Playing fixed limit Texas Holdem preflop

Playing from late position

Clarification: This is how you select your starting hands and how you play them pre-flop when you are at late position at the table.

You have a great advantage when you are sitting in late position at the poker table. Then reason for this is that you know the number of players who have joined the betting round and you also know the raises that have been made by players before you. Therefore it is easier for you to decide what starting hands are suitable to use in the present situation.

Further advantages with a late position at the table:

Free card: A raise at a late position causes all the players who act before you in the next betting rounds to pay you some respect as they know there might be another raise in the next betting round. This is something that can be taken advantage of. Let us say that you at the flop have a draw and that you would like to see all the cards up to the river card. You however know that the least bet at the turn card is double the cost than at the flop. This gives you an opportunity to make a raise while the least bet is still valid – this might force the other players before you to check you when it is time for the betting round after the turn card. This gives you a “free card” which means that you by paying in advance have negotiated the price down with 50 % from the flop to the river card as the river card will be dealt without you having made a bet at the turn card. Unless nobody unmasks you of course.

Raise to steal the blinds: When you are first in it might be good to raise certain hands you otherwise had planned to call with in order to make the Big and Small Blind to fold immediately. Many players who play the Big and Small Blind are often very stubborn (often at their own disadvantage) when it comes to defending their blinds. If this is the case you simply have to disregard strategies like that unless you have a very good hand. Your advantage is still there as you always act last.

Making a raise to win a position: If there are one or two players between you and the dealer-button certain hands which you from the beginning had planned to use when calling might be worth raising with in order to win a position and thus act last at the coming betting rounds.

Bluffing? At a late position you are furthermore given the opportunity to get the pot by bluffing by making a bet if everybody checks you. This is however not to recommended when you play low limit Hold’em as many players are good at calling (REGARDLESS if they have good hands or not). My piece of advice is you take it easy, play tightly and use your position when playing.

I would like to warn for checkraise that players at an early position have as the only weapon to defend themselves against aggressive players at a late position. If the flop results in a monster hand for a player at an early position he will probably check the player at the late position and then make a raise if the late position player chooses to make bet.

From a late position you make a raise with these starting hands:

You call with these starting hands:

With these starting hands you as usual can make an extra raise even if a player at an early position already has made a raise.