It’s no big secret that late position While it's true that late position can be the most lucrative in poker, we shouldn't assume that chips will simply come our way just because of where we sit.
Understanding the advantages of late position and how to leverage them effectively is key to maximizing our success.
In this article, we present our seven best strategies for making the most of late position play.
Click any of the poker tips listed below to quickly access the specific tip you're interested in.
Tip 1 - Look for Button Steals
Poker is fundamentally centered around strategic betting and positional awareness. blinds Without the requirement for mandatory blind bets, the game of poker wouldn't function in its current form.
The button is regarded as the most advantageous position at the table, ideal for trying to claim blinds without opposition. Skilled players often raise 50% or more of their hands when it's folded to them on the button.
We pay close attention to opponents in the blind positions who aren’t defending their blinds as frequently as they should. If raising the button results in collecting the blinds more than 57% of the time, it represents a profitable play, even if we choose to fold against any resistance. Recognizing players who fold frequently allows us to expand our raising strategy on the button. open-raising range to include any two cards.
Even when facing opponents who aren’t folding often, we should avoid the trap of playing too conservatively from the button. It remains advantageous to play 40-50% of our hands when it's folded to us.
Check out this guide for stealing the blinds .
Tip 2 - Look for Re-Steals
Re-stealing is a strategy we adopt when we observe players making aggressive attempts to steal the blinds, as mentioned in the first tip. If an opponent is straying from optimal play while trying to steal, they become vulnerable to our re-steal attempts. A re-steal is essentially a counter-raise against a player aiming to claim the blinds. 3bet ( re-raise Naturally, without access to our opponent's hole cards, we cannot determine if they are genuinely trying to steal or if they have a strong hand. Thus, a 'steal' encompasses any opening raise from the cutoff position (CO).
As a general guideline, if our opponent folds more than 65% of the time in response to a 3-bet, we can profitably 3-bet with any two cards, particularly from the big blind where we don’t need to worry about players behind us holding strong hands. cutoff ), SB ( small blind ) or BTN ( button ).
While we tend to use a broader range of hands from late positions, one clear incentive to broaden that range further is the presence of weaker players at the table. bluff For instance, we’ve already noted the strategy of widening our button raises against players in the blinds who frequently fold. We should also consider increasing our open-raising frequency from the button when facing weaker players in the blinds.
Tip 3 - Target Weaker Players
Although these players may not fold frequently, their mistakes in betting size and frequency often compensate for it. Simply put, engaging in pots against these types of opponents benefits our overall win rate significantly.
Additionally, there are other methods to target weaker players when in late position. If players are limping into pots, we can seize the opportunity to make iso-raises, especially from the button, aiming for heads-up confrontations with less skilled opponents.
We may also consider expanding our hand range from the small blind if we suspect that the big blind is weak. This allows us to open our raising range and possibly incorporate a strategy of completing the small blind in hopes of facing weaker players head-to-head. preflop Here's how to identify the weaker players at the table. postflop Traditionally, players have hesitated to defend their big blind with a wide range because of the disadvantages of playing out of position in post-flop scenarios (unless facing the small blind). Recently, however, skilled players have recognized the crucial importance of defending, especially...
There are two main reasons to embrace this change:
When we cold-call from the big blind, we are 'closing the action,' ensuring we see the flop when calling against an open-raise. limping We essentially receive a discount on any big blind defense since we have already put 1 big blind into the pot.
Use this guide Players will typically cold-call about 27% of the time when responding to an open-raise. This is an average figure; they defend less against early position raises and more against late position raises.
Tip 4 - Cold Call Wide in the Big Blind
Defending the big blind against small blind raises can be particularly effective, as we enjoy the advantages previously mentioned, alongside guaranteed position in post-flop play. Our strategy for defending the big blind against small blind opens will be wider than against other positions. cold-calling ) the BB with a wider range.
The small blind can be one of the trickiest late positions to navigate. Unless it’s specifically folded to us pre-flop, we are not incentivized to play a wide range.
