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Late Position

On the button, and in the position just to the button’s right (and sometimes in the position two to the button’s right) much of what is correct play is quite different from what we have seen in the early and middle positions.

One of the reasons for this is that you will have excellent position on all betting rounds which will enable you to make better decisions than you can make in the earlier positions.

This is because when your opponents check or bet, you have gained a great deal of information about their hands, while they do not have this same information about your hand.

This means that in general you should tend to play aggressively if the pot is short-handed, unless the blinds and the remaining players are loose. If the pot is already multiway, however, you should be less aggressive unless you hold a hand that plays well in multiway pots.

You should understand that if you are in late position and are the first player to enter the pot, any hand that you should play is almost always worth a raise.

This usually means hands in Groups 1-7, maybe those in Group 8, and even worse hands if you think your opponents are tight enough that you have a decent chance to steal the blinds.

However, if there are already callers, only normally raise with hands in Groups 1-3, and sometimes with Group 4 hands (except if there are many players, do not raise with unsuited high cards, but conversely be somewhat inclined to raise with hands as weak as Group 5 if they are straight flush combinations).

For example, if you holdand a lot of players are in the pot, it is probably best to just call (if there has not yet been a raise). On the other hand, if you haveseveral players are already in the pot, and no one has yet raised, then raising is probably a good play online poker

But we should point out that you need to consider your opponents before raising with a hand like 8♥ 7♥. If you are against players who not only play too many hands, but go too far with their hands regardless of the size of the pot, there is less value to raising.

Part of the reason for making this raise is to entice your betting opponents to continue on if you happen to get a flop to your liking. But if you are fairly sure that they will do precisely that anyway, then you should usually just call.

Another reason to raise is if you think it may “buy you the button.” Being able to act last on succeeding betting rounds is a major advantage. Thus with marginal hands may be worth raising if you think it will take that raise to get the button to fold.

Sometimes you can raise with some weaker hands in late position. This opportunity arises when you are against one or two callers who play poorly and did not enter the pot from the early positions (and thus probably have weak hands).

If you have a playable hand that would prefer to play against a small number of opponents, and that would prefer to play against a small number of opponents, and you believe that your raise will fold everyone out behind you, then you should raise.

This would include hands likeA7s, KJ,QJ, and even a hand as weak as QT. However, if you don’t think that everyone behind you will fold, you should not make this play and even consider folding some of these hands (e.g. QJ and QT).

One of the reasons for this type of raise is that against weak opposition (and, as usual, you always should consider your opponents when making your playing decisions), it allows you to “take control” of the pot.

That is, if your opponents do not flop a poker hand, and you choose not to bet on the flop, your raise may have gained you a free card. (More on this later in the text.)

Here’s an example of this idea. Suppose you raise a weak player who calls from a middle position, and you holdIf the flop comes something likeyour opponent will likely check and fold, assuming that he does not flop anything, since he now will fear that you have a king.You can also occasionally make this same play with a small pair or a suited connector such as:

The time to do it would be when you have very good control over your opponent, you are very sure that everyone behind you will fold, and the blinds are tight.
( Note: This will not usually be the case in many of today’s games.)

Finally, when deciding if it is correct to make this type of play you need to have a good idea of what your opponents thinks of you. If your play scares him, be more inclined to go ahead with this type of raise.

But keep in mind that these are volatile poker strategies that can backfire, especially if you have misjudged by your opponents. To call a raise cold you still need a very good hand, even in late position, However, if several people are already in the pot, even though it has been raised, you also can play hands like: