Playing the Middle Position in No Limit Holdem

No Limit Poker, Table Position
August 8 2008

When you’re playing from middle position it allows you to play looser and play more hands than you can in an early position. The reason is that you have more information and there are fewer players to play after you.

You have more information because more players have already acted and either bet, folded or called, giving you a better idea how strong or weak your hand might be. With fewer players to follow you, this leaves less chance that someone could follow you with a raise. This gives you the opportunity to play more hands that you would not call a raise with, if one were to be made.

All early-position playable hands remain playable in a middle position, and your list of playable hands also grows to include the following:

Smaller pocket pairs, such as 7-7, 6-6 and 5-5;

Medium-strength suited cards, such as A-9, A-8, A-7, A-6, K-9;

Stronger unsuited starting cards that aren’t quite playable in an early position, such as K-10, Q-10, Q-J and J-10.

These cards are only playable when you are calling a bet equal to the big blind. They are not all worth calling or making a raise with. They also may not be worth calling a minimum bet at all times.

You also must consider who has bet so far and how tight or loose a player they are. Remember, even though starting hand selection relies a lot on your position, it is not the only factor you must consider.

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