1. Preflop Chart 9 Handed
2. Positions On A Poker Table

Position at poker table is a significantly underestimated factor by many novice poker players. Your position at the poker table may (and will) have a significant impact on your wins/losses with the same starting hand. How well will you use this factor in your game will determine how profitable your poker sessions will be.

Before starting to play with any starting hand in Texas Holdem, you should always be aware of your position relative to the dealer (dealer’s position oftentimes called “button”). Below you can find basic poker table position names:

Preflop Chart 9 Handed

• Closest positions immediately to the left of the button are called early positions (abbreviated as EP).
• Closest positions immediately to the right of the button are called late positions (abbreviated as LP).
• Positions in between the early and late positions are called middle positions (abbreviated as MP).

A graphical representation of the positions at the poker table for the full tables (9-max, Full ring)

You make the most decisions preflop of any street. Learn how to play fundamentally sound poker preflop by signing up to get my preflop charts. I show you almost every scenario you will face. Learning how to play solid preflop is the first step towards becoming a winning player. Position, position, position Knowing instantly what way to play each poker hand can give you the edge over others at the table from the get-go. This guide will help you stay one step ahead of the.

• Positions colored in red are early positions. At the full tables (usually this tables are used for poker tournaments) there are three early positions. In poker terminology they are commonly called UTG (an abbreviation from Under the Gun). Individually they are classified as UTG-1 (early position at the poker table that is closest to blinds), UTG-2 (early position following the position of UTG-1) and UTG-3 (position following the UTG-2);
• Positions colored in blue are middle positions. At the full tables there are three middle positions. They are called MP-1, MP-2, MP-3 and are arranged in the same order one after another. The common name for all middle positions is MP;
• Positions colored in green are late positions. These are the best positions to play at the poker tables. There are only 2 (two) late positions in the game and they have different names. The first late position is cut-off (CO) (this is a position located immediately after the middle positions). The last late position is the position of dealer (BTN - button);
• Positions colored in yellow are the blinds (small blind and big blind). These are one the worst positions at the poker table.

A graphical representation of the positions at the poker table for the short tables (6-max, Shorthaned)

• Positions colored in red are early positions. At the short tables (6-max) there is only one such position called UTG;
• Positions colored in blue are middle positions. There is also only one middle position at the short tables. It is called MP;
• Positions colored in green are late positions. There are two late positions at the 6-max tables. They are called dealers positions and cut-off;
• Positions colored in yellow are blinds. There are two blinds positions at the short tables. These positions are called small blind and big blind;

You will win a lot more money in late positions in poker, than in early ones. Button (dealer’s position) - is the most profitable position at the poker table.

Explanation of position abbreviations (UTG, MP, BTN, etc.)

UTG (abbreviation from Under The Gun). This is the name for early positions in poker. UTG position is a seat to the left of big blind. A player sitting on the UTG position is the first to act on preflop.

MP - a term used to define middle positions at the poker tables, i.e. positions in between the early and late positions. At the 6-max tables this is a position to the left of UTG.

CO (abbreviation from CutOff) - a position exactly before the dealer’s seat. This position is considered the second strongest position after the dealer.

BTN (abbreviation from Button) - the strongest position at the poker tables. A player sitting at this position will act last in every betting round.

SB (abbreviation from Small Blind). A player sitting on this position will act penultimate at preflop and first at all the other betting rounds during a hand.

BB (abbreviation from Big Blind). This is a position of a player sitting exactly after the small blind. The player sitting on the big blind will act last at the preflop and second in all the other betting rounds during the hand.

You should grasp the basic idea of playing on the blinds, which is that you will act last only on preflop. In all the other remaining betting rounds you will act first, which you should avoid.

Positions at the poker table

Early positions at the poker table

Positions colored in red (look at the pictures above) are early positions. These positions are considered less preferred for the game, because sitting on one of the early positions you will, most likely, act first postflop. That means that in early position you will have to be more selective to your starting hands, as you will have less information about the hand strength of your opponents (because you will act before them). Thus, in early positions you will need to pay more attention to your starting cards.

Middle positions at the poker table

Positions colored in blue are middle positions. Players sitting in the middle positions possess a “positional advantage” over players sitting in early positions. At the same time players sitting in late positions have a “positional advantage” over players sitting in middle positions.

