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Poker glossary

Position

What it means

Position refers to where you sit relative to the dealer button and, more importantly, your betting order in each round. Players who act later in the betting round have position on those who act earlier. The button has the best position, acting last on every street after the flop. The blinds have the worst position, acting first post-flop despite their pre-flop advantage.

How it works at the table

In a 6-max game, the positions are: Under the Gun (UTG), Hijack (HJ), Cutoff (CO), Button (BTN), Small Blind (SB), and Big Blind (BB). Pre-flop, UTG acts first and the BB acts last. Post-flop, the order reverses - SB acts first if still in the hand, followed by BB, then UTG through BTN.

Consider this hand: You’re on the BTN with A♠ J♠. UTG raises to 3bb, everyone folds to you. You call. The flop comes K♠ Q♦ 7♠. UTG bets 4bb. Because you have position, you see their action before deciding. You can call with your flush draw and two overcards, knowing you’ll act last on the turn and river. If you were UTG and your opponent was on the button, you’d have to act first on every street - a massive disadvantage.

Strategic context

Position is power in poker. Acting last lets you gather maximum information before making decisions. You can control pot size more effectively, bluff more profitably, and realize your equity better. Strong players open wider ranges from late position and tighter from early position. The positional advantage is so significant that professional players often fold decent hands from early position that they’d raise from the button.

Common mistakes

Players undervalue position constantly. They play too many hands out of position, especially calling 3-bets from the blinds with marginal holdings. They also fail to exploit their positional advantage when they have it - checking back too often in position or missing thin value bets. Many recreational players don’t adjust their ranges based on position, playing the same hands from UTG as they would from the CO.

Position interacts with every strategic concept in poker. Your pot odds calculations change based on whether you’ll face future bets. Positional awareness is fundamental to any serious strategy guide. The power of position explains why stealing blinds from late position is so profitable and why defending them requires careful consideration.