Late position vs early position players in holdem poker

Deuce · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 38

All the poker strategy guides emphasize how important it is to be in a position of personal advantage. The thinking around this is that the player who acts last has more good information in his head than the other players. This can lead to him having a better sense of where he stands in a hand and then he can make better decisions for himself. I know that this is true, but it’s also very important to understand that the power that comes with position is often given to the late position player, by the early position player.

For instance consider a pretty typical No limit hold em hand. I’m in the big blind with 7s, 8s a nice, flop worthy hand. He player that is on the button raises to three times what the big blind was and I decide to finally call it. A lot of players would check the flop under most circumstances, not all but many. By checking you are giving control to the late position player. He has the power to bet whether or not he has a hand. This puts you in a tough spot if you don’t get that important piece of the flop.  

When you have a hand like this, the best thing to do is to look at the flop and ask, Is it possible that these cards just helped my opponent? When I know the answer to that question, then I decide when and where to proceed.