PokerPre–flop. Position Position Position!
Each hand that you are dealt in Texas hold’em has a certain monetary value. This is the money that you will make on average each time you see the flop. For certain hands, like TT, JJ and AQ it’s a reasonably high figure (the actual amount depends on how good you and your opponents play). Other hands, however, are worth much less, for example hands like QJo, 78s, KTo and so on are only barely profitable; even for very good players. Worse hands will have a negative value.
Hold’em is very much a game of position. The better position you are in, both pre and post flop, the better you will be able to play a hand. So the position you are in directly affects the profitability of a hand. Obviously for great hands like aces or AK, the value of the hand far exceeds the drawback bad position brings. However the key to playing pre–flop is knowing in what position mediocre hands become profitable.
So the best pre–flop strategy is one that makes you play very tight in early position, and gradually becomes looser until you get to the button. Being on the button, and on the cutoff to a lesser extent, is such an advantage that it makes playing even sub par hands profitable. Many mid and high stakes winners will open–raise from the cutoff and button with more than 50% of hands. A normal opening range would be (+ means "and all better hands")
UTG: ATs+, AJo+, 55+
UTG+;1: A8s+ ATo+, KQo+,QJs+,22+
Cutoff: A2s+ A8o+, T9o, 56s+, 22+
Button: A2s+ A2o+ 78o+, 34s+, 22+
So now we have an idea of roughly what hands to play. What should we do with those hands? Well assuming no–one else is in the pot yet, we should raise with them. 6 handed play is all about winning as many blinds as possible. Its who wins the majority of the small and medium pots that wins big in the end. When you raise pre–flop you give yourself the best chance to win the pot. Either you win it pre–flop (if no–one calls), or you win it on the flop with a continuation bet. (And sometimes you will even have the best hand!)
So if it’s folded to you, you have two choices. Raise, or fold. However should someone (or some few) have limped before you, you now have a third choice, calling. This is a much more difficult decision and will be dealt with in a later article. The most important factors to pay attention to are: position, the players’ likely hands and their skill level, your image, and your own hand of course. For example, if you know someone is only raising premium pairs from UTG, then you can fold trouble hands like AQo and "set mine" with all low pairs
Remember, whilst thinking about a pre–flop strategy, that it pays to be unpredictable. For the majority of the time you should stick to the recommended starting hands I have outlined above, however, if you play every hand by those rules you will make your opponent’s life easier as they will be able to correctly gauge the strength of your hand from your position. Don’t forget your opponents will only see a showdown from you in a very small number of hands, and will make assumptions based upon that showdown. So doing things like raising 78o utg from time to time can be valuable, as this will lead them to make unrealistic assumptions about your range.
Playing from the blinds brings up its own set of problems. Now you know you are almost certainly going to be out of position for the hand. If it’s limped to you, you should seriously consider folding most hands from the small blind. The positional disadvantage is so great that it makes up for the attractive pot odds. Even the most successful cash game players struggle to break even from the small blind and the multiple of bets saved by not calling can be significant at the end of a session. When on the big blind you will often get to see the flop for free. This isn’t as great as it seems and you should often consider raising the unraised pot.
Deciding which hands to raise with from the blinds is a difficult conundrum. On one hand it can be very hard to play hands out of position, so it makes sense to keep the pot small. On the other hand a pre–flop raise will make it much more likely that strong starting hands like TT, JJ or AQ will win after the flop. By bringing down the number of opponents (not all of them will call your raise) you reduce the chance that your hand will be outdrawn and can proceed to fire a big flop bet with less risk. The only solution is to experiment and come up with a range and style that suits you.
One move that all players should make, however, is very occasionally making a largish raise from the blinds with absolute rags. If everyone has limped it means it’s unlikely anyone has a good hand. This also has the benefit of confusing your opponents and weakening their implied odds when you do have a real hand in this position. It’s better to raise 52o here than A2o, as the chance of making a good but second best hand is lessened; and its very unlikely you will get to a showdown unimproved, so the ace high has very little value.
What to do when someone raises and you have a good hand in the blinds is a complicated subject, and one best left for another article. Best of luck!
Glossary
T (as in KT) = ten
o (as in KTo)= off suit
s (as in 78s) = suited
the cutoff = the position to the right of the button
"set mine" = playing small pairs, knowing you are behind, hoping to hit a set (three of a kind). The plan is to throw the hand away if you miss the flop
limp = entering a pot without raising.
"open–raise" = being the first person to bet in a hand and doing so by raising. Similiarly "open–limp" refers to entering the pot first with a call rather than a raise.