Winning through Position

Some of the world's best poker players have strengthened their game by position play. One whose name comes to mind is George Hardy.

For many years, Hardy was a professional poker player who made a great deal of money at poker. He joined Binion's Horseshoe as an executive and remained in the employment of Benny Binion for years. He was working for the Horseshoe when Binion died and left the casino to his family.

I got to know Hardy well when I lived and worked in Las Vegas for Chuck DeRocco, publisher of a popular gambling magazine. We spent a lot of time talking about poker strategy.

George loved to talk about the power of position. In fact, he joked with me and said, "If I could have the position behind the button on every hand, nobody could beat me. That is how powerful position is in a game like Texas Hold'em."

I have spent a lot of time over the years thinking about George Hardy's words and have concluded that he is probably right.

Poker players who understand the power of position have added an arsenal to their game that other players simply do not have. When you have position, you can put people on hands and assess the strength of their cards.

For eample, a player who is in a big or small blind who raises the pot is in a very weak position when they miss their flop. Let's say you are in seat one and raise with an A-K. The flop comes 10-9-7 and there are four callers. What do you do?

Most players will make a continuation bet, although they probably have the worst hand. If they had made the raise from the button and somebody came out betting, they could then determine whether to toss their hand away or call, hoping to connect with an ace or king on fourth street.

There are many ways to look at position. If I am in bad position, meaning one of the first players to act, I play my cards vastly different than when I am in late position. This was the advice Hardy gave me, and I can assure you that it works.

You can make trick plays that will win you the pot when you have position. One play that will save you a bet on fourth street would be to raise the pot when you have a strong draw or when you feel the better is not strong. Since the bet doubles on fourth street, a raise will usually force the bettor to check and give the option to you. If you hit your draw, you come out betting. If you miss you can either check or bet. It's your choice.

While position play works best in a game like Texas Hold'em, it can also work in other games of poker. I have used position well in mixed games like Omaha High-Low and seven card stud high-low.

Always be aware of your position as well as the position of someone who raises the pot. You can call a lot more hands with position than you can if you are one of the early players to bet.

I have often thought about playing in a tournament and not looking at my cards when I am in late position, like Hardy advocated. Simply play the players and act like you have a hand even when your cards do not match the flop. On occasion, I have played some hands that way and I have won more hands than I have lost.

Poker players are creatures of habit. When you notice certain players playing a certain way -- they raise, then check when they miss the flop, for example -- you must act accordingly and come out betting even if you have nothing. You may get a call. On fifth street if a threatening card fails to come and the original bettor checks, you must bet again. While you occasionally will get called, most of the time the player will fold and you will win on a busted hand.

That is the way poker is played. My thanks to George Hardy for some good solid advice that works.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).