Anyone who’s read a few poker articles and logged a fair amount of time on the poker table, knows how important their own table position is. Being in late table position allows you to see what everyone has done before you act and made reads based on that. On the other hand, being in early position makes you more vulnerable to raises from those who act after you.
But one thing many fish don’t take into account is how their opponents’ table position should affect their own decisions. And when you don’t take this into account, you’ll have a lot more trouble judging the strength of an opponent’s hand.
For instance, if your opponent is sitting immediately to the left of the big blind and they make a large raise pre-flop, you can safely assume they have a good hand. If you’re only holding a pair of sevens in middle position, you should probably fold since their big raise and table position indicate that they have an excellent hand.
Looking at the reverse, if you’re sitting in early position with pocket tens, this is certainly worth a call. And if a loose opponent makes a small raise from the dealer position, you should call this bet. The reason being is that the opponent most likely only made the raise because they are sitting in the best spot on the table.
You should be using opponents’ table position to judge their hand strength on every other street as well. For instance, if you’re playing behind someone who makes a raise that’s twice the size of the pot on the turn with a board of 4-6-3-7, their raise makes it highly likely that they hit a straight. So make sure to use an opponent’s table position in accordance with their betting actions to get an idea as to how strong their hand is.
