How to Play from Early Positions

Playing from early positions requires a careful approach when selecting starting hands and forming a strategy. Mistakes from these positions can lead to difficult postflop decisions and significant losses.

In this article, we will explore key strategies for playing from Early Position (EP) and Middle Position (MP), focusing on adjusting your open-raising range, responding to 3-bets, and identifying the right moments to use bluff 4-bets effectively.

Table of Contents:

- Play Looser When There’s a Fish in the Blinds

- Fold Marginal Hands to 3-Bets

- Strengthen Your 3-Bet Calling Range

- Apply Bluff 4-Bets Against Loose 3-Bettors

Play Looser When There’s a Fish in the Blinds

From early positions, it’s best to stick to a tight and strong range. With so many players still to act, who can call or 3-bet, you’ll often end up playing out of position. This makes it harder to control the hand, so it’s important to have a hand strength advantage.

Nonetheless, when there’s a fish in the blinds, you have the opportunity to widen your range. Fish don’t like giving up their blinds and often defend with weak hands. As a result, you find yourself in a favorable position, playing with a stronger hand and having position over a weaker player.

In the preflop matrix, I chose the following hands that I typically use to expand my open-raising range from early positions when there’s a fish at the table:

In Hand2Note 4 reports, I focused on the spot where I open-raised from EP with one of these hands when the fish was directly to my left and I didn’t have position on them:

We see a negative win rate, which means I shouldn’t have entered the pot.

Now, let’s change the scenario and examine situations where I open-raised with the same range of hands when the fish was seated directly to my right, in the Big Blind:

In this case, open-raising becomes profitable, with my win rate reaching 37 bb/100. This highlights that merely having a fish at the table isn’t enough reason to widen your range in early positions. The key factor that makes open-raising with a wider range profitable is having position on the fish postflop.

Fold Marginal Hands to 3-Bets

One of the key mistakes beginner players make is often calling 3-bets with marginal hands, such as suited connectors or weak suited aces. These hands seem playable because they can make strong combinations like flushes or straights, but the probability of this happening is low. In reality, you’ll often find yourself in a bad spot, especially if you have to play out of position.

The main issue is that in a 3-bet pot, the stack-to-pot ratio is much lower than in a single-raised pot. This entails paying too much to chase a draw, while your potential reward decreases.

Additionally, regular players understand that from early positions, you only open-raise with strong hands. This means that their 3-betting range will be much narrower and stronger than if you were opening from a later position.

In Hand2Note 4 multi-player reports, I selected all tight regulars who, over a sample of at least 1,000 hands, showed a VPIP of less than 25% and a PFR of less than 20%.

Next, I filtered situations where these players 3-bet pre-flop in response to an open raise from an opponent on the Button:

Their 3-bet frequency is 11%, indicating a fairly wide range, including many weak and marginal hands.

Now, let’s see how the value changes when an open raise comes from EP or MP:

The frequency drops to 4.5%, indicating a much stronger range, with almost no bluffs. The narrower the opponent’s 3-bet range, the fewer hands you should defend with, folding marginal hands confidently.

Strengthen Your 3-Bet Calling Range

Players often 4-bet from early positions with all their strong hands. This can create two problems. First, if you always 4-bet with hands like QQ or AK, your 3-bet calling range weakens significantly. This makes you vulnerable postflop, as your calling range will consist mostly of medium-strength hands.

Second, by 4-betting with strong hands, you narrow your opponent’s range. They will fold all their bluffs, continuing only with their strongest combinations. In this case, you miss the opportunity to win a big pot, as weaker hands won’t even get to see the flop.

I filtered all hands where I open-raised from EP or MP with QQ or AK preflop:

Reports navigation in Hand2Note 4 has become even more straightforward. In the “Faced Next” report, I moved to the spot where I faced a 3-bet:

Comparing the Action Profit indicators of calling versus 4-betting in the “Next Actions” tab of the new report on the right, we see that, in the long run, calling is a much more profitable action.

Opponents rarely expect such strong hands in your 3-bet calling range, leading to frequent and costly mistakes on their part postflop.

Apply Bluff 4-Bets Against Loose 3-Bettors

When facing preflop 3-bets, you should defend not only by calling but also by employing bluff 4-bets. The best hands for this are those with blockers to your opponent’s premium hands, such as small suited aces (A2-A5s).

Suited aces also have postflop potential, as they can make flushes or straights, giving them additional playability even if your bluff preflop doesn’t work out.

Another good option for a bluff 4-bet is high offsuit cards like AQo or KQo. These hands are difficult to play by calling but they have enough equity against a wide 3-bet range.

When planning a bluff 4-bet, it’s important to evaluate your opponents’ statistics. If a player frequently 3-bets but rarely defends against 4-bets, it’s an ideal spot for a bluff.

We open-raised from the Early Position with AQ offsuit and faced a 3-bet from a regular player in the Small Blind.

The dynamic HUD in Hand2Note 4 shows that, on average, an opponent 3-bets from the