Early Position In Poker

Table of content:

• What is an early position in poker?
• Is playing from an early position in poker advantageous?
• How should you play when playing from an early position in poker?
• What is a good early position winrate?
• How to play against an early position poker?

The position from where you play your hand has the potential to make or break the deal for you in poker. Every position has its own pros and cons, be it a late position, middle position, or an early position in poker. Therefore, it is very important to play according to your position on the table. In this post, we will take you through what early position means and how to go about playing your hand in such positions.

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What is an early position in poker?

An early position in poker depends on the round you are playing in a particular game. For example, in a game of Texas Hold’em, the immediate left to the big blind is an early position during the preflop, and after the flop, it is the player sitting in the small blind position. So, to put it simply, we can say the small blind, the big blind, and the player immediately to the left of the big blind are all the early positions. In fact, in a big table with 10 or more players, the number of early positions can further increase.

Is playing from an early position in poker advantageous?

To be very honest, it does not really help to play from an early position in most variants of the game. It is simply because you just do not know what the next players will be doing in the game. You are the first one to act and the rest of the players are reacting to your move and, of course, their hands. However, it does not mean that you will lose while playing from an early position. There are many ways to ensure that you make a good move even from such a position.

How should you play when playing from an early position in poker?

To put it simply, you must just play premium hands. Ideally, you should not bet in an early position and take the game a bit slowly. Here are a few things that you need to keep in mind:

• You should mix it up with both calling and raising when you have small or medium pairs like 10-10 or J-J.
• Be wary of situations where you have hands with two big cards like a K-Q or a J-10 because if you make a big bet with these two cards, you can be easily cornered after the flop round if you do not get favorable community cards.
• You can use re-raise as a smart and cunning move to trap players in your strategy. The idea here is simple – you call the big blind. The best hands to do so will be A-A, K-K, and Q-Q. Once you call the big blind, it might very well be perceived as a weak move. Post this, you can raise and then do a re-raise to be in an advantageous position. However, note that this can only work if you are playing on a table with aggressive players.
• If you think you are playing against passive players, then use continuation betting as a good strategy because your opponents will only call or raise when they have a strong hand.

What is a good early position winrate?

You cannot expect a high winrate from an early position. But positive winrate can be expected as folding is considered as break-even. Winrate from early position is usually around 5 to 10 bb/100 hands.

How to play against an early position poker?

Early positions open are very respect-worthy because they are generally very strong positions. Positions like cold-call and three bets open raises can be used against the early position poker, but it is advised that you use a stronger and wider range for later gameplay.

So, these were some of the tips that you can use to be at an advantage even while playing from an early position in poker. To practice these moves, register yourself on the online poker platform GetMega now.