Playing Texas Holdem Poker Under the Gun

In Texas holdem poker it is no exaggeration to emphasize over and over again to both new and experienced poker players that position is of paramount importance at a Texas holdem poker table.

One of the most difficult positions to be sitting at is the position of first to act or being “under the gun”.

To put it another way, a poker game that has several players makes it extremely difficult for the player that is first to act before the flop as he still will be out of position if he makes it to the flop without folding his hand.  Poker hands such as queen-jack, which may be playable from a late position, are often tossed into the muck by players having to play such hands from out of position such as having to act first at the table before the flop.

We will stay with that example of such poker hands as queen-jack from the position at the table of being the first to act before the flop.  If the player in that position holding such marginal hands tries to limp in, (making a minimum call bet), he is first demonstrating and indicating weakness but he is also likely wasting his money as the other players that have the same type of marginal hands, or superior hands for that matter, and good late position will call the limper’s bet or, in many cases, raise the bet.

That forces the player who limped in from under the gun to either have to throw such marginal hands into the muck or to become pot committed by calling the raise.  Neither of those options is very appealing and both could have been avoided by throwing the hand away at the beginning. Even if the under the gun poker player makes a pair of queens on the flop after he had to call a raise of another player at the table, it is important to realize that the player that raised before the flop likely has one of the stronger hands and if he comes out firing with another raise after the flop, its unlikely that the ladies will hold up against such hands.

Texas holdem poker players playing marginal hands out of position is a sure fire way to lose chips in a short amount of time.  Even with powerhouse pocket poker hands such as aces it is good to play defensively from under the gun and suck the other poker players in.  Remember that position is extremely important in Texas holdem and being in the “under the gun” position should automatically tell you to throw nearly every hand into the muck. It will save you a lot of grief and more importantly chips in the long run.