A lot of sites and strategy guides try to inform a player very basically on positioning within Texas Hold Em’ the fact remains that its shouldn’t be treated that simply. Positioning is a complex part of poker that new players need to understand and advanced players need to refine. The benefits to both understanding and ultimately implementing tactical moves based on positioning can drastically increase a player’s game.

The basics and strategy when you are in the early positions, those three seats closet to the button, are perhaps the most dangerous for a player to have. First because since you may be one of the blinds you are automatically going to be forced into putting money into the pot regardless, but also because you have less information on the other players at the table since you are one of the first players to act. This means that you as an early position need to refine your hand selection and be relatively picky about what you choose to call with and raise with, because the rest of the table still has their hands to deal with which you have no information on.

Middle positioning is traditionally defined as the next three seats at the table to the left of the early seats. These seats are again not the prime spots you want to have but they also carry with them a bit more leniency in the hands you can play here. You can start considering playing lower quality hands that you yourself might not play at early positioning seats, due to your position restraints. You still need to be on guard that there still is another third of the table still to have a chance to come in and therefore you still must hold your reservations on your own cards. But now you have the information from the first third of the table, from the early positions, and can now take into account those players bids, raises, and play styles. Now this is where you must apply your other skills and really look at the player’s who make raises and calls in these early positions because a good player would filter these hands to be relatively strong so you should make that assumption unless you believe otherwise. This advantage of additional knowledge allows you theoretically add another degree of probability to each seat based on position and bid style, and what you can think they are probably playing when they are in those positions.

Late positions are obviously the most advantageous in our division system, solely because you have the information of two thirds of the table at this point. It is a great position to pick up blinds in when everyone folds and looks like they may have weak hands. You also, based on the betting situation of the other players, have the option to play hands that you feel is weaker, like draw hands and low pockets. However, you also have to take into account all those calls and bids that take place before you and those player’s style, loose players in early positions will have the greater disadvantage, but the tighter players will inevitably be the hardest to read using only positional strategy.

So when all is said in done by taking into account a player’s positioning any player can increase his smart calls and hopefully avoid some possibly dramatic and unrewarding chases, its an unavoidable element of poker strategy that when paired with your other skills only enhances your prime play.