Playing Your Postion

Before dealing with the cards dealt a good understanding of what position you hold at the table is required, your position is of vital importance as to how you will play your hand. The later your position the better off you generally are.

The worst position is the blinds, they have committed money to the pot without even seeing their cards. They are not completely powerless however as they can raise when the betting gets around to them.

If there are some callers and no raisers it is not automatic for the Small Blind to bet the extra to see the flop. If he has terrible cards he is only throwing good money after bad and he is not the last player to act , the Big Blind can still raise.

The Big Blind, if there were no raises and the bet gets back to him has nothing to lose by staying in the hand even if he is playing poor cards, he gets a free look at the flop.

The other positions at the table are described by where they sit in relation to the big blind. Assuming a full 10 handed game the first three positions to the Big Blinds left can be called early position. In early position you need stronger cards than you do in the later or middle positions. In the middle position, which is the next 3 players after the three early position players, you can play somewhat weaker cards. The last two players are in the ideal position, the late position with the button the very best and they need the weakest of all cards and can make the most moves at the table.

Your Position is vital in determining your play at the table.

Pre-Flop Strategy - General Ranking of Pocket Card Strength

Premium Cards - these are the very best 2 pocket cards you can be dealt and can be played from any position in order

• Ace-Ace
• King-King
• Ace-King suited
• Queen-Queen
• Jack-Jack

You should be prepared to raise with these cards in any position, with the first 3 you can reraise a raiser. With Queens or Jacks they can be raised in middle or late positions, if there have been no raises before you bet.

Other Strong Playable Hands - good hands but not quite as good as premium cards

• Ace-Queen, Ace-Jack, Ace-10 all suited
• Ace-King
• King-Queen suited
• 10-10
• Ace-10, King-Jack, Queen-Jack, Jack-10 all suited
• Ace-Queen, Ace-Jack
• 9-9
• King-Queen
• King-10, Queen-10 suited

Playable Hands - somewhat strong but not as good as the hands above

• 8-8
• Jack-9 10-9 both suited
• 7-7
• 9-8,8-7 both suited
• Ace with any other suited card
• King-Jack, Queen-Jack, Jack-10

Playable Hands - Not so great

• Any low pair (e.g. pairs below 7)
• Connected suited card, such as 8-7,5-4,4-3
• Ace-10, King-10, Queen-10
• King-9, Jack-8 both suited

All other hands not described above are weak hands and should be played with caution.

General Strategy

You should raise with Premium Cards no matter what position your in, with exception of Queens and Jacks which should be raised only if no one has raised before you.

With the other strong Playable Cards you are looking to raise in the middle to late position if no one betting before you has raised.

With Playable hands you can raise in mid to late position if everyone betting before you has folded.

You do not want mediocre hands to stay in the game hoping for a miracle board that will save their hand, and you do not want to be tagged as a rock who only plays the best hands. The only way to really gain a feel for poker strategy is by playing, but these basic strategies are meant to give some general ideas about the strength of your pocket cards and how to play them.

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