Whether you are playing Limit or No-Limit, Texas Hold’em Poker position will always be a key factor in any of the strategies you use. Pre-flop, early position means the player sitting to the immediate left of the big blind, the position aptly being called “Under the Gun” (UTG). Playing under the gun poses some challenges:
1. When you are under the gun, you are the first player to act before the flop, and the first to act after the flop. As a result of which, you land in a position where you have no idea of what your opponents are going to do before you make your betting decisions.
2. When you are at the early position, your opponents can check-raise you, trap you, and reading you becomes easier.
3. You are more likely to get exploited, bluffed and outdrawn when you are in this position.
We'll further help you with a few points to cope up with these difficulties. Well firstly, you should work on tightening up your game. Stick with only strong hands (except for when you are on a shorthanded table, of course). Always check out the hands to consider when playing from the early position (seats three, four, and five).
AA: A pair of aces also known as “Pocket Aces” is one of the strongest Texas Hold’em Poker hands, and you should always play this hand. If I had pocket aces, I would always bring it in with a raise. Emphasising on always playing the pocket aces, it means you should never fold before the flop. If you raise and are raised, continue raising as long as your opponents are willing to play. This will turn the tables in your favour: firstly, it will build the pot and secondly, it will usually force the opponents with small drawing hands like suited connectors and small pairs to fold before the flop. Your aim with pocket aces is either to play heads up against a single opponent or, at the most, against two opponents.
KK: A pair of Kings also known as “Cowboys” or “King Kong” is the second-best starting hands in Hold’em. You can play Pocket Kings almost the same way you play Pocket Aces.
With pocket aces, the objective remains the same but with an additional aim of hoping to force out the opponents who hold an ace with a small kicker. You should be vigilant when playing Kings, because if an Ace falls on the flop, then you will lose to anyone in the starting hand who has a single Ace.
By being extra vigilant does not mean that you should instantly discard your Pocket Kings in the face of an ace. But instead, you should make a useful strategy, i.e. to make an exploratory bet and see how your opponents react.
QQ: Pocket Queens is the third-best starting hand. Some players bring it in with a raise, while others limp-in (call) to see the flop. I always enter a pot with a raise with Pocket Queens.
Two Queens only figures to stand up if you can thin out the field. If you raise with Pocket Queens and get re-raised from the opponent in a later position, then you must use your skills to put them on a range of hands.
A single raise before the flop is an easy call in a Limit Texas Hold’em, but in No-Limit Texas Hold’em you need to analyze the situation more profoundly.
AKs and AK: AKs and AK whether suited or not, are the fourth-best starting hand in Texas Hold’em. It is a hand when played correctly will let you win big pots or lose you small ones. When you hold AK raise to an extent where you can tend to narrow down as many as opponents before the flop.
One of the vital things to remember about AK is that it is a drawing hand (the hand needs community cards to become a winner) and not a made one. Drawing hands nearly always need to improve to win and AK on the other hand will seldom win a hand if it does not improve.
If you hit either an Ace or King-high flop, then you have got a top pair, top kicker, which can be a great way to pick off hands like Ace-Queen or King-Queen and start hitting some bets.
On the other hand, if you flop a straight draw or flush draw, then you can call a bet to see the turn (depending on the size). But, it is essential to combine your range and bet your draws rarely, so that your opponents doesn’t read you like a book.
JJ: Pocket Jacks can be dangerous to the unskilled player. Before the flop they look good and let players enter the pot with a raise. The problem that arises is that if you have an Ace, King, or Queen on the flop, it forces you to play defensively, and your probability to lose increases if you face more than one opponent.
So, for this reason, if you think you can isolate an opponent, you must limp in with Pocket Jacks from the early position. Try to look at the Pocket Jacks as any other pair below Queen, i.e. the drawing hand.
Of course, if the flop doesn’t bring in anything higher than a ten, you must bet aggressively until and unless you are sure that someone has a better hand.
AQ, AQs, AJs, KQs: You can play these hands from any position, even if you call a single raise before the flop. The exception is that if a player is strong and playing tight from the early position, then you must consider folding. You must fold every other hand except AA, KK, and AK if a player who is playing tight raises and is re-raised before the betting gets to you. Otherwise, these are also strong starting hands.
If you hit one of your cards on the flop, opponents will also often bet (give you action) when they are holding a small kicker. For example, if you are holding A-A-10 and your opponent is holding A-A-8, your 10 is the kicker that beats the 8. This is the best position to be in. That is why, particularly from early position, the strong players rarely play aces with kickers below a T.
AJ, ATs, KQ, KJs: Depending on the skill of your opponents, you should fold these hands when you are in the early position. But, from the fifth position and often from the fourth position, you can play these hands. These hands are strong, but when the flop hits you, sometimes an opponent might have a higher kicker.
As a novice, it is easy to be tempted by a picture or suited cards, or any two-card holding that includes an Ace of a King. Thus, if you want to play Texas Hold’em correctly be selective of the hands that you deal with. Play only the best hand and don’t make the mistake of playing any two cards.