More about position

[alfa-male]

It is said that one should play looser on preflop the closer one is to the button. So, if im in the middle position and the preflop is folded to me, i should play cards that i woudln´t from early position ? The less premium ones, but not drawing cards.

In a 10 player table, usually at least one person has premium cards in preflop. If the round is indeed folded to me, then, it´s likely that some one behind me holds those premium cards. That leaves me with a less good hand against a premium hand.

Conclusion: I should play only with a premium hand if there has been no action before me ?

And i want to thank all of you who answered my previous position post [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[fabadam]

From another relative beginner.

For me, I call more broadway cards that I would not open in early position, hands like ATo and KJo. Also open-call slightly more pocket pairs, down to 77 or 66 or so.

You can also open-raise more, especially in the last MP, where you are in fact alreadt blind-stealing.

I have stopped open-limping drawing hands like low suited connectors: they need more players in the pot to make money.

[Ampelmann]

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In a 10 player table, usually at least one person has premium cards in preflop. If the round is indeed folded to me, then, it´s likely that some one behind me holds those premium cards.

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This conclusion is wrong. Just because several have folded already does not make it more likely for someone behind you to have a premium holding. The people in front could have folded Ax and Kx hands, making it less likely for someone behind to hold AK.

If you are in MP and it's folded to you, you might fold hands you would have played with limpers (hands that require multyway action), but you should lower your raising standards, esp if the players behind you are tight. You might raise KJ 1st in, if you're lucky they fold AT or AJ.

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Conclusion: I should play only with a premium hand if there has been no action before me?

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If your conclusion would be correct you should never play anything worse than AJs [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] .

[Ampelmann]

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For me, I call more broadway cards that I would not open in early position, hands like ATo and KJo. Also open-call slightly more pocket pairs, down to 77 or 66 or so.

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From middle position first in you should consider raising ATo as well as 77, esp from MP3 and if players behind you are tight.

[lautzutao]

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It is said that one should play looser on preflop the closer one is to the button. So, if im in the middle position and the preflop is folded to me, i should play cards that i woudln´t from early position ? The less premium ones, but not drawing cards.

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Yes, the closer to the button you get with no limpers, the stronger high card strength becomes. Hands like KTo, which you would normally limp with(or fold) you should consider raising. Other hands(like T9s) should be discarded, simply because there are less players in the pot.

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In a 10 player table, usually at least one person has premium cards in preflop. If the round is indeed folded to me, then, it´s likely that some one behind me holds those premium cards. That leaves me with a less good hand against a premium hand.

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I disagree with this statement. Premium holdings are fairly rare. While I agree that the likelyhood increases of it occuring after you, it's not enough to worry that it's going to be there: don't fear monsters under the bed or you'll only end up playing QQ KK AA and AK[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I hope that makes sense.

[kazana]

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In a 10 player table, usually at least one person has premium cards in preflop. If the round is indeed folded to me, then, it´s likely that some one behind me holds those premium cards. That leaves me with a less good hand against a premium hand.

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It may be likely that someone behind you has a better hand. But keep in mind that you'll have less competition on the flop.
On these levels open limping often seems to open a can of worms. As soon as the first guy limps, every player behind him seems to follow with 30-50% probability (no hard numbers here, just how I perceive it). Count those guys in.

If it is down to you vs viallain with good (read: "better") hand, don't forget that you're rarely more than 3-1 behind (a lot more often it'll be 2-1 instead). You may well hit a flop that suits you a lot better than him. And while you can put down your weak/mediocre holdings without hesitation, he'll have a much harder time doing so.

Just make sure you're a disciplined folder.

[skillzilla]

so if mp3 raises, then more hands become coldcallable?

[Ampelmann]

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so if mp3 raises, then more hands become coldcallable?

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I'd still fold hands that are easily to dominated (KJ, AJo, maybe AJs, depending on reads). I also fold middle pocket pairs since their implied odds when making a set go down.

I'd need a very good read on a player that open-raises from MP3 to lower my coldcalling standards. And if I have a read that villain is open-raising with a wide range of hands from MP, most hands I would coldcall with are prolly worth a 3-bet.

[lautzutao]

No. It means you should be possibly 3-betting a wider range.

[Sushiglutton]

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In a 10 player table, usually at least one person has premium cards in preflop. If the round is indeed folded to me, then, it´s likely that some one behind me holds those premium cards. That leaves me with a less good hand against a premium hand.



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This is the wrong way to think. The probability that someone has a good hand is (almost) independent from what the other players have. That means that if each player has a 10% chance to have a good hand and five players fold to u, the players behind still have 10% chance each to have a premium hand.

Let's say u are UTG. Now there are nine people behind u. The chance that at least one holds a premium hand is:

1-0.9^9 = 60% (approx) (1-the chance nobody has a hand)


If u are on the button and everyone folded to u:

1-0.9^2 = 20% (approx)

So the risk that somebody has a hand is much lower on the button when 7 players have folded than UTG.