Which seats are at a 6-max table, and when does each one act?

Six seats, and the button moves one to the left after every hand, so everybody plays every position over a full orbit.

PositionShortWhere it sitsActs preflop
Under the GunUTGFirst to act, left of the big blind1st
HijackHJTwo seats right of the button2nd
CutoffCODirectly right of the button3rd
ButtonBTNThe dealer button4th
Small BlindSBLeft of the button, posts the small blind5th
Big BlindBBLeft of the small blind, posts the big blind6th

The blinds are forced bets, posted before anyone sees a card, and they are the reason there is anything to win in the first place. They also invert after the flop: the blinds act first on every street from then on, and the button acts last.

That inversion is the whole subject. Preflop the button is fourth; postflop the button is sixth out of six, every single time.

Why does acting last make a hand worth more?

Because you decide with more information than anyone else at the table.

When you act last you have watched everyone else check, bet or fold before you commit a chip. When you act first you are guessing, and everyone behind you gets to use your decision against you. Same cards, same board — different amount of knowledge.

That is why a hand like K-9 suited is an easy fold from the first seat and a routine raise from the button. In the first seat, five players are still to act and any one of them can wake up with something better. On the button, four of them have already folded and you will be last to speak on every street that follows.

Position is the cheapest edge in poker. You do not have to study it for months. You have to know which seat you are in and what that seat can profitably play.

Which position actually makes the most money?

The order runs button, cutoff, hijack, under the gun, big blind, small blind — best to worst, and it is not close at either end.

The button earns most because it has position on everyone for the rest of the hand. The small blind loses most because it pays money before the cards are dealt and then acts first on every street afterwards — the worst of both arrangements. The big blind loses too, but less, because it has already paid a full blind and therefore gets a discount to continue.

If you are wondering why anyone plays the blinds at all: you do not choose. The button moves every hand, and you pay the blinds twice an orbit whatever you do.

How often do you even face each spot?

Every position equally often — but not every situation equally often, which is what actually matters for what to study.

You are in each of the six seats once per orbit. But how often you face an open raise from the seat to your right, or get to open a folded pot, varies enormously by position. A spot you meet twice a session is worth more study time than one you meet twice a month, however interesting the rare one is.

This is the argument for learning positions in frequency order rather than in seat order.

Where do players lose the most money by position?

In the blinds, and mostly by defending them wrong.

Two mistakes account for most of it. Players defend the big blind far too wide because the discount feels like a bargain, then play the rest of the hand out of position with a weak holding. And they open the small blind too loosely, in the one seat that is guaranteed to act first for the rest of the hand.

The button, by contrast, is where most players leave money on the table by being too tight — folding hands that are clearly profitable when four players have already folded and you are last to act.

What should you open from each position?

Tighter as you get further from the button, wider as you get closer.

That sentence covers the concept, but the concept is not what wins pots — the specific hands do, and there are hundreds of them per position. Here is the button’s opening range, every hand of it:

Button opening range, 6-max 100bb — PlusEV solver data, exported 2026-08-26
AAAKsAQsAJsATsA9sA8sA7sA6sA5sA4sA3sA2s
AKoKKKQsKJsKTsK9sK8sK7sK6sK5sK4sK3sK2s
AQoKQoQQQJsQTsQ9sQ8sQ7sQ6sQ5sQ4sQ3sQ2s
AJoKJoQJoJJJTsJ9sJ8sJ7sJ6sJ5sJ4sJ3sJ2s
AToKToQToJToTTT9sT8sT7sT6sT5sT4sT3sT2s
A9oK9oQ9oJ9oT9o9998s97s96s95s94s93s92s
A8oK8oQ8oJ8oT8o98o8887s86s85s84s83s82s
A7oK7oQ7oJ7oT7o97o87o7776s75s74s73s72s
A6oK6oQ6oJ6oT6o96o86o76o6665s64s63s62s
A5oK5oQ5oJ5oT5o95o85o75o65o5554s53s52s
A4oK4oQ4oJ4oT4o94o84o74o64o54o4443s42s
A3oK3oQ3oJ3oT3o93o83o73o63o53o43o3332s
A2oK2oQ2oJ2oT2o92o82o72o62o52o42o32o22
FoldRaise 3

Nearly half the deck is a raise from the button — and the same chart for under the gun raises less than a third of that. If you have not read one of these grids before, our guide to reading the range grid walks through what the colours mean.

Charts are also the point where studying stops being reading and starts being practice. Recognising the button’s opening range on a page is easy; recalling it in three seconds with money in the pot is a different skill. That is what the PlusEV preflop trainer drills — it deals you spots from each seat and asks what you would do, then shows you the EV of every option you had.

What should you learn first?

The seat order, before anything else — once the hand rankings are second nature, which takes an evening. Every other decision depends on knowing where you are and who acts after you.

Then take one position at a time, starting with the button. It is the widest range, the most profitable seat, and the one you will use most often, so it repays the study fastest. The cutoff next, for the same reasons in smaller measure.

Leave the blinds until last. They are the hardest spots in poker to play well and the least forgiving place to be learning, which is a bad combination when you are still building the habit.

Position stops being something you think about surprisingly quickly. It becomes automatic, the way counting pot odds does, and from then on it quietly improves every hand you play.