The Best Poker Position: Any Position

Everybody knows that the best poker position is the late position, particularly the button. But the secret few people know is that any position can be the best position.

Okay, so the button is everybody's favorite because it yields the best last-act options. Let's review first the button's benefits.

Being the dealer in a game (or being in the button position) is the most coveted position in the game. We have all the advantages in the game when we play the button. For one, we act last of all post flop and this means we get to see the whole play of all the players. This gives us enough information to come up with the most advantageous move in the round.

By hand-reading all the players, we see who has the weak and strong hands, who dares a poker bluff, who's playing loose and who's aggressive, etc. Second to being button is being somewhere in late positioning. Late position is being among the last 3 positions in the round, including the button. This is a lot better than being among the early positions. Again, like the button, we get a chance to watch a lot of players do their acts first before we set out to wager, raise, call or even fold.

Button is, of course, better than late position. Late poker position may mean we're second or third to the last to act. But button is the very last to act after the flop. But once we understand the ins and outs of positioning we begin to worry less about our poker position. We begin to understand the wisdom in "improving" our position rather than just waiting to have our turn on being button or in late position. We "set ourselves up" for a better position to "steal" the best position.

We "steal" the button by gaining strength and momentum as if we're on the button. The technique is leveraging---using what advantage we have to the full. It's something like placing a calculated pre-flop raise in late position in hopes that the button would fold. If the button does, then we occupy the button position, thus we've "stolen" the button.

With leveraging to steal, even if we come from any position, we manage to steal some pots. Even a suited hand J9 played from, say, a position 3 seats before the button may come out a winning hand.

When we understand the workings of positioning, any poker position would do in the game.