Although we touched on it in Lesson 1, we’ll now take a deeper look at the importance of seat position, and how where you sit during a game can seriously affect the outcome.

The importance of positioning can’t be stressed enough. Even if the same cards turn out in the same order, the results will be vastly different depending on where you’re sitting. Hands that are playable or winning combinations in late positions will often be unplayable in earlier positions.

So how does it work? Well, if you are first, second or third to play after the dealer, you are said to be in “early” position (also known as “up front”). If you are the dealer (also known as “playing the button”) or are one or two seats to the right of the dealer, you are in “late” position. All players in-between (and normally facing the dealer across the table) are in “middle” position.

If you’re in early position, the type of hands you’re forced to play are restricted to high cards as, of course, you have no way of knowing what other, later players are holding.

While playing in middle position, you’ll have callers waiting behind you and some who have already played. The chance of a raise is slightly reduced and there are already several players in the pot, so you’ll get better odds playing somewhat weaker hands than normal.

When you are in late position you have the advantage of having seen almost every play so far, and you’ll at least know how other players feel about their hands by the way they’ve checked, bet, raised or re-raised.

If you are playing the button (i.e. the dealer), you are last to act in each betting round of that hand, which is a major advantage. As with late positions, you can play a much weaker hand than normal and can optimize the use of bluffs, particularly as the game progresses.

The next time you’re playing, take a look at where you’re sitting in relation to the dealer and think twice about your hand. It could make all the difference!