Position

Also known as: Positional Advantage

Where you sit relative to the button, which fixes your acting order on every street. Acting later means more information and more profit.

Position is where you sit relative to the button, and it fixes the order in which players act on every street. It is one of the largest sources of edge in poker — and it costs nothing.

The player who acts after opponents sees their decisions first and gets to respond with that information. The earlier you act, the more you reveal and the less you know.

• Best seat: the button — acts last on the flop, turn, and river.
• Worst seat: under the gun — first to act preflop, out of position the whole hand.

Crucially, position persists postflop: whoever is closing the action preflop (the button, or the later seat when the blinds fold) keeps the informational edge on every later street. That is why you play more hands in position and tighten up when you'll be out of position. Positional advantage compounds: more hands realized, more pots controlled, more thin value and clean bluffs.