Which seats are at a 6-max table, and when does each one act?
Six seats. Position in Texas Hold’em is where you sit relative to the dealer button, and it sets the order every player acts in on every betting round. The button moves one to the left after every hand, so everybody plays every position over a full orbit.
| Position | Short | Where it sits | Acts preflop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under the Gun | UTG | First to act, left of the big blind | 1st |
| Hijack | HJ | Two seats right of the button | 2nd |
| Cutoff | CO | Directly right of the button | 3rd |
| Button | BTN | The dealer button | 4th |
| Small Blind | SB | Left of the button, posts the small blind | 5th |
| Big Blind | BB | Left of the small blind, posts the big blind | 6th |
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. From then on the blinds act first on every street, 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.
What are early, middle and late position?
Three groups, counted by how many players still act after you. The fewer there are, the later your position and the wider you can play:
| Group | 6-max | Full ring (9 seats) | Players still to act preflop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early | UTG | UTG, UTG+1, UTG+2 | the most |
| Middle | HJ | LJ, HJ | several |
| Late | CO, BTN | CO, BTN | one to three |
| Blinds | SB, BB | SB, BB | act last preflop, first after the flop |
What are the positions at a full ring table?
The same seats plus three more at the front. Names are counted backwards from the button, so the late seats keep their names at every table size and the extra players are added as early seats:
| Seat | Short | Acts preflop |
|---|---|---|
| Under the gun | UTG | 1st |
| Under the gun +1 | UTG+1 | 2nd |
| Under the gun +2 | UTG+2 | 3rd |
| Lojack | LJ | 4th |
| Hijack | HJ | 5th |
| Cutoff | CO | 6th |
| Button | BTN | 7th |
| Small blind | SB | 8th |
| Big blind | BB | 9th |
Some rooms call UTG+2 middle position, or MP. At a 6-max table the three front seats simply do not exist, which is why 6-max under the gun plays like a full ring lojack. The charts on this site are 6-max; full ring opens tighter from the added early seats and barely changes from the cutoff onward.
Seven and eight players follow the same rule: seats come off the front. At a 7-player table the positions are under the gun, lojack, hijack, cutoff, button, small blind and big blind. At eight, UTG+1 comes back between under the gun and the lojack.
Poker seat numbers are a different thing from positions. In a live card room the seats are numbered 1 to 9 or 10, clockwise from the dealer’s left, and the numbers never move. Position names travel with the button, so the player in seat 1 is the small blind on one hand and the button a few hands later.
What does in position mean in poker?
Acting after your opponent once the flop is dealt. If you are in position, they act first on every street and you decide knowing what they did. If you are out of position, the reverse.
It is a relationship between two players, not a seat. The cutoff is in position on the hijack and out of position against the button. The button is in position on everyone, which is the whole reason it is the best seat. The blinds are out of position against everyone after the flop, even though they act last before it. A straddle from under the gun buys the same trade: last before the flop, near the front after it.
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 your opponents check, bet or fold before you commit a chip. When you act first you are guessing, and every player behind you gets to use your decision against you. Same cards, same board, different amount of information, and on every betting round after the flop that advantage repeats.
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. 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. 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 seat comes round once per orbit, but the situation waiting there does not. In 300,000 hands played with the 6-max solver ranges PlusEV drills, the button found the pot folded to it only 46% of the time; about half the time someone had already raised.
| Seat | Folded to you | Facing one raise | Facing a 3-bet or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under the gun | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Hijack | 82% | 18% | 0% |
| Cutoff | 65% | 34% | 1% |
| Button | 46% | 50% | 4% |
| Small blind | 27% | 65% | 8% |
| Big blind | 0% | 74% | 16% |
What each seat faces the first time it acts. The big blind’s remaining 9% is the small blind limping in, and hands folded round to the big blind are left out, because it has nothing to decide.
That changes what to study first. The opening chart covers every decision under the gun but only half of the button’s, and the blinds spend most of their hands facing a raise, which is why defending them is a skill of its own. These are frequencies at a table where everyone plays the solver strategy. Real low-stakes games put more money in before the flop, so in practice you face a raise even more often.
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:
| AA | AKs | AQs | AJs | ATs | A9s | A8s | A7s | A6s | A5s | A4s | A3s | A2s |
| AKo | KK | KQs | KJs | KTs | K9s | K8s | K7s | K6s | K5s | K4s | K3s | K2s |
| AQo | KQo | QJs | QTs | Q9s | Q8s | Q7s | Q6s | Q5s | Q4s | Q3s | Q2s | |
| AJo | KJo | QJo | JJ | JTs | J9s | J8s | J7s | J6s | J5s | J4s | J3s | J2s |
| ATo | KTo | QTo | JTo | TT | T9s | T8s | T7s | T6s | T5s | T4s | T3s | T2s |
| A9o | K9o | Q9o | J9o | T9o | 99 | 98s | 97s | 96s | 95s | 94s | 93s | 92s |
| A8o | K8o | Q8o | J8o | T8o | 98o | 88 | 87s | 86s | 85s | 84s | 83s | 82s |
| A7o | K7o | Q7o | J7o | T7o | 97o | 87o | 77 | 76s | 75s | 74s | 73s | 72s |
| A6o | K6o | Q6o | J6o | T6o | 96o | 86o | 76o | 66 | 65s | 64s | 63s | 62s |
| A5o | K5o | Q5o | J5o | T5o | 95o | 85o | 75o | 65o | 55 | 54s | 53s | 52s |
| A4o | K4o | Q4o | J4o | T4o | 94o | 84o | 74o | 64o | 54o | 44 | 43s | 42s |
| A3o | K3o | Q3o | J3o | T3o | 93o | 83o | 73o | 63o | 53o | 43o | 33 | 32s |
| A2o | K2o | Q2o | J2o | T2o | 92o | 82o | 72o | 62o | 52o | 42o | 32o | 22 |
In the 6-max cash solutions PlusEV drills, the button opens 40.5% of hands and under the gun opens 17.5%, less than half as many. The chart library has the opening range for every seat side by side. 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. For the study side, see how to memorize preflop ranges.
What should you learn first?
The seat order, before anything else. The hand rankings come first and take an evening; after that, every 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.
The whole subject fits in one line: the button is the best seat because it acts last after the flop, the small blind is the worst because it pays first and then acts first, and every seat plays wider the closer it sits to the button.
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.
Quick answers
What is the best position in poker?
The button. It acts last on every street after the flop, which is why it opens the widest range, 40.5% of hands in a 6-max cash game, and makes the most money of any seat.
How many positions are there in poker?
One per seat: six at a 6-max table and nine at a full ring table. The names count backwards from the button, so the cutoff, button and blinds exist in every game size.
What does UTG mean in poker?
Under the gun, the first player to act before the flop, sitting directly left of the big blind. It plays the tightest opening range at the table: 17.5% of hands in 6-max.
What does in position mean in poker?
Acting after your opponent on the flop, turn and river. The player in position sees what the other does before deciding, so the same hand is worth more to them.
What is the worst position in poker?
The small blind. It pays half a bet before the cards are dealt and then acts first on every street after the flop, so it loses the most money of any seat. The big blind loses too, but less.
Where should you sit at a live poker table?
With the most aggressive players to your right, so they act before you and you see their raises before you decide. That is standard live-game advice rather than something our charts measure.
What is the hijack in poker?
The seat two to the right of the button, and the first of the middle positions at a 6-max table. At a full ring table it sits between the lojack and the cutoff.