Play from position

Hello,

I've read an article about a swedish girl who played a $4 tournament with 180 players. She won this tournament while she has seen only one hand. She played this tournament "from position" they wrote.

Does anyone knows what they mean with this???

it was annette oberstade and she won the tourny without looking at her hand by using players tendencies and her position, mostly from late position betting and continuation betting

Many top notch players say that position is so much more important that the cards you are dealt. Of course I would think you also need to have a feel for your opponents as well and how they will respond to your position and moves within that position. I think that shows top notch thinking on her part.

Playing in position means acting after your opponent(s) do so that you can see what they do before you decide what action you'll take. A common situation where this is advantageous is when your opponent misses the flop completely and checks. A bet by you, even if you also have nothing, will often win the hand right there.

On the other hand, if a straightforward player bets into you after the flop, it's likely they have a decent hand. You can fold, of course, but there's another play available because you're in position. You can call, representing that you have something too, then see the turn and decide what to do after you once again see what the opponent does.

I think that to play a tournament or two like this would do wonders for your reading abilities...lol i prob would look at my hand on the turn however....

I've tried it some tournaments, but when I "play from position" and raise 3x of 4x BB in late position there are always callers on the blinds or the button. When I make a c-bet after the flop they also call this. When I have to bet again this will be very expensive and can cost me the tournament. I'm not very lucky with this strategy so far...

y'all ned to get 'Harrington on Hold'em'. there's a bunch of us reading and discussing it now and he says 'Your cards are the LAST thing on the list and he shows how playing in position is much more important than the cards you're holding! And you actually CAN play without even looking at them! AND it makes perfect sense the way he explains it. A must read for ALL new players.

Man, I would have liked to seen that. Playing without looking at any hand. I find that hard to beleive.

I beleive in position, what better place can you be in when you have seen all before you do what they think is best for them and now you get to rule. Doesn't get better than that.

I tried this one time also. What a disaster. I really can't believe she was able to get away with it. i wonder if she looked at her hand history afterwards to see if she threw away AA and KK a couple of times. I guess its irrelevant since she won

Position is really key but aggression is the key in my opinion.

I play strictly tourneys now so please take this for what its worth:

MOST OF THE TOP poker players advocate aggressive play in tournaments because you need to amass chips to win, and top poker players are looking to win, not just get into the money. They point out that aggressive play gives you two chances to take down a pot: Your opponent might fold, or you might have the best hand. But sometimes simply calling a big bet when you have position on an opponent can be just as intimidating and profitable. Especially when the board looks scary and you have built a solid reputation.

How do you not look at your hole cards online? And position isn't everything when it comes to online poker. You can't see someone's face when the flop hits, or their hands tremble when they count their chips. There's no tells. And what happens if your opponent makes plays that you wouldn't expect? Aggressiveness causes one of two things for you, either A. buys you more pots, or B. is more expensive in a losing hand. Carlos Mortensen is the grand puba of aggressive poker. He's an OK player, but his reads aren't all that great. He's one of those players that is so stuck on being aggressive, that he will bet into a monster without even realizing it. In a heads up tourney, he went out on the first hand trying to bluff. Even the commentators were like, "What's this guy doing?"

Sorry, I went on a tangent. Anyway, I seriously doubt this girl did that ONLINE without seeing her hole cards. There's too many bad beats and donk calls that would hurt her too bad (or who knows, maybe they helped her). Either way, I would've had to see that to believe it.

Anything is possible, the question is could she do that consistently over a period of time, because that is what poker is about, Making the right decision and letting the percentages take care of the rest. Also, I agree timely aggression can get a player through a dry spell in a tournament.