The Trouble With UTG

    When beginning players are learning some of the ins and outs of hold’em, one of the last things that they tend to pick up on is the concept of position. The problem with position especially rears its ugly head when you choose to play hands from under the gun; the first player to act preflop, and the third to act (if the blinds stay in the hand) postflop. Playing hands from this position is one of the most difficult concepts for people to grasp, and the general consensus is one of two schools of thought on the matter; either play incredibly tight to the point of just plain silliness (AA/KK/QQ) or play it just like you would any other position, disregarding the positional disadvantage. Both of these mentalities have their inherent flaws that will make using the specific style all the time terrible.

    The super tight mentality is the safe route for many players; “I’m just going to fold everything here except monsters, and everyone will know I have a monster and just stay out of my way.” In the same way that you wouldn't blow your sports betting bankroll on tough-to-win parlays, poker players shouldn't blow their poker bankrolls playing hands in unecessarily awkward positions. This may work out when the stacks are a bit shallow, but a smart, thinking player with a deep stack may think, “Yeah, I know you have aces, and that’s fine, you’re crushing my 46 of hearts right now. But if I flop the right hand for this 3 big blind investment, I’m going to take a few hundred big blinds off of you.” Just because you have an uber tight image under the gun doesn’t mean that players are simply going to roll over and die whenever you lead out; that’s why mixing in a random 89s or 33 from UTG every once in a while when deep stacked is a good way to keep players guessing a bit more. You’re not going to make a habit of opening here, obviously - being out of position can make the question of how to handle a monster flop far more difficult - but the occasional marginal hand will keep opponents at bay.

    The “business as usual” business model of playing UTG may seem alright to the maniac; hey, I was going to play 66 from the button for a raise, what’s the difference in playing it UTG for a raise? You’ll find out when it gets three and four bet back to you before you get the chips in the pot. When you play the button, a lot of information is already presented to you; who has folded, called or raise, the relative tight or looseness of said players, and the size of the bets and raises. This added information makes playing those sixes much simpler from the button than it does under the gun, without all of the information that makes those sixes easily playable or unplayable. The danger in opening and calling three bets with those hands is compounded by the fact that, unless the blinds are making the raises, you’ll get the added bonus of playing the hand out of position against an aggressive three bettor. That’s why playing UTG is the most difficult position to play in hold’em, one that you always have to be on guard of any time you play.