That means, that you will be able to play with a little more starting hands on this positions (i.e. on middle and late positions), because less opponents will be acting after you. However, if all opponents on early positions will fold their cards, this will mean that you will act first in every following betting round. So keep this in mind when you will make a decision to play or not to play with that or another starting hand.

Late positions at the poker table

Positions colored in green are late positions. In fact, these are the best seats at the poker table. When you are in the late position, there is a high chance that you will act last in every betting round. In these positions you can play with a wide range of starting hands. But that doesn’t mean that you will need to play with the weakest hands, such as .

Dealer’s position (Button)

Dealer’s position is the best position at the poker table to play your pocket cards from, because sitting in this position you will always (excluding preflop) act last in every betting round. That’s why you should try to play the biggest amount of your hands from the dealer’s position, because you will have a positional advantage over your opponents, and position in poker is everything!

Cut-off

What is the cutoff position in poker?

Cut-off is a position exactly before the dealer’s position. Cut-off is the second best position at the poker table to play your starting hands from after the dealer’s position, because if an opponent on the button will decide not to participate in a hand, you will act the last in all betting rounds. Cut-off and button are the perfect positions for stealing the blinds, because not a lot of opponents will act after you, and the chance they will have a good enough hand to call your bet will be low.

Blinds

Small blind

Small blind is the worst position in poker, because sitting in that position you will act first in all the betting rounds excluding preflop (on the preflop small blind is acting penultimate). The key moment for playing from that position is the strength of your hand. You should play only your strongest hands from that position.

Big blind

Big blind is a position right after the small blind. This position is also one of the worst for playing your pocket cards from.

The advantage of position in poker

If you are in position to your opponents, you will have a few significant advantages:

• You will be able to play more starting hands on preflop
• You will be able to steal blinds
• You will be able to use pot-control
• You will save money, because you will possess information about your opponents actions on all streets and make your decisions based on the information you have. At the same time, out of position players will act blindly
• You will possess information about the amount of active players in hand, their types, as well as their action on all streets
• You will be able to evaluate the relative strength of your hand
• You will be able to win money on flop if an opponent/opponents will play check before you, showing you their weakness
• It’s much easier to bluff for players in the late positions

Statement: The positions is very important in poker

There’s no doubt. Let’s take a look at one example that shows the importance of position in poker. Let’s say we have on preflop:

In early position. It’s better to get rid of that hand because you don’t have any information about how your opponents will act, who are sitting in a later positions. Maybe you will have a chance to see the flop, but even in that case you will act first in the next betting rounds and you will have no clue what to do on such a board as .

In late position. You can decide either to play this hand or not based on your opponents actions in the earlier positions. If all players will fold their cards you’ll be able to make a raise and take the blinds. However, if your opponents were active on the preflop (made a raise, for instance), you will be able to get rid of your hand easily, without losing a penny.

Statement: It’s harder to bluff an opponent sitting in position towards us

And that’s absolutely true. It’s much harder to bluff out the opponent sitting in position towards us. Let’s take a look at an example:

6 max table. You are sitting on a dealer’s position with . Player on a middle position (MP) makes a raise and you decide to call. All other players fold their cards. The flop is . An opponent makes a continuation bet and you call. The turn card is dealt and now the board looks like . Now your opponent has a tough task to solve, because if he doesn’t have a good made hand (top pair or better), than he can only win this hand by bluffing. But he doesn’t know anything about the strength of your hand, since you can easily have in your hand and you will not fold it. So if he will continue to play aggressively, he will lose money. You have an advantage over your opponent: you are sitting in position towards him and acting last. Now if your opponent will decide to make a bet, you can assume that he has a strong hand and will easily get rid of your cards, and if your opponent will check you can make a bet yourself and take the pot.

How to use position at the poker table

If Player A makes his decisions at the poker table after Player B in every given hand, that means that Player A has a positional advantage over Player B. Simply said - Player A sits in position to Player B.

When in position, you can use information, obtained by watching your opponents actions before you: what actions did they performed, or what size of bets do they make - that’s what your decision will be based on. For example if you sitting in position to opponent and he makes a check that would more often mean his weakness. Thus, you will be able to use this information and make a bet, forcing an opponent to fold his cards.

The basic rule of positional play: At the poker tables, with all other things being equal, you will have an advantage over opponents sitting to the right from you (because you will be acting after them). At the same time, all players sitting to the left of you will have an advantage over you (because they will be acting after you). Hence the conclusion: the best positions to play your cards from are the late ones, because you will act last on postflop.

