Part Five: Junk and what you shouldn't play

 

Deciding whether or not to play a hand in Texas Hold'em is the most important skill you will learn in the game. More than just learning hand selection, you must master it. Hand selection will become a defining characteristic of your personal style and your eventual success in the game.

 

Starting hand selection in Hold'em is more than just looking at your cards. Your position is also very important. Ultimately deciding whether or not to play a hand comes after your analyze your hand, your position and the bets your opponents have made, or will make.

 

 

Position is crucial in Hold'em because each position in the game puts you in either a naturally strong situation, or a weak one. Read below for information on position in Texas Hold'em

 

 

Early position is defined as the small blind, the large blind and the two positions directly after the large blind. As your skill increases in the game, you may consider the fourth seat as middle position, but for now, consider the first three seats of the game, starting at the small blind, as early position. These are the weakest spots in any particular hand because you have to act before a majority of the table does. You have less information when you make your decision, than the majority of the table does. Because of the inherit disadvantage you face when in early position, you will only want to play the strongest of hands, which will be covered in the next section of this article.

 

 

Middle position is generally regarded as seats five through seven. Seat four is open to interpretation, and depending on your skill could be seen as early or middle position. In middle position you can start to play less powerful hands and play more liberally. It is still important to keep in mind that although your situation is better in middle position than in early, you still have to be aware of aggressive or skilled players in late position.

 

Late Position

 

Late position is night and day different than either early or middle position. You have the distinct advantage in that you get to see a majority of the table act before you have to make your decision. Even stronger yet is final position, also called "the button." When you are on the button, you can use information from every single players decision to calculate the best decision for yourself. Because of the natural strengths that come with being in late position, you can play weaker starting hands.