More Game Leaks--The Importance of Position
I've decided to take some time to analyze my own game, and share the information with all of you as sort of an instructional series. If my experience can help you be a better player, than I'll feel good about it (as long as you don't take my money.
First of all, get Poker Tracker. It's only $55, and it's point blank one of the greatest tools available to help you analyze your game, and if you use it to the fullest, you'll make that money back before you know it. And on that front, get Hank and Iggy's Poker Tracker Guide. Pat from Tracker endorses it, and it is an e-book that helps you get the absolute most from your purchase of Tracker. The guide's only $20, and it, like Poker Tracker itself, is money very well spent.
Positional Statistics:
From this we see interesting things. Over time, first of all, your numbers should start out higher, and decrease as we move down. Translated, you should be playing more hands in late position than in early position, and if you think position doesn't matter, all you're going to do is send your chips my way. Think about it this way: Consider a hand like KTo. Marginal in every sense of the word. A great hand if you hit the flop, but remember, aces will beat you, and if you don't hit a king, any other face card can beat you. In early position, it's a hand you throw away. Why? You call the blind, a MP player raises, then an LP player 3-bets/re-raises. KTo for 3 bets isn't a nice hand anymore, is it? All you've done is take your blind and given it away.
From MP, KTo may be a decent hand. At a tight-passive table, it may be a raising hand. If the table is loose-aggressive, you need to throw it away.
As you can see, table character is nearly as important as position.
The importance of position is that you have more opportunities to see other players act before you do. You can see their reactions to the flop, how they bet (which among weaker players may be even more of a tell than their reactions), and what they put into the pot. It also gives you the advantage of acting last, and most decisively.
Looking at my table above, we notice a few things:
1) I play shorthanded a little bit (notice the lack of position 4, 5, 6, and 7 hands). Poker Tracker treats 6-max tables as SB, BB, 3, 2, 1, button.
2) I tend not to play enough hands from the button. You should tend to play similarly-rated hands from the cut-off (CO--the position immediately before the button in LP) that you should play from the button.
3) The cut-off is my loosest position. Looking at my hand histories, and seeing what I play from that position, you see hands like King-rag suited, suited connectors and one-gappers (T8s, etc.), and offsuit paint (KJo, etc.).
4) My highest position for raising pre-flop is also the cut-off. I will raise with a variety of hands from the cutoff, hands like AJo, A6s, and even a hand as weak as KJs. In positions like on the button and in the cut-off, you need to punish limpers, and eliminate limpers from the pot. Remember, in a true multi-way pot, even AA is no better than a even-money shot to win:
Ac Ad: 46.80%
Kc 7s: 5.68%
Qh Jd: 15.86%
7c 2h: 2.94%
8d 7d: 12.49%
5s 5d: 15.56%
5) I should be playing as aggressive from the button as I do from the cutoff. For the same reasons as above, I need to be punishing limpers. When you raise with marginal hands, though, be prepared to get out if somebody hits the flop when you don't.
6) I need to stop completing in the small blind just to complete with marginal hands. I actually called in the SB with 95s and 98o. Call to defend your blinds, call to get into a hand, call to play decent cards. Don't call just to call. It will bleed money from your game.
7) Never be afraid to throw a hand away if you feel you're beat. Regardless of position, you should always consider pot-odds, and in no-limit, don't over-commit to a draw. The more you invest in a pot, the harder it is to get away from a hand. Just last night, I was playing 0.50/1 limit, and I raised with AQs in MP, and got re-raised by a LP player. The flop came Q-8-4 rainbow, I bet, he raised, I called. The turn brought an A. I bet, he raised, I re-raised, he mucked the hand. I had a read on him, and I asked him, "KK?" He said, "Yep. It sure is hard to get away from those 'King-Kongs.'" He tossed a great hand, but saved himself at least 2BB in the process. He realized that with me pairing my ace that he had properly read with my re-raise, he was drawing nearly dead (2 outs at best). There was no need to chase a losing hand, when in just a few seconds, another hand will be dealt where he has the chance to win.
Just remember, poker is a game of position as much as it is of the cards. Use position wisely, and expect to win more often. It really is that simple.
The tournament is Saturday. I'm re-reading Harrington on Hold'em, and I'll play ABC poker for sure. It should be a good time, and I'm looking forward to playing a NL tournament again. I haven't played a live NL tourney since November, and I'm looking to get deep. You never know, I just might win the damn thing.
First of all, get Poker Tracker. It's only $55, and it's point blank one of the greatest tools available to help you analyze your game, and if you use it to the fullest, you'll make that money back before you know it. And on that front, get Hank and Iggy's Poker Tracker Guide. Pat from Tracker endorses it, and it is an e-book that helps you get the absolute most from your purchase of Tracker. The guide's only $20, and it, like Poker Tracker itself, is money very well spent.
