ConceptsFoundations
Position
Acting last after the flop is worth money: you see what your opponent does before you decide.
What it is
After the flop the player closest to the button's left acts first, and the button acts last. The player who acts last on every street is in position (IP); the other is out of position (OOP). Before the flop the order is different — the blinds act last — but the blinds are out of position for the rest of the hand against everyone.
Position is relative. The cutoff is in position against the hijack and out of position against the button.
Why it matters
In position you decide with more information: you have seen a check or a bet before you choose. You can take a free card, check back a hand that wants a showdown, or bet when your opponent shows weakness.
That information is why hands realise more of their equity in position, and why the same hand is a raise from the button and a fold from under the gun.
There are also fewer players behind you to wake up with a hand. From the button only the blinds can still act; from under the gun, five players can.
The maths
The chance that every player behind folds equals one minus p, to the power n.
- p
- how often each player behind continues
- n
- how many players are still to act
Worked example
The same steal from two seats
You open to 2.5 bb to win the 1.5 bb in the blinds, with a hand that has no equity worth counting if you are called. Say each player behind you continues 10% of the time.
- The steal breaks even when everyone folds 2.5 / (2.5 + 1.5) = 62.5% of the time.
- From under the gun, five players are behind: 0.9⁵ ≈ 59% that all fold. Short of 62.5% — a losing steal.
- From the button, two players are behind: 0.9² = 81%. Comfortably above 62.5%.
Same hand, same size, same opponents: the seat alone turns a losing steal into a winning one. That is why opening ranges widen towards the button.
Try it
Pick a hand against a range and move the realisation factor: in position it goes up, out of position it goes down.
Common mistakes
- Playing the same range from every seat.
- Calling raises out of position with hands that need position to realise their equity.
- Forgetting that position is relative: the cutoff opening is out of position against the button.
Related concepts
- Equity and equity realisationEquity is your share of the pot if every card were dealt now; realisation is how much of it you actually collect.
- Raise first in (RFI)Raise first in: opening the pot with a raise when everyone before you has folded.
- Donk bettingLeading into the preflop raiser out of position: usually a mistake, sometimes exactly right.