In poker, position is very important. Having good position allows you to get more information about your opponents’ hands, chase draws correctly and control pots. It also means you can play more aggressively as your opponents will have to call your raises when you’re out of position. However, not everyone agrees on what poker positions mean, and even some professionals don’t always use the same terms.
UTG, which stands for Under the Gun, is the player seated directly to the left of the big blind and acts first pre-flop. This is one of the earliest positions at the table and should be played with extreme caution. A standard raising range from UTG is around 13%, which makes it a tight position to play in.
If a player opens up in this position, it can be very difficult to get out of the hand, especially if he/she has a strong pocket pair or suited connector like J9s+, T8s+, 97s+, or 76s+. These hands have good playability postflop and can help you to make a flush or straight draw. However, these hands are not strong enough to raise into five players and should be folded UTG.
The seat a little further to the left of UTG is sometimes called the hijack or middle position, but in general it’s more common to just refer to it as “middle position”. This is a slightly better position than UTG as you now have four players to act after you instead of five, and it gives you a bit more leeway with your opening range.
You can start to open up your range a little and include hands such as A5s, but you should still be very cautious and only do this when you have some indication that your opponents are 3-betting lightly. If you open up your UTG +2 range too much, you will give away a lot of information about your strength to other players who can easily 3-bet you in this position.
In a 6-max game, the player who’s usually in the hijack or middle position is known as the button or BTN. This is the best position at the table as it’s not only in late position but you can also see how your opponent’s action affects your own position after the flop. In a button position, you can expect to be raising more often than when you’re in early or middle position. This can be a great way to increase your winning percentage. The button can also make a profit by calling and raising with certain hands, such as suited connectors. This can be particularly profitable if your opponents are a bit loose and don’t raise very often when you call. The button can also play a wide variety of hands post-flop, including small pocket pairs, suited aces, and bluffs. It is very important to play these hands well from button position.