Positional Statistics:
Position | Total Hands | VP$IP | BB/Hand |
| Button | 645 | 21.09 | 0.11 |
| 1 (CO) | 612 | 23.86 | 0.05 |
| 2 | 571 | 19.09 | 0.16 |
| 3 | 491 | 21.79 | 0.15 |
| 4 | 308 | 23.05 | 0.05 |
| 5 | 292 | 22.60 | 0.13 |
| 6 | 226 | 17.70 | 0.11 |
| 7 (UTG) | 101 | 23.76 | 0.02 |
| BB | 637 | 13.03 | 0.23 |
| SB | 643 | 29.86 | 0.01 |
| Totals | 4526 | 21.52 | 0.03 |
From this we see interesting things. Over time, first of all, your numbers should start out higher, and decrease as we move down. Translated, you should be playing more hands in late position than in early position, and if you think position doesn't matter, all you're going to do is send your chips my way. Think about it this way: Consider a hand like KTo. Marginal in every sense of the word. A great hand if you hit the flop, but remember, aces will beat you, and if you don't hit a king, any other face card can beat you. In early position, it's a hand you throw away. Why? You call the blind, a MP player raises, then an LP player 3-bets/re-raises. KTo for 3 bets isn't a nice hand anymore, is it? All you've done is take your blind and given it away.
From MP, KTo may be a decent hand. At a tight-passive table, it may be a raising hand. If the table is loose-aggressive, you need to throw it away.
As you can see, table character is nearly as important as position.
The importance of position is that you have more opportunities to see other players act before you do. You can see their reactions to the flop, how they bet (which among weaker players may be even more of a tell than their reactions), and what they put into the pot. It also gives you the advantage of acting last, and most decisively.
Looking at my table above, we notice a few things:
1) I play shorthanded a little bit (notice the lack of position 4, 5, 6, and 7 hands). Poker Tracker treats 6-max tables as SB, BB, 3, 2, 1, button.
2) I tend not to play enough hands from the button. You should tend to play similarly-rated hands from the cut-off (CO--the position immediately before the button in LP) that you should play from the button.
3) The cut-off is my loosest position. Looking at my hand histories, and seeing what I play from that position, you see hands like King-rag suited, suited connectors and one-gappers (T8s, etc.), and offsuit paint (KJo, etc.).
4) My highest position for raising pre-flop is also the cut-off. I will raise with a variety of hands from the cutoff, hands like AJo, A6s, and even a hand as weak as KJs. In positions like on the button and in the cut-off, you need to punish limpers, and eliminate limpers from the pot. Remember, in a true multi-way pot, even AA is no better than a even-money shot to win:
Ac Ad: 46.80%
Kc 7s: 5.68%
Qh Jd: 15.86%
7c 2h: 2.94%
8d 7d: 12.49%
5s 5d: 15.56%
5) I should be playing as aggressive from the button as I do from the cutoff. For the same reasons as above, I need to be punishing limpers. When you raise with marginal hands, though, be prepared to get out if somebody hits the flop when you don't.
6) I need to stop completing in the small blind just to complete with marginal hands. I actually called in the SB with 95s and 98o. Call to defend your blinds, call to get into a hand, call to play decent cards. Don't call just to call. It will bleed money from your game.
7) Never be afraid to throw a hand away if you feel you're beat. Regardless of position, you should always consider pot-odds, and in no-limit, don't over-commit to a draw. The more you invest in a pot, the harder it is to get away from a hand. Just last night, I was playing 0.50/1 limit, and I raised with AQs in MP, and got re-raised by a LP player. The flop came Q-8-4 rainbow, I bet, he raised, I called. The turn brought an A. I bet, he raised, I re-raised, he mucked the hand. I had a read on him, and I asked him, "KK?" He said, "Yep. It sure is hard to get away from those 'King-Kongs.'" He tossed a great hand, but saved himself at least 2BB in the process. He realized that with me pairing my ace that he had properly read with my re-raise, he was drawing nearly dead (2 outs at best). There was no need to chase a losing hand, when in just a few seconds, another hand will be dealt where he has the chance to win.
Just remember, poker is a game of position as much as it is of the cards. Use position wisely, and expect to win more often. It really is that simple.
The tournament is Saturday. I'm re-reading Harrington on Hold'em, and I'll play ABC poker for sure. It should be a good time, and I'm looking forward to playing a NL tournament again. I haven't played a live NL tourney since November, and I'm looking to get deep. You never know, I just might win the damn thing.
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