Poker Positions — The Complete Table Seat Guide

• UTG (Under The Gun): first to act preflop. Tightest — open ~15% of hands.
• MP (Middle / HJ): a bit wider, ~18-20%.
• CO (Cutoff): second-best seat. Open ~25-27%.
• BTN (Button): the king. Acts last on every postflop street. Open ~40-50%.
• SB (Small Blind): paid half a blind, but plays OOP the rest of the hand. Statistically the biggest loser.
• BB (Big Blind): paid a full blind — hence a discount. Defend ~35-40% vs a Button open.

From the Button you act last on flop, turn, and river. That\'s a massive information edge:

• You see what your opponent did before you decide.
• You can steal pots when they give up (Check-back → River bluff).
• You control pot size (small bets to price them in or out).

See also: Full opening chart, C-Bet by position.

Two players of equal skill — the one In Position (IP) earns 3-4× more than the one Out of Position (OOP). Rule of thumb: marginal hand OOP — fold. Same hand IP — play.

Take K♠J♠. From UTG (6-max) — fold at most tables. From CO — clear open. From the Button — open + 3-bet vs weak players. Exact same hand, three different decisions. That\'s the power of position.

Position doesn\'t just decide which hands to open — it decides how to play them. Early-position players (UTG, MP) should open slightly bigger (2.5-3bb) since many players remain behind who could join. Late-position players (CO, BTN) can open smaller (2-2.3bb) since fewer players remain. Postflop, the IP player controls pot size: small bets for cheap information, big bets when the hand is strong and the opponent is unlikely to fold easily. The OOP player must decide everything upfront — check-raise, donk-bet, or check-call — without knowing what the opponent will do.

3-bet ranges are also position-dependent: a 3-bet from SB or BB against a BTN open can be relatively wide because the button's opening range itself is wide. Against a UTG open, a 3-bet must be much tighter since the range facing you is already strong. See our 3-Bet in Poker guide for more.

• Opening too wide from early position: players used to opening 40% from the button keep the same range from UTG, ending up in marginal spots after a 3-bet.
• Over-defending the BB: BB is relatively cheap (you've already paid), but defending too many weak hands leads to a tough OOP hand throughout.
• Ignoring the 6-max vs 9-max shift: a 9-max table has two more early positions (UTG+1, UTG+2) before MP — a range reasonable at 6-max may be too wide at full ring.
• Forgetting you're OOP: continuing to bet every street without accounting for the opponent seeing your action first — leads to badly timed bluffs and overly thin value bets.