What is the truth about position?

Question

The conventional wisdom goes that somebody who acts last always has an advantage over somebody who acts first.

However, last night I was watching the Pokerstars Sunday Million, and one player did the opposite. All he did was get in cheaply on the small blind, and go all in after the flop. Hand after hand would fold to him. He ended up chopping the pot with another player in the final heads-up, although the other player had to get a lucky draw out to overcome a 4:1 chip disadvantage.

Obviously, he was bluffing over half the time, and I'm sure he only did this when he saw a favorable flop, but pretty much nobody called (except, amusingly, the guy who finished 2nd.)

So, what this tells me is that first-in vigorish trumps later position late in a tourney. In fact, this is not the first time I've seen this, but this guy was doing this from around 300 players left all the way to the final 2.

Answer 1

from what you're telling me, this guy was very lucky that he didn't walk right into a monster hand and get knocked out a lot earlier

gus hansen has talked about this idea before, that the one advantage to playing pots from out of position is that you can fire first at the pot...however, this really is only an option for a top player like gus, as he will have a better grasp than the rest of us on when his opponents have missed, and also he will only employ such a maneuver when he has the chips to make it work...also, the player you talk about in your question was able to move all-in consistently, which is much much different than making a small bet when both he and his opponents have a lot more chips behind...by moving all-in, he is able to take the option of the bluff away from his opponents, i guarantee you that if he were just making small bets all those times instead of just going all-in that he would have started getting raised most of the time

the bottom line is that it is always better to be last to act, just the knowledge of what your opponents are doing makes each and every decision so much clearer

Answer 2

The truth is, the conventional wisdom is usually there for a reason; it generally works.

The truth is, also, if everyone is playing conventionally, it is often wise to play unconventionally.

Obviously, if you are first to act and you bet, conventionally this means you have a strong hand, so it's more believable than betting last.  It's a very risky but occasionally very effective play.

Answer 3

I agree an early bet is sometimes the proper play but i think an all in bet with a small pot is somewhat foolish since you are risking your entire stack for a couple of blinds. If you lead out of flop with strong hand and get a couple of callers, this is a good time to consider a check-raise on turn or river. Good luck !

Answer 4

Wow this guy sounds sick!!

Some people see acting first as an advantage

Gus Hanson famously said that he likes acting first because he can be the first to bluff at the pot...

If this guy walked into a monster behind him like a full house or a set then boom its game over - so he must of been lucky not to walk into a hand