What is the Importance of your Pre Flop Position?

Grabbing information is one of the most important
skills that you need in poker. From your opponent’s
betting patterns and the “tells” that they make simply
define your hand and are simply integral on your next
decision. But you can’t do that without proper
positioning, which is on the button or somewhere near
it.

But that doesn’t mean that you should fold every hand
if you’re not in the proper position, each has its
pros and cons, and it should also determine how you
should play your hand.

In this article, I’ll teach you how to utilize your
position after the flop.

Early Position

This poses a lot of difficulties if you are a
conservative kind of player. You will get bullied and
they will bet relentlessly when they know you are in
the pot and are sure that you didn’t hit the flop.
This is also the case for even the aggressive player
when he/she just checks after the flop. So the thing
is, make sure you have a hand before even trying to
check, in an attempt in showing them signs of
weakness.

So, a profit-maximizing play in early position is
check-raising and slow-playing. Don’t even think of
betting unless you have hit a hand. If you check-raise
in an attempt to scoop up the pot, make sure that your
opponent is just doing his/her customary continuation
bet. Glean this from his/her playing style and how
your opponent played the hand before the flop.

Be wary when the game comes to 4th or 5th street.
People can get lucky at these circumstances, so you
must bet hard before these two events so that your
opponent will be discouraged in calling and seeing the
subsequent cards. If you did a mistake by betting to
little, make a probe bet of around half the pot on 4th
street to see if your opponent is still serious in
pursuing the hand. So to say, not only do you stomp
down your opponent’s motivation of hitting his/her
drawing hand, it isn’t too substantial a bet.

Late Position

Of course, late position is a wonderful thing to have
in poker. And when the round goes on to the flop and
subsequently, 4th and 5th street, you can bluff your
way to the pot and give the impression that you have
the best hand. Of course, your betting patterns before
the flop and during it should be in line with your
sophisticated bluffs. In a nutshell, you shouldn’t
slow-play in late position; rather, you have to stomp
down on the pot regardless of your hand’s texture. Not
only does this conceal your real hands perfectly, it
scares your opponent into folding the hand if he/she
just checked.

Your strategy after the flop should be entirely
different from your pre-flop play. It all depends on
the texture of the cards, if it is favorable for your
hand or not. And with that decided, you now have to
look at your position to get a glimpse of how to play
your hand. It is a good time to check-raise or to
bluff your way to the end? That can be answered by
these variables. Keep those in mind and you’ll be
munching away the chips in no time.