If you watch a lot of poker on Twitch or on TV, you may have noticed that most no-limit hold hands are played face up after the flop. One player starts by raising, another calls, and then only the two of them are left fighting for the pot of Poker Table. The same is true if you participate in online poker games that involve better poker players, such as the biggest poker tournaments and Sunday majors. Unlike many friend poker games and lower limit live games, there will usually be only two players left by the time the community cards appear.0

In head-to-head situations, it is clear enough to indicate that one player will be in position after the flop and can act last on all rounds while the other will be in a different position and must act first. If you’re not paying attention, you might assume that players spend about half their hand playing out of position and the other half playing right position – but that would be a mistake.

Here is a quick list of reasons why position in poker is important and why position is better than no-limit games:

As noted, the best no-limit hold’em players often choose to play most of their hands in late position, less in the middle position, and even less in early position. It’s no coincidence that they also make most of their money playing from a later position, even the best hold’em players tend to lose net when playing from an early position.

More and More free cards

There are times when playing a draw where you don’t want to have to pay the price to get to the next round in the next round of cards by poker chipset. When you are in position on your opponent, you have the opportunity to take a “free card” if your opponent checks while you are tied, checking behind to see the next common card. 

Your opponent, who must act first, decides to check. You can bet, but you can also check and get “free cards” to see if you can complete your flush. However, if you are the first to act, you have no guarantee when checking that your opponent will not bet and make you pay to keep the hand.

Pot Control

The final action in each postflop round usually helps you control the pot size you will play. If you want to play a small pot and your opponent checks, you can check behind, and if your opponent bets, you just call and close the action. If you want to play a larger pot, you can bet or raise when the action is yours. 

When you are in a position where you cannot check and are sure your opponent will check and show you the next card for free. You also can’t bet and be sure your opponent will fold or just call you (which would keep the pot small).

Opportunities of more Bluffing

Gaining ground against your opponent is so valuable that it can often make up for a relatively weak hand. In other words, your hand strength may be weak, but by acting last, you have more leverage when trying to show stronger poker hands. By following the best poker tips available, this provides more opportunities to bluff when your opponent is out of position showing his weakness by back-checking you.

Calculating Pot odds

 There is 1,500 in the middle and the first player is ahead with a bet of 500. With an open-ended straight draw, you want to call the bet and watch the play. If you’re the last to act, you’ll know for sure what your immediate pot odds are: you’re trying to win 2,000 and you only have to call 500, so your pot odds are 4 win 1. 

With players still playing behind you, you cannot make this calculation. You don’t know whether the remaining two players will also call (making your bet even higher) or whether one of them might raise and force you to pay more to stay (making for your odds could be much worse).

Wrapping Up

The simple fact that the button moves each hand to ensure that everyone at the table has an equal chance to play from all available positions should tell you that position is very important in poker. If this were not so, there would be no need to evenly distribute status wealth in this way. Playing out of position can sometimes also have an advantage. From your position, you can check-raise and use this move as a strong play after the flop.