Hold'em
Why position wins pots
Position is not a vibe. It is whether you act before or after the other people in the hand. Acting last means you have seen their decision before you make yours. That information is worth more than a modest difference in hole cards.
The seats
In Hold'em and Omaha the button is last to act after the flop. Cutoff is one to the right, hijack two, and so on. The small and big blinds act last preflop (they already have money in) and first after the flop. That inversion is why blinds lose money over the long run and why 'defending' them is a narrower, more miserable business than raising on the button.
What you actually gain
- You bluff more when they have shown weakness
- You value-bet more thinly when they have shown they cannot raise
- You pot-control when they have shown strength and your hand is medium
- You take free cards with draws when they check
- You fold hands that would have been 'playable' if you had position
A common leak is playing the same starting-hand chart from every seat. Ace-jack offsuit is a raise on the button and a fold under the gun at most cash tables. The cards did not change. The information and the number of players left to act did.
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