Betting Out Of Position
Where you sit in relation to the dealer button greatly influences how you’ll play your hand. In fact, there are many aspects to poker strategy that are based on table position alone. For the purpose of this article, always assume that seat 1 is the dealer button position. Picture a poker table with 10 players. Player 1 is on the button, players 2, 3 and 4 are early position, players 5, 6 and 7 are middle, and the rest are in late positions. This article will talk about how you bet from early and middle position which is essentially betting out of position. You will also learn that table the position advantage actually changes as players fold. In other words, if you are in seat 8, but players 2 -7 have all folded during the last betting round, you’ll be the first to act. Even tough you are in a “late position seat”, you’re actually playing early position.
In Texas Hold’em, the first position to act on the initial betting round is the person right after the big blind (BB) which is seat 4. Seat 4 has the worse possible position at this stage because no one played yet. Seat 2 and 3 (SB and BB) are at an advantage since they’ll play last, but the trade off is the forced bet. They must put money in the pot no matter how good or bad their cards are. Remember, on all subsequent betting rounds, the SB will act first, so the position advantage of the blinds is limited.
Generally speaking, playing from early positions means you’ll play tighter than when you are in late position. A lot of poker books will tell you to stick with premium hands and fold anything else. This may in fact be bad advice. The key to betting successfully out of position is that you have to take into account other factors, not just your cards. For instance, a suited 7-8 is not a premium hand. Does this mean you should fold automatically? Absolutely not!
Some factors you want to consider are:
• Your hole cards
• The blind levels
• Your chip stack in relation to the average chip stack count
• The general mood of your table
Go for the Cheap Flops
The idea is simple – If you don’t have a premium hand, but have a hand that has the potential of turning into a monster hand, you want to see a cheap flop. The likely hood of seeing a cheap flop has to do with the points above. Are the blinds so low that calling the minimum bet won’t make a dent in your stack? Can you afford to “gamble” because you have more chips than most people? Are you surrounded by tight players that fold a lot, or by players who also like to see a cheap flop?
When you play this way, expect to be an “up and down” player meaning your chip stack will continually grow or shrink. This is an aggressive play style and a linear average of you chip stack over time should reveal steady growth if your judgment serves you well.
Playing Pairs
When you are dealt pairs and are acting early, you only have two options: Call or Raise. Folding is rarely an option! Here are the pro’s and con’s to both approaches, and your play style and comfort with risk will determine which action is best for you:
The idea of calling the minimum bet is the hope that one of two things will occur: You’ll hit the flop and have a big hand, or you won’t hit the flop but still have top pair (meaning the rank of all flop cards are lower than your own pair). If you can manage this, then you’re in a great position to win the hand. The risk however is that you may not be able to get to a flop without putting more money in the pot. If you call a minimum bet of $50 and some players fold while other call after you, and the sucker on the BB raises to $300, are you willing to pay an additional $250 just to see. Remember, the odds are not in your favor with this hand.
If you raise, it’s because you’re looking for the exact same outcome as the previous example (hit the flop, or have top pair), but also to reduce the competition. Players assume that a raise in early position = premium hand so they’ll fold crap hands and won’t go for a cheap flop since you’ve taken that option away from them. The likely outcome is you’ll end up with a few callers and not many players involved in the hand, which is good. The risk is that someone may re-raise and that will put you in a tough spot. Another benefit however is that you may be in a great position to setup a bluff should you miss the flop or see high cards on it. Remember, most players assumed you had a premium hand when you raised. Take advantage of that if you can.
Steal the Advantage
Gaining position advantage by making players fold is a strategy that few consider. Picture yourself at a 10 seat table again, with the button at position 1. Let’s say you’re in position 7 which is middle position. A significant raise from your part could lead players 8,9,10 and 1 fold. If that happens, you’ve effectively gained the position advantage for all subsequent betting rounds because you’ll act last. It’s like you’re on the button now. Of course, in this scenario you would only raise with a hand to back it up. It would be silly to bet just for the sake of table position. What you need to retain is this: In situations when you hesitate between calling to setup a trap, or raising, consider your position in relation to the button because you may have an opportunity to gain position advantage by raising.


There are huge profits to be made from online poker cash games. If you’re a good poker player, then there’s never been a better time to be playing cash games online. Most of your profits from cash games will be a result of mistakes made by your opponents, rather than your superior poker skills. However the cash game strategies presented in this article should help you increase your winnings. Of course it’s assumed that you already know how to play poker, and are familiar with the game (if not, check out this 