Positional awareness

You should try to play more hands in position than without it.

However, this statement does not mean that you will have to play every hand in a good position, or fold good hands sitting out of position just to balance things. In reality that means though, that you will have to be more inclined to play weaker hands in position, and fold the same hands (or even stronger ones), when you are out of position.

Let’s take a look at an example of playing KJo from different positions.

You should be playing this hand very carefully from an early position. This is one of the worst hands still falling into category of “good hands” and if you’re sitting out of position makes playing with this hand quite undesirable. This hand is not strong enough to neutralize the negative effect of your position.

In late position you can regularly make open raises with such a hand (if there was no raises before you). If you’re in a position to your opponents, you are also able to call their raises. This is a good situation, because besides the vantage position you have a decent starting hand.

It’s quite difficult to understand for beginners how the same hand can be played in late position, but can not be played in early. How can you learn how to define which hand can be played, and from what position?

As they say “The appetite comes with the game”. This saying can also be used in our situation - you will need time to get an understanding, but the more you will play, the more experienced you will become, and you will have more understanding of the game and the opportunities to play with each starting hand from different position. But if you only started to play poker, you are advised to get into the hand only with premium cards not depending on a specific position at the poker table. And that would be considered absolutely normal, as you would need a playing experience to get a full understanding of playing process. Just be patient and ready to widen your range based on your position, in the process of sharpening your playing skills.

Advice. Constantly be aware of your position. In the early positions a good hand can become vulnerable, and you would be required to play it with caution.

A graph, showing an understanding of positional play

Below you can see an image showing all before mentioned - you should play more hands in position. This graph shows a VPIP of a winning player depending on a position in a 6-max games.

VPIP shows a percentage of voluntary put money into the pot (when he either raised or called raises preflop). In fact, this graph displays a % of played hands in each position.

Please note, that given player plays a lot more hands from late position if compared with early ones. He’s not playing same hands from all positions. He is not playing for a sake of good stats in Hold’em Manager, but tries to make good decisions in-game instead, based on his position at the table.

Conclusions about the positions at the poker tables

Position at the poker tables is one of the most underestimated factors among the beginners. The position determines the profitability of one or another starting hand. In position you can extract profit from almost any hand if you have sufficient playing experience.

The sooner you will start to pay attention to your position at the poker tables, the sooner you will start to win money.

You can also read our articles “Choosing your starting hands” and “Relative position in No-Limit Texas Hold’em”

Back to the Basics of No-Limit Texas Hold’em section.

Some material was taken from thepokerbank. You can also check out How to Play Poker Guide by Beasts of Poker.

Knowledge base's sections

The best about poker

• Five reasons why I've made money and continue doing this playing poker
  The psychology of poker
• The fundamental theorem of poker
  Poker theorems
• The probabilities of getting specific starting hands on preflop
  Poker mathematics

There are various aspects in poker that you have to learn to master the game. And table positions in poker is one of them. When you are playing poker, table positions in poker will play an important role in deciding the winner. In order for you to have a better chance at winning, you need to understand how the table positions in poker affects the odds and probability of winning.

But, you need to understand that not all poker varients depend on poker position. However, Texas Hold’em Poker and Omaha Hold’em plays a huge role in deciding the winner when it comes to position at the poker table.

In this article, I will talk about the various positions at poker table, how poker positions affect the game and which poker position gives you the best chance to win a hand.

First, let us learn what poker position is. To put it in simple terms, Poker positions are the various seats that the players can occupy when they are playing poker in a table. Players at a poker table sit in a circle. The various seats that the player occupies have different names and meaning. At most ten players can play poker in a table at a time.

Various Table Positions In Poker

Names for the table positions in poker varies as per the number of players playing at a time. The poker positions I am about to mention holds good for Texas Hold’em and Omaha Hold’em poker. Without any delay, lets take a look at the various poker positions on a poker table.

Table Positions In Poker For A Ten Player Table

The table positions in poker matter a lot when ten or nine poker players play at a time. Being at the right poker position gives a huge advantage for players. When you are at a disadvantageous position, you cannot play any hands you want. You have to more picky when the position doesn’t favor you. You’ll understand what I mean as you read further.

Without any delay, let’s take a look at the different table positions in poker when 9-10 players are involved.

Dealer Button

Dealer button or simply “Button” is the position of the player from where the dealer deals the cards. He is also the last player to play the hand for each betting round. Dealer button is technically the best position to be at when we play poker.

