Starting Hands in No Limit Hold’em - Position is Everything
November 29th, 2007
Like many things in life position is a huge advantage a in Texas Hold’em. Although unlike life you generally don’t want to be front of the queue. If you are the first player to act you will have to do so without seeing what every body else is doing first.
In poker your position is how near you are to the dealer button. Being on the button is the best position to be in. In every round of betting (except preflop) preflop the button will be the last one to act. This provides the tactical advantage of seeing what other players do before you. This is great, especially if you have been profiling the players. You can assess whether your hand will hold up against the tight player’s big preflop raise.
If you know how many players are in the hand, you can act accordingly. Some hands will hold up much better against better few players at make it worth calling when otherwise you might fold.
In an early Position you can play only the premium hands. AA-QQ. AK and AQ
In the middle position you can add the premium hands plus middle pairs and other high suited connectors. JJ-99 and AK AQ KQ QJ and JT. Also AJs
In the late position you can add hands that are great for flush draws such as Axs and Kxs and all the other pocket pairs.
I would recommend reading Lee Jones’, Winning Low Limit Hold’em for an excellent guide to changing starting hand criteria with position.