Hold'Em - The importance of position

Whether you can play a hand or not depends on when you must act. A hand such as JJ is played differently, depending on whether you act early, middle or late.

Position implies the point you make your decision. Remember play always moves to the dealer's left.

If you are the first to act, you do not know how many people will bet after you. You can only afford to play premium hands, because with a good but not premium hand, any number of people(upto 9 in a 10 handed game) may be holding better cards than you(and you don't know if they are going to fold, bet or raise).

Conversely, if you are last position, you know exactly how many people are still in the pot, and if there have been any raises. Thus even with a not so good hand it may be worth playing, if there are not many people in the pot.

If you hold an AA, you know you have the best possible hand before the flop. Thus even if the pot is raised, and then re-raised, you can still call and re-raise, whenever you are acting. However, if you hold a JJ, and the pot has been raised and re-raised before it your turn in late position, it probably best you fold as too many strong hand have been let in. Similarly, if you must play JJ in early position, you want as few callers as possible, so you must raise strongly, and not just flat call, to force out as many people as possible.

In summary position, is key to your decisions about how much to bet, if any.