THE BUTTON IS THE BEST SEAT
Position: why acting last wins
Poker is a game of information, and position is who gets it first. The player who acts last on every street has seen everyone else’s decision before making their own. Over thousands of hands that edge is worth more than any single card you will ever be dealt.
The seats, named
Clockwise from the dealer button: small blind, big blind, then the early seats (under the gun first), the middle seats, the cutoff (one right of the button) and the button itself. In Poker Call’s six-handed game that is button, small blind, big blind, under the gun, hijack and cutoff, and the button comes round fast.
The blinds act last before the flop but first on every street after it, which is why they are the worst seats despite the discount.
Why last is best
Acting last you see checks, bets and hesitations before you commit. You can take a free card when nobody bets, bet when everyone shows weakness, and fold cheaply when a strong player wakes up. Acting first you guess. Live video makes this sharper still: you get to watch four faces react before you have to do anything with yours.
Widen late, tighten early
Under the gun, play premiums: big pairs, ace-king, ace-queen suited. In the cutoff add suited connectors, medium pairs, suited aces. On the button, if it folds to you, raise almost anything decent: any pair, any ace, most suited cards, most connected cards. The blinds will fold often enough to pay for it.
Steal, and defend against steals
A button raise into two blinds is a steal attempt, and the right response from the big blind is to call or re-raise wider than feels comfortable, because the raiser’s range is wide too. Folding every blind to every button is how a stack bleeds without ever losing a showdown.
Position after the flop
In position, bet when checked to and you will pick up pots nobody wanted. Out of position, check-raise your strongest hands sometimes so that your checks are not an open invitation. And never slow-play out of position against a player who takes free cards: you are giving away the one thing your hand needed, which is their chips.
Questions
What is the best position in poker?
The dealer button. It acts last on the flop, turn and river, so it has the most information every time it decides.
What does “under the gun” mean?
The first seat to act before the flop, immediately left of the big blind. It is the tightest seat because everyone else gets to react to it.
Does position matter in a six-handed game?
More, not less. With fewer players the button comes round every six hands and the blinds are a larger share of your play, so the seat you are in decides a bigger slice of your results.
How does live video change position play?
Acting last, you watch four real reactions before your turn. The pause, the glance at the chips and the too-quick check are information no online table without cameras can give you.