance of position in poker.

Tags:
Betting, Blinds, Bluff, Dealer, Late Position, Patrik Antonius, Pot, Rakeback, sucker, Table, Texas Holdem Poker, Tom Dwan, Under the Gun, UTG

One Very Overlooked Advantage in Online Poker

Arguably one of the best features introduced into online poker is the ability to take notes on opponents and other players. This feature is often highly over-looked and rarely used when it should be.

What if you could go back in time and leave yourself a note about opponents? Would it help you increase your bankroll in the future? One way to answer that question is to use the note feature that most online venues offer and write down helpful tips, strategies, and information on opponents that will give you the advantage.

Following every big play there is usually a time where you analyze your opponents in your thoughts. Did you notice they bluff nearly every play? Do they like to check bet quite often? Are they a little too ambitious with their chips? There are many great observations about your opponents to keep in mind throughout the entire game, but what about when the game is over? There is no way for you to remember those observations you made weeks, months or even years later when you play that same opponent again. Because online poker is filled with regular players who are on day and night; chances are you will run across the same player once or twice during your online poker gaming. This is precisely when previously recorded notes come into play.

After every big move you should take clear and concise notes on observations you have made about particular opponents at the table. Notes can always be edited later, or even deleted, if you find out the observation does not necessarily fit anymore. Over time, much like you would find at a casino, you will begin to come across more regular players and bump into them more often at different tables. Jotting down some of the player’s habits, weaknesses, or even strengths will help you in the long run. For instance say you come across a player you met at a table months before who is incredibly skilled at bluffing, you can check your notes on the player and use this information to make a decision on big-pot hands. If your note clearly states the information you need and you are sure you can understand it then you will be patting yourself on the back in the future when it comes in handy.

There is no greater relief than finding concise notes you wrote at an earlier date about an opponent you are currently going head to head with. In many cases it can save your hand, and even you’re bankroll.
Something to keep in mind however about taking notes involves a few simple, but very important aspects. First thing to keep in mind is that the notes should be very clear and that you can fully understand their meaning. There is no problem at all with using acronyms and abbreviations for your wording, just make sure you know what you’re talking about and can understand it later when you read it. Finding a note with strange and alien symbols scrawled all over won’t do you any good at all later. The second thing to keep in mind is that the note should be short, and concise. As is obvious, hands in online poker are timed to move the game along at a steady speed. You’re going to need time after reading the note to decide what to do with the information, so writing a 1200 word note is just going to waste time and make you lose money in the long run. Shorten every phrase and sentence up as much as possible, and don’t write out a paragraph where you can fit in one or two sentences; in other words paraphrase as much as possible.

One additional use of the note feature can relate to your mood, and overall success in any given game. Poker is a tough game to play, and remain focused on especially if you’re in a particularly cross mood. Sometimes it’s great to look at notes and see an amusing or funny comment. This will help lift a bad mood or even generate extra attention to detail where it didn’t exist before. No one else can see or access your personal notes, so there’s no need to worry about opponents seeing personal and sometimes embarrassing comments to yourself. Opponents aren’t even alerted that you are writing a note about them. Use this to your advantage and take some great notes when applicable and don’t even hesitate when you have the chance to jot down a quick, amusing little comment for later.

Finding a self-written note designed to lift up your spirits will almost certainly make any bad-mood get better, and any boring and lengthy poker game seem that much more amusing. The note feature is there for a reason, so use it as much as possible and consider it the advantage that might just give you that extra edge over your opponents in the long run.

Tags:
Bluff, casino, Online Poker, Poker