Position is important. There’s nothing new here, but going back to the basics is important. Having a strong foundation allows us to branch out as players, be creative, and try new things. But, over time, we can stray far enough off our base that we need to evaluate and make sure we are still grounded in strong fundamentals that allow for everything else we do to work. And position is a key aspect of successful poker playing.

If you find yourself in difficult spots often and having a tough time, it may be good to pull back and evaluate. Are you often playing pots out of position and, if so, with what starting hands? If you find you are playing speculative or medium strength hands out of position on a regular basis, then you have quickly identified your issue and can correct it before it snowballs into a downswing that can cause problems in other aspects of your game.

It is easy to focus out on where we are losing because we played K-T offsuit in early position, flopped a king, let the pot get bloated, and ended up losing way more than we should have to a guy with A-K. But, on the other hand, you could be losing value by not playing hands in position. If you are open-folding K-9 suited in late position, you are giving away value at many tables against many opponents. Everything in poker is situational and based on circumstance, but position is so powerful that it can often allow you to play starting hands that otherwise you would just throw away without a second thought.

I spend most of my time playing relatively deep-stacked cash games where the value in stealing the blinds is extremely limited; the real value comes in being involved and playing big pots. So, while I am less likely to steal the blinds from late position, I am looking to raise the pot and create a hand that I am in control of and will be playing in position on every street. If I am playing a $5/$10 game with $4,000 behind, I am not all that interested in picking up the $15 if the blinds fold. I’ll take it, of course, but there are more opportunities in position than just stealing the blinds.

The most common is that I can raise from late position, get a call from one of the blinds, and then on the flop pick up the pot with a continuation bet. Then, I have won more than the $15 that the blinds have in there; I have picked up the dead blind plus the $40 or so that the other player called pre-flop. Again, this isn’t the real value, but over the course of a session, these small pots add up and can be very important to my bottom line.

An even greater value of position comes when hands continue to develop into the turn and river where the pots are bigger and you can get players to make bigger mistakes. Having position when you end up in these larger pots gives you a large advantage and the ability to control the action. You can make the pots larger when you have a big hand and are in a much better spot to exercise significant pot control when you have a hand you want to get to showdown with but that you don’t want to get all of your chips in with.

Then there’s the added information you can get from acting last that can help you make a better decision in spots where you may be able to bluff to win a pot you couldn’t win otherwise. Or, you can make a thin value bet where if you were first to act, you wouldn’t have enough information to confidently squeeze that extra value out of your hand.

Once you are past the novice level, you know that position is important and gives you an advantage. But, we all need to go back to basics every so often.

Court Harrington has worked on the business side of the poker industry in roles including tournament reporting for PocketFives, radio hosting for PokerRoad Radio, coaching for the WSOP Academy and privately, and a variety of behind-the-scenes responsibilities for poker media businesses. He also plays in cash games and tournaments. Harrington is currently doing consulting work and exploring business opportunities outside of the poker industry. You can contact him at Court@CourtHarrington.com.

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