pergesu
09-24-2005, 01:05 AM
This is going to be kind of strange, but I hope to grab a couple examples that illustrate it well. Still, I think if you just spend a bit of time with it, it'll make sense.
A lot of times you read in poker that your position is the largely determining factor in your hand. I've always just said, "Um, okay" but never really knew why. "Because you know what your opponent does" is never a sufficient explanation for me. Here I hope to explain my idea of why it is so important.
If I'm in late position, the first thing I determine is whether I have the winning or the losing hand. If I have the winner, I want to extract as many chips as possible. If I'm the loser, I want to try to push him off the hand, but risk as few chips as possible when he has a hand strong enough to play to showdown. The most common situation is when you're bluffing, so I'll cover that first. Every hand, your opponent has a pressure tolerance that, when met, will cause him to fold his hand. Sometimes he's got low tolerance - minbet and he's gone - and other times his hand is strong enough, in his mind, that you can't bet any amount that will make him fold. Most of the time he'll be somewhere in the middle..willing to call certain sized bets but folding to larger ones. When you have position, you create a test (throw out a bet) to see where he's at. You find out immediately if he's met his tolerance (he'll fold), or he calls and now you know that he can handle that amount of pressure. Then on the next street, you create another test. Here you find if he's met the tolerance, or you learn that his tolerance is too high for you to meet. When it is (he calls or raises), you're done with the hand. Now we'll talk about how if you have the winner. It's basically the same, but you apply it in reverse. Throw out a bet on the flop, if he handles that pressure, you can decide whether he can handle more. If he can, you can push it again on the turn. If not, you let some pressure out on the turn, so that he has room for more pressure (another bet) on the river.
Now to talk about when you're out of position. You know how much pressure you can handle, and you know that your opponent is testing you. But you need to find out what step of testing he's in. When he bets the flop, if it doesn't exceed your tolerance, you call. This lets you see where he's at in testing. If he applies pressure again, you know that he either thinks he can exceed your tolerance with more pressure, or has a hand that beats you. Now you need to see what his action is on the river to find out. When he has a strong hand or still thinks he can push you out, he bets, and when he decides he can't push you off, he checks. i.e. you don't know if his betting and raising means real strength or just a guage. (I include a bluff in real strength because a bluff and real strength would act the same on the river, i.e. bet it, whereas a guage just folds).
Okay so this is important, and is what makes a difference in position. When you're in position, the maximum number of tests you have to perform is two. But when you're out of position, the maximum number of tests that you potentially have to answer is three.
Now I want to point out that this only applies when you have position, your opponent is expected to check to you, and you're expected to bet. In other words you have betting impetus. A lot of this changes when the position or level of impetus changes, so I can cover other situations if need be, but you should be able to adapt the concept to those.
A lot of times you read in poker that your position is the largely determining factor in your hand. I've always just said, "Um, okay" but never really knew why. "Because you know what your opponent does" is never a sufficient explanation for me. Here I hope to explain my idea of why it is so important.
If I'm in late position, the first thing I determine is whether I have the winning or the losing hand. If I have the winner, I want to extract as many chips as possible. If I'm the loser, I want to try to push him off the hand, but risk as few chips as possible when he has a hand strong enough to play to showdown. The most common situation is when you're bluffing, so I'll cover that first. Every hand, your opponent has a pressure tolerance that, when met, will cause him to fold his hand. Sometimes he's got low tolerance - minbet and he's gone - and other times his hand is strong enough, in his mind, that you can't bet any amount that will make him fold. Most of the time he'll be somewhere in the middle..willing to call certain sized bets but folding to larger ones. When you have position, you create a test (throw out a bet) to see where he's at. You find out immediately if he's met his tolerance (he'll fold), or he calls and now you know that he can handle that amount of pressure. Then on the next street, you create another test. Here you find if he's met the tolerance, or you learn that his tolerance is too high for you to meet. When it is (he calls or raises), you're done with the hand. Now we'll talk about how if you have the winner. It's basically the same, but you apply it in reverse. Throw out a bet on the flop, if he handles that pressure, you can decide whether he can handle more. If he can, you can push it again on the turn. If not, you let some pressure out on the turn, so that he has room for more pressure (another bet) on the river.
Now to talk about when you're out of position. You know how much pressure you can handle, and you know that your opponent is testing you. But you need to find out what step of testing he's in. When he bets the flop, if it doesn't exceed your tolerance, you call. This lets you see where he's at in testing. If he applies pressure again, you know that he either thinks he can exceed your tolerance with more pressure, or has a hand that beats you. Now you need to see what his action is on the river to find out. When he has a strong hand or still thinks he can push you out, he bets, and when he decides he can't push you off, he checks. i.e. you don't know if his betting and raising means real strength or just a guage. (I include a bluff in real strength because a bluff and real strength would act the same on the river, i.e. bet it, whereas a guage just folds).
Okay so this is important, and is what makes a difference in position. When you're in position, the maximum number of tests you have to perform is two. But when you're out of position, the maximum number of tests that you potentially have to answer is three.
Now I want to point out that this only applies when you have position, your opponent is expected to check to you, and you're expected to bet. In other words you have betting impetus. A lot of this changes when the position or level of impetus changes, so I can cover other situations if need be, but you should be able to adapt the concept to those.