Position saves money in low limit hold åem

By David McClary

I was playing low limit holdem at a local casino one morning when a few players were discussing position poker. The dealer chimed in with the apparently obvious statement, ≥Position doesnπt mean anything in low limit!≤ Several players agreed. I thought about arguing to the contrary but quickly changed my mind. Instead, I sat quietly and waited, now confident that some players nodding their heads would be paying for that morningπs WSOP satellite entry fee within the next few hours.

For those that arenπt sure what I am talking about, let me first explain what position means. Position is the order in which players bet. In hold åem games, the button determines position. This plastic puck shows who would be the dealer were the cards not being dealt by the house. Blinds and betting start immediately to the left of the button and work their way around the table in a clockwise direction. The most powerful position at the start of any hand is on the button. This means that all but the blinds act ahead of you before the flop and then everyone acts before you after the flop. This is in contrast to stud poker in which the player who acts first can change in the middle of a hand, depending on which cards are showing. The key to position poker is that the more players acting before you, the more information you have to make your decision.

Position is a powerful weapon for pressuring your opponent to fold in high limit games or even more so in no limit games. By being the last person to act, you can force your opponents to play less aggressively because they must decide what to do without knowing how you will respond. In low limit poker this pressure is almost non-existent. Because the limits are smaller, many low limit pots are contested with several players. This makes it nearly impossible to pressure every person out of the pot because at least one player thinks he or she will have something after the flop.

The key point that so many beginning players miss is that position doesnπt turn bad cards into good ones. It just means you can make a more informed decision. Many new players are so hungry for action that they will use any excuse to get into a hand. It is true that you can play cards like 6-7 suited in late position. Late position or not however, you still need to make good choices if opponents raise or if the flop misses you.

Position doesnπt help you win money in low limit poker. The benefit however is that it helps prevent you from losing money. David Sklansky, an author all serious card players should be familiar with, has written that you should treat poker as one long continuous game. If we agree that you will usually need to show down the best hand to win in low limit, then we agree that we can use position to save bets that we might make if we had less information. You will get just as many straight flushes over your lifetime as everyone else. The key to long-term profits in lower limit games is losing less money when your hands miss. Use position to help you fold those second place hands that cost the most money.

Position is also not confined to the action within the hand. Where you sit in at the table in relation to other players will govern how often specific players have a positional advantage over you. If I see a player with lots of chips or a player that raises frequently, I would like that player to be close to my right. This means that most of the hands will play out with that player acting before me. I will know what they do before I bet in most hands. If there is a passive player that doesnπt raise but calls frequently, I want that player on my left so I can rely on them calling more of my bets. If you are called to a table with more than one seat open you should look at the players near the open seats. In the small no-limit games that are quite common now, where you sit can govern profit and loss. Donπt be afraid to ask for a seat change either. If you donπt like your seat you can ask to be reseated when a player leaves. You may need to post a bet but this small cost can often be offset by large gains later.

As I said, using these tips wonπt necessarily make anyone money in low limit. They should however make your chips last longer between the pots you win. It may not be quite as action packed as you are used to, but I think nothing is quite as fun as carrying someone elseπs chips to the cage.