OK, class. This will be a short lesson, but it’s something we want to emphasize before we let you out into the real world of gambling ups and downs. That “something” is early betting. With so many hands being thrown in before the flop in a game of poker, pre-flop betting as important a part of the game as any, so it’s best to give it some thought.

The blind positions and the player who has to bet first must be more selective with their hands than other people at the table, since they don’t have the privilege of watching the other players bet and raise before they have to decide if they want to stay in the game themselves.

For example, let’s assume you’re first to play and you have a J-10, unsuited. The player to bet after you raises and everyone else at the table folds, except you. Now you’ve got a big dilemma.

The chances are fairly good that the other player has a better hand than you with at least an ace or a pocket pair. Unfortunately, you’ve already bet, because you had no idea or no way to tell what the other players at the table were dealt. In addition, you will always, throughout the game, be acting before this player, so his positional advantage will continue for the rest of the hand. Do you fold?

As you can see, the positioning is tricky. But it’s not all bad news being in an early position. Being in the dealer’s position not only gives you the benefit of observing how the other players are betting, but it also gives you the ability to adjust the size of the pot. After all of the other players have bet, a raise by the player in the dealer’s position could potentially double the size of the pot, assuming no one folds.

Poker is a learning experience, so keep playing and have fun and try to remember as much of the details as you can!