Poker table positions explained
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Contents: 6 sections
Your position at the poker table is where you sit relative to the dealer button, and so when you act. Clockwise from the button come the small blind, the big blind and under the gun (UTG). At a full table a few early and middle seats follow, then the lojack, the hijack and the cutoff, the last seat before the button.
Before the flop, under the gun acts first and the big blind last. From the flop on, the first player left of the button starts and the button acts last in every Betting roundA round in which everyone still in the hand can bet, call, raise or fold. A hand has four: preflop, after the flop, after the turn and after the river.More in our poker terms. That is why the button is the best seat at the table.
Who sits where
Set how many of you are playing with minus and plus, then pick the betting round. The number in each seat shows who acts first, second and so on. What the seat names mean is right below the table.
Players at the table
Before the flop, under the gun acts first and the big blind acts last.
The seats and their names
- Button (BTN): the dealer seat. It is named after the Dealer buttonA disc that shows who is the dealer in this hand. It moves one seat to the left after every hand. At the kitchen table, the player with the button usually deals the cards too.More in our poker terms, the disc that marks it. From the flop on it acts last.
- Small blind (SB) and big blind (BB): the two seats left of the button. They post the blinds before anyone has seen a card, so they bet blind. They act last before the flop and first from the flop on.
- Under the gun (UTG): the seat left of the big blind. It acts first before the flop, with everyone else still to come. In everyday English, under the gun means under pressure, and that is how this seat feels: you have to decide first and don't know yet what anyone else will do.
- Early and middle position: the seats after it. The closer to the big blind, the earlier. UTG+1 is the first seat after under the gun, UTG+2 the second. Guides name these seats differently, some say middle position (MP).
- Lojack (LJ): the seat right of the hijack, three seats before the button. The name is a play on hijack, because this seat comes just before it.
- Hijack (HJ): the seat right of the cutoff, two seats before the button. The name is usually explained by what the seat can do: if everyone before it folds, a raise from here hijacks the good chance the cutoff and the button were waiting for.
- Cutoff (CO): the seat directly right of the button. To remember the name: if everyone before it folds, a raise from here cuts the button off from raising first. The cutoff and the button are called late position.
Who acts first
Before the flop, the player left of the big blind starts, and the order goes clockwise around the table. The two blinds come last, because they already have chips in the pot. If nobody raised, the big blind can still check or raise at the end.
From the flop on, the first player still in the hand to the left of the button starts. That is the small blind if they haven't folded. The button acts last on the flop, the turn and the river.
Here is a whole hand with six players, step by step:
1 The blinds Step 1 of 5
Before the cards are dealt, the two seats left of the button, marked red, put in their chips: the small blind and the big blind. Then everyone gets two cards.
With two players (heads-up) there is an exception: the button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop. From the flop on it acts last, as always.
Fewer players at the table
The fewer players there are, the fewer named seats there are. The blinds and the button always stay. The names are counted back from the button, so the early seats drop out first: with six players the seats are UTG, hijack, cutoff, button, small blind and big blind. With five, the hijack is the first seat after the big blind, with four the cutoff.
Whoever sits left of the big blind still acts first before the flop, so that seat is under the gun at any table size, whatever else it is called. At the kitchen table you rarely have ten players, so you are close to the button more often: with five of you, everyone is on the button every fifth hand.
Why position matters
Whoever acts later has seen what the players before them did. On the button you know on the flop, the turn and the river whether anyone has bet before you. Whoever acts early decides without knowing that, and many players after them can still raise. That's why you need stronger cards in early position.
The rule of thumb: early on you play only the strongest starting hands, and the closer you are to the button, the more hands you can play. Which hands those are is shown in the chart on our page about poker starting hands. How a whole hand plays out is in the poker rules, and what words like kicker or side pot mean is in the poker terms.
Questions and answers
What does UTG mean in poker?
UTG stands for under the gun, the seat directly left of the big blind. Whoever sits there acts first before the flop.
What is the hijack in poker?
The seat directly right of the cutoff, so two seats before the button.
Which is the best position in poker?
The button. From the flop on, it acts last in every betting round and has seen what everyone else did.
Who acts first in poker?
Before the flop, the player left of the big blind. From the flop on, the first player still in the hand to the left of the button, usually the small blind.