Poker Table Position: How to Play the Button in a Poker Game

Betting Strategy, Table Position
June 25 2008

Playing on the button gives you an instant advantage over your opponents. You will be last to act every round and will have the luxury of knowing what all the other players’ intentions are before it’s your turn. This affords you a bit of freedom when it comes to hand selection. You can play more hands for one simple reason: Players miss the flop more than they hit it. So if your opponent misses and checks the bet to you, you can often pick up the pot with a bet.

You can also get the same results with a bluff raise from the button, unless of course they have hit their flop. They will either raise you back, and you will know what’s going on and will be able to get off the hand, or they will call and slow-play you. If they just call they will usually check it to you again; if they do you can take a free card to try and build your hand some more.

If everyone has folded around to you pre-flop, it’s a high-percentage move to raise the blind positions regardless of what you’re holding. As long as they don’t have a premium hand, which will be seldom, you should be able to steal the blinds from them. The same theory works with flops that no one has bet into. Use your position to take down pots that no one seems to want.

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