- When we confront open raises in the small blind position, cold-calling is significantly less profitable than in the big blind due to the potential players acting after us. (Here, we’re not 'closing the action'.) Moreover, our discount is less substantial; we’ve only invested 0.5 big blind rather than 1 big blind.
- We do still seek good re-steal opportunities, particularly against button opens, but we find ourselves folding considerably more often from the small blind than we would from the big blind.
On average, a competent player in the big-blind The most profitable scenario from the small blind occurs when the action folds to us pre-flop, affording us the chance to steal against the big blind. If our opponent is folding over 60% of the time to a small blind open-raise, we can comfortably raise with nearly any hand.
Additionally, we should expand our hand range when the big blind is perceived as a weak player. This can involve utilizing the option to complete from the small blind to set up heads-up pots with weaker parts of our range.
Check out this guide to the blinds in poker.
Tip 5 - Play Tight in the SB Facing Opens
Analysis of extensive databases has shown that a frequent mistake made by players in late positions is failing to adjust their strategy in response to varying open-raise sizes . Many understand which hands to defend in different pre-flop situations, but don’t modify their responses based on the size of the bet they encounter.
For example, consider the following scenario.
What does your defending range consist of?
Now to visualize that we are placed in precisely the same scenario but face a 2 big blind open-raise from the button.
How would your defending range adjust?
Tip 6 - Adjust vs Different Sizings
If your response is to maintain a 'mostly similar range', it suggests there are potential leaks in your late position play. While it might seem trivial, your defending range in response to a 2 big blind open-raise should be substantially different when addressing a 3 big blind raise.
This concept applies to various late position pre-flop situations as well. For instance, if we raise the button to 2 big blinds and encounter a 7 big blind 3-bet, how would your defending range shift if faced with a 10 big blind 3-bet instead? It should indeed vary, yet many players fail to adjust accordingly.
We are in the BB and face a 3bb open-raise from the BTN.
The cutoff position (CO) is often overlooked among late positions. Unfortunately, it doesn’t present the same potential for win rates as the button does. Opening from the cutoff risks attracting action from the button, increasing the likelihood of undesirable confrontations.
However, we shouldn't completely shut ourselves off from seizing exploitative chances when in the cutoff.
Here are a couple of scenarios to remain vigilant about -
If the button is playing excessively tight. In some situations, the button may be so tight that we can almost treat our cutoff position as a second button. For the most part, we can openly target the blinds, though we must recognize that the button will occasionally wake up with a strong hand.
If weaker players are sitting in the blinds. Occasionally, the players in the blinds might be so underpowered that attempting to engage them is worth the risk of potential action from the button. A typical raise-first-in (RFI) range from the cutoff might include around 27% of hands, and this can extend to nearly 40% when weaker players occupy the blinds.
Tip 7 - Expand from the Cutoff
It’s important to note, however, that contrary to the button situation, it’s exceedingly rare to push our cutoff raise-first-in more than 10-15% beyond its standard range. Typically, this would require extraordinarily specific circumstances to justify. (For example, three exceptionally tight players positioned behind us.) out of position , postflop.
Here’s a brief recap of our recommendations:
Seek Button Steals - Identify high-folding and weaker players in the blinds.
- Look for Re-Steals - Target aggressive stealer opponents who fold to 3-bets.
- Focus on Weaker Players - Adapt your strategy to engage more frequently with less skilled opponents.
Cold Call Broadly in the Big Blind - Consider cold-calling relatively wide from the big blind against open-raises, especially versus the small blind.
Quick Summary of Late Position Tips
Did you get all that?
Be Cautious in the Small Blind Against Opens - Cold-call more conservatively in the small blind when facing open-raises but remain alert for re-steal opportunities.
- Adjust according to Different Bet Sizes - Defend significantly wider against smaller bet sizes.
- Expand Your Strategy from the Cutoff - Seek out excessively tight players on the button or weaker players in the blinds.
- Timothy \"Ch0r0r0\" Allin is a seasoned player, mentor, and writer. Since kickstarting his journey in 2006, he has grown his bankroll from the lowest stakes online without ever making a deposit. After competing successfully in some of the toughest setups worldwide, he now shares his expertise and strategies through the 888poker magazine.
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