The dealer button is moved one position in the clockwise direction after each round is finished. As the dealer button moves, the position of players changes as well. So, dealer button technically acts as an indicator for the player who is going to be playing last. And also the other positions are determined from the dealer button position.

Blinds

When you are playing Texas Hold’em or Omaha Hold’em, you have to bet something called blinds. These bets are called as the fordced bets since the player doesn’t have any option but to pay up. These forced bets have to be made by the players without seeing the hole (Starting cards) cards. There can be atmost three blinds in a game. Usually, there will be two blinds that the player must bet. The two blinds are the small blind and the big blind.

1. Small Blind: Small Blind is the bet you have to make which is the half of the big blind. That is, if the big blind is $2, then the small blind is $1. The position of the small blind is to the left of dealer button. After every round the position swifts one position to the left. Therefore, the player to the left of small blind will be the next small blind player and so on. Once the first betting round is over, the second betting round is started with the small blind player.
2. Big Blind: Big Blind is the bet which is double of the small blind. Big blind is the minimum bet that the other players have to make if they intend to play the hand. If they don’t want to bet, then the other players can fold their hands without betting any amount. The position of the big blind is to the left of the small blind player position. Big blind is the last player to conclude the betting for the first round.

Under The Gun (UTG)

Under the gun is the first player to bet after seeing his hole cards. The position for the UTG is left of the big blind. If the UTG player wishes to play his hand, then he has to make a bet that is equal to that of big blind or more. He cannot play the hand by checking. He has the option to fold his hand if he feels the the hand he has isn’t that good.

The reason the position to the left of big blind is called as UTG is because of the pressure that goes along with having to act before anyone else in the hand. All the other players will have a slight edge over you since they have the option of observing your betting. Hence the position is known as UTG.

Now, the remaining players positions after the UTG is referred to as UTG+1, UTG+2 and so on expect for the last two positions at the poker table.

1. UTG+1: It is the position to the left of UTG. Since it is the first position after the UTG, the position is named as the UTG+1.
2. UTG+2: It is the position to the left of UTG+1. Since it is the second position to UTG , the position is named as the UTG+2.

Similarly, the other positions in poker after the UTG except the last two positions are all UTG positions. All the UTG players have the option to fold their hands without betting in the first round.

Highjack

Highjack is the position to the immediate right of the cut-off player position or to the second right of Dealer button position in a poker table. When you are playing in Highjack position, you are known to be in position and control of the game.

The reason for the name highjack is because of the option for the player to open raise the blind and hijack the advantage that the last two players get from playing late in the round. It is a really nice position to be in when your playing poker.

Cut-Off

Cut-off position or seat is to the immediate right of dealer button or to the immediate left of Hijack position. The position is called as Cut-off since, if the action folds to the player sitting in that seat he or she has the option to “cut off” the dealer button’s advantageous position with an open raise. Of course, if the player at the cut-off position doesn’t bet or raise, then the advantage for the dealer button still stays. Cut-off positions is one of the best table positions to be at when playing poker.

These are the different table positions in Poker when there are 9 or 10 players playing at a time. Now that you have learnt all the names for different poker positions, you can classify all these positions into three categories. The categories are early position, middle position and late position.

1. Early Position

Early position in poker is the position of poker players from small blind to UTG+1. That is, it is the table positions in poker which consists of first four players to take action in the hand. This holds good for a table with 9 to 10 poker players.

The early positions in poker is considered to be not good poker position to be in. Early positions in poker is considered as disadvantageous since you are always exposed. What I mean by this is that, the players in other positions can act accordingly, to the way you bet.

Also, playing early means, you won’t be aware of other players hand and you always have to take a risk by betting without knowing anything. This is the reason that you shouldn’t bet when you are in the early positions, unless you have an exceptional starting hand. Small Bilnd position is one of the worst position to be at since you always end up playing first in each of the betting round.

Playing only the best starting hands is super important when you are in one of the early positions. If you don’t have a decent hand, then it is better to fold your hand and wait for the next game. This is extremely important when there are 9 or 10 players involved in the game. As the number of player decreases, the more chance you have at winning in the early positions.

2. Middle position

Middle position in poker is the position of poker players from UTG+2 to UTg+4 when there are 9 or 10 players involved in the poker table. Usually, the middle position consists of 3-4 players in the middle when 9-10 players are involved. When it comes to advantageous, middle positions is better than that of Early poker positions. But, it is not better than the late positions.

