“Relative position” refers to when you must act in comparison to the player who is most likely to bet on a given street. For example, if there are several limpers, you complete the SB, the BB raises, and everyone calls, it may seem like you have the worst position. After all, you must act before everyone else. However, since the BB was the pre-flop raiser, he is more likely than anyone to bet. If you check to him, you have not revealed much about your hand, and if he bets, all of the limpers must respond to that bet before it is your turn to make a decision. In this case, your absolute position is poor, but your relative position is good.
Here is a spot where I managed to improve my relative position by checking and consequently made good use of the information my check garnered:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 75/150 Blinds (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Hand Converter from HandHistoryConverter.com
MP3 (t11119)
CO (t19749)
Button (t7156)
SB (t6950)
BB (t12725)
Hero (UTG) (t6272)
UTG+1 (t10222)
MP1 (t9893)
MP2 (t15914)
Hero’s M: 27.88
Preflop: Hero is UTG with K
, Q
Hero bets t400, 1 fold, MP1 calls t400, 2 folds, CO calls t400, 2 folds, BB calls t250
Flop: (t1675) 3
, K
, 7
(4 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t999, MP1 calls t999, 1 fold, BB calls t999
Turn: (t4672) 8 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, MP1 bets t1950, BB calls t1950, Hero folds
River: (t8572) 6 (2 players)
BB bets t2700, MP1 raises to t6544 (All-In), BB calls t3844
Total pot: t21660
Results:
BB had 3, 3 (three of a kind, threes).
MP1 had 7, 7 (three of a kind, sevens).
Outcome: MP1 won t21660
This was from the Sunday Million. The BB was a pretty good MTT player, someone who’s been around and presumably winning for several years. The other two were unknowns and presumably bad. When I raise UTG, bet this flop into three players, and get called twice, KQ is not looking so hot. It may be good enough to take to showdown, but I am certain I can’t play it for stacks against the BB. God knows what MP1 could have.
BB’s check on the turn reveals nothing, as I’d expect him to check his full range (and as you can see, he did check a set, so it certainly didn’t reveal weakness). If I bet the turn, I give my most skilled opponent the best relative position and risk putting a lot of money into the pot drawing dead. Instead, I check, which no matter what happens puts pressure on BB to reveal the strength of his hand.
If MP1 bets and BB calls or raises, I can comfortably fold. With one player showing interest and me left to act behind him, BB will only continue with very strong hands.
If MP1 checks, then BB will have the worst relative position on the river. He can’t expect either me or MP1 to bet most river cards after the turn checks through, so if he has a big hand, he’ll have to bet it himself. If he bets into both of us on the river, I’ll be able to fold, and if he checks, I’ll consider value betting.
BB’s bad luck was my good fortune, because if he had folded the turn, I would have gotten it in with MP1. I wouldn’t have been thrilled, but you absolutely do see these randoms overplaying KT or A7 or even AQ in the Million.
Great minds must run in the same sewer. I put up a post on a similar subject today.