Your Poker Table Position Strategy

When deciding how to play a hand, your table position strategy is a big part of your overall poker strategy. Your table position strategy is almost as important as the cards you hold. A good starting hand in an early position may actually be worse than a bad hand in late position!

Poker Wingman Pro has Table Position radar, that shows where you sit in relation to dealer button, small blind, and big blind – and ranks the strength of your position. When Poker Wingman tells you to call, raise, or fold, it automatically takes table position strategy into account.

If you are first to act in the hand (early position) you must make a decision without any indication from the other players – a risky position even with a strong hand. If you are last to act in the hand (late position), you have seen everyone’s actions before making a decision - and this gives you a huge advantage over your opponents. These are the key fundamentals of table position strategy.

Early Position

The first three players to act, including the players posting the blinds, are in Early Position. These are the weakest positions because the players have to act on minimal information, and are vulnerable to their opponents as the action moves around the table. For this reason, you should only play strong to very strong hands in the first three seats, as you’ll need to withstand potential bets and raises from players behind you.

Table Position Strategy: If you are in Early Position, limit your starting hands to the following:

Middle Position

Middle Position is the next 3-4 players to the left of the Early Position players. In Middle Position, players can typically play more hands than in Early Position, as they have seen the actions of some of the players and have some information. However, there is still some risk, with a number of players still to act after the Middle Position players.

Table Position Strategy: If you are in Middle Position, call or raise with the following hands:

If there is a bet in front of you, re-raise only with Early Position hands and simply call with any Middle Position hands.

Late Position

The last two or three players before the blinds are in Late Position. These players have gathered much more information by observing their opponents actions and have greater latitude in the range of hands that can be played:

Table Position Strategy: If you are first to enter the pot in Late Position then you should raise with any hand listed in Early, Middle, or Late Hand Groups.

But don’t let the power of Late Position go to your head! The mark of a good player is a solid Hand Selection strategy and understanding the value of position.

Poker Wingman Pro includes Table Position Radar that shows your position relative to the button, ranks your strength of position and gives advice on how to play each hand based on table position strategy. By understanding the value and power of position you’ll be able to cut losses by not playing marginal hands in early position, and by winning more hands by playing aggressively in Late Position – the key to a winning poker strategy.

Now you're armed with poker tips on how to use Table Position Strategy to your advantage. Next, learn about Hand Selection, the most critical component of your poker strategy. Hand Selection