When you are positioned in one of the middle positions, you have the opportunity to observe the players who have already played in the early positions, but you won’t know how the late position players are gonna play. So, play only if you are confident with your hand and have a decent chance of winning the game. If not, it is better to fold and wait for your next turn.

3. Late position

Late positons in poker is the position of poker players from hijack seat to the player sitting at the button. That is, the last three players who take in the betting round for a 9 or 10 players table.

Being in the late positions in one of the best possible poker positions to be at. You will have the highest advantage compared to the other players. In late positions, you can observe the players sitting at both the early and the middle position and play accordingly.

Also, if you are in one of the late positions, you will have a higher chance of bluffing players sitting in other positions. Dealer Button position is the best position to be at in a poker table, since you always end up playing last in each of the betting round.

These were the three different positions in poker where you can be positioned at. In short,when there are 9 or 10 players involved, being in early position is disadvantageous compared to be sitting in one of the middle or the late positions. And being in one of the late positions is one of the best possible table positions in poker for a player.

Table Positions In Poker For A Five Player Table

When there are only 5 players involved in poker, the number of table positions in poker becomes less. When only five players are involved, the first player to take action other than the blinds would be the Hijack position. Technically speaking, UTG becomes the Hijack seat in a 5 player poker table.

Positions On A Poker Table

In a 5-6 player table, Small and Big blind takes the early position and Hijack becomes the middle position. The Cut-off and Button takes the late positions when 5-6 players are involved. Even in 5 player poker table, Dealer button will still have the most advantage compared to other seats. But, the early positions will not be a bad position to be at compared to a 9 or 10 player poker table.

So, you have the option to play much more freely even if you are in one of the early position. You could say that small blind will still be the worst possible position even in a 5-6 poker player table.

Table Positions In Poker For A Two Player Table

When only two players are involved, the dealer button becomes the small blind and the other player takes the big blind position. When only two players are involved there are no good table positions in poker. Both the players have equal chance of winning.

When only two players are involved then the games being played between them is known as Heads Up. In a heads up game, the dealer button position becomes the small blind as well. And the big blind player will be the first player to play between the two.

Usually, the games between two players is fast paced and most of the games end up not being played. That is, one of the two players end up folding their hands most of the time.

These are the different table positions in poker when different set of players are involved in the game.

How does the table positions in poker affect the game?

As I mentioned earlier, the table positions in poker plays a huge role when 9 or 10 poker players are involved. The players seated in the early positions have a disadvantage compared to players seated in the middle or in the late positions.

Being seated in one of the early position, you have to choose what hand you have to play and bet only those hands which have a high percentage of winning. If not, then it is better to fold your hand. The reason you have to be picky is because the players who are seated after you might have a better hand than you.

You will not know how much the other players will bet. If the other players end up betting more, and you don’t feel you have a winning hand, then you will end up folding your current hand. Therefore, it is better to fold your hands even before betting once if you don’t have a strong hand. Small blind position is the worst possible position for a poker player to be at, since the player at the small blind will always be the first one to act in each of the betting rounds.

Being seated in one of the middle positions is slightly better than that of early positions. But you still need to choose your hand carefully before making a bet.

Being seated in one of the late positions is the best position to be at. It gives the players luxury to bluff as well as have a general idea of other players cards. The dealer button position is the best possible seat for any poker player to be at.

You need to remember that as the number of players playing in a table decreases the position value decreases as well. That is, the lesser the players, the better chance you have at winning even if you are positioned at one of the early position.

I hope that now you guys have a general idea of how the different table positions in poker affect the game. Also have learned the various table positions in poker. If you guys have any queries regarding the table positions in poker, please leave a comment below so that I will be able to address it. Make sure to read the other articles related to poker as well.

Poker Positions FAQ

What is a table position in poker?

Poker positions are the various seats that the players can occupy when they are playing poker in a table.

What is the worst position to be at when playing poker?

For the first round of betting Under The Gun (UTG) is the worst possible position to be at. From the second round of betting, player at the small blind becomes the worst position to be at.

What is the best position to be at when you play poker?

The best postition to be at in a poker table is the Dealer Button position also known as Buck. It is considered as the best position since the player at that position plays last in each of the betting round.

I am the owner of the site rohithebbar.com. I love playing poker and other card games.