Poker Seat Position Names:
| D | Dealer a.k.a. on the button |
| SM | Small Blind (forced bet pre-flop) |
| BB | Big Blind (forced bet pre-flop) |
| UTG | Under The Gun (first person to act) |
| EP | Early Position |
| MP | Middle Position |
| H | Hijack (middle to late position, person to act before the Dealer) |
| Red Arrow | Beware |
| Green Arrow | Go |
What is Position Strategy?
In poker, your seat position changes in every game as the dealer button is moved from one player to the next in a clockwise direction. This is so that every player has a turn of losing chips due to forced betting, which happens in BB and SM position. “Position” simply refers to the order in which players are seated around the table and the strategic consequences of this. As a basic rule, if you are sat in early position and therefore have to act first, you need stronger hands to to bet or raise than players in later position.
For example – you are on the button, all the players before you folded and you have a mediocre hand. You should play this hand since there are only two more players to go (SM & BB), as both these are forced bets, the chances are they will fold if you bet the right amount. This action should not be repeated if you once again had mediocre hands and were seated in early position. This is because you don’t know what players ahead of you are going to do.
Read the “starting hands chart” to understand what cards you should play and when. These are very basic rules to get you started, once you get used to the game you can use a wider hand range.
- Being in late position is advantageous as it provides you with information about opponents hands, since you get to see how they play in early position.
- Playing in late position means you can raise with weaker hands as it allows you to ‘steal the blinds,’ if executed against passive players at the right time.
