6
6bet me
Visionary
Silver Level
I've always accepted that position is important - that you can raise a wide range of hands on BTN but you need to be much tighter UTG - but I've never really understood why. Let's take a hypothetical scenario: you have top pair on the river and you're contemplating going for a thin value bet:
Scenario 1: In position.
Your opponent checks to you and you have top pair with a decent kicker. You are contemplating a thin value bet, but you are worried about being check-raised. You don't know whether the villain is going to check-fold, check-call or check-raise, and if you bet for value, you could be bluffed off your hand, so you have to make a tough decision between a thin value bet and just checking behind and potentially missing value.
Scenario 2: Out of position.
You have top pair with a decent kicker on the river. You are contemplating a value bet, but you also want to control the pot and don't want to risk a huge raise which could put you in a tough spot. There is also the option of check-calling for pot control and to induce a bluff. But the best part is that you can make a small river bet which would have the same risk as a check, but more potential for thin value.
Basically, when you're in position, it feels wasteful to make a small river bet and risk a check-raise (risk vs reward isn't high enough), but when you're out of position, you have more freedom to make that small, thin value bet, since you'd encounter the same risk anyway.
So intuitively, it seems like being out of position actually gives you an advantage! Am I missing something?
Scenario 1: In position.
Your opponent checks to you and you have top pair with a decent kicker. You are contemplating a thin value bet, but you are worried about being check-raised. You don't know whether the villain is going to check-fold, check-call or check-raise, and if you bet for value, you could be bluffed off your hand, so you have to make a tough decision between a thin value bet and just checking behind and potentially missing value.
Scenario 2: Out of position.
You have top pair with a decent kicker on the river. You are contemplating a value bet, but you also want to control the pot and don't want to risk a huge raise which could put you in a tough spot. There is also the option of check-calling for pot control and to induce a bluff. But the best part is that you can make a small river bet which would have the same risk as a check, but more potential for thin value.
Basically, when you're in position, it feels wasteful to make a small river bet and risk a check-raise (risk vs reward isn't high enough), but when you're out of position, you have more freedom to make that small, thin value bet, since you'd encounter the same risk anyway.
So intuitively, it seems like being out of position actually gives you an advantage! Am I missing something?