Tamarisk Poker ClubTexas Hold’em← BackTamarisk Poker ClubTexas Hold’em← BackThe seat you are in matters more than most people expect — often more than the two cards you were dealt.
Poker is a game of incomplete information. Everything you learn about the other players, you learn by watching them act. So the later you act, the more you know when it is your turn.
If you act last, you have watched everyone else make their decision before you make yours. If you act first, they all get to watch you.
The dealer button moves one seat to the left after every hand, and everything is described relative to it. There are really only four groups worth knowing.
| Group | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| The blinds | The two seats left of the button | You act last before the flop and first after it. You have already put chips in, which tempts people into playing bad hands. |
| Early | The next three seats | The worst place to be. Six or seven players still get to act after you. Play very few hands here. |
| Middle | The two after that | Better. You can widen out a little. |
| Late | The two seats before the button, and the button itself | The best seats at the table. You act last after the flop for the whole hand. |
Play fewer hands from early position and more from late. That is the entire practical lesson. The same two cards can be an easy raise on the button and an easy fold from early position, and that is not a contradiction — the cards have not changed, but how much trouble you can get into with them has.
See which hands to play for exactly where the lines are.
Because you already have chips in the pot, it feels like you are getting a discount. You are not — after the flop you have to act first for the rest of the hand, every round, which is the worst position there is. The chips you posted are gone either way.
The button moves each hand, so this needs to become automatic rather than something you work out.