If you are an experienced Texas Hold em player, you understand the power of position. The later you act, the more information you have, and the better decisions you make. You know that you should be playing more hands the later you are to act in the hand, because you will be better armed than your opponents when making decisions on later streets. But how can you use early position to your advantage in limit Texas Hold em?

Position as an Aggressive Weapon

As an experienced Texas Hold em player, you know that an early position raise represents strength. Because the early position player does not know how many opponents he or she is facing or how strong they are, he or she is unlikely to come in without a very strong hand. Your strong opponents know this too. Therefore, a bluff raise from early position can be more threatening than one from late position. Even if your raise does not get everyone out pre-flop, subsequent bets on later streets are likely to frighten opponents without very strong hands off of the pot. You can only make this play if you are confident in your ability to get away from the bluff if it is apparent that one of your opponents is very strong, and confident in your ability to follow it through if you sense weakness. Also, if your opponents are not sophisticated enough to realize what an early position raise means, you cannot make this play.

Take the Play Away from Your Opponent.

Let's say you limp from an early position with 8 8, hoping to flop a set. A late position player raises, the button calls, and the blinds fold. With six and a half bets already in the pot and the implied odds, you decide to call. The flop comes A 6 3. You could check, but if one of your opponents bets, you will have to fold, and if they check along, you have likely given a free card when you have the best hand. This is a great time to use early position to your advantage. If you bet out, your opponents will assume that you were limping with an ace and are betting to prevent someone from drawing out on you. If they were both playing pairs or high cards without an ace, this will usually win you the pot, even against pairs that would beat you. Even if they call, another bet on a non threatening turn card will win you the pot. If you are raised at any time you can put one of your opponents on an ace and get away relatively cheaply. Note if you were in late position in this hand, you would have no chance to win it, as any bet before you would force you to fold.

Late position is great, but early position has its perks too. You must use all the weapons available to you to be a consistent winner at Texas Hold em or any other poker game. If you keep that in mind, you have a great chance to end up a winner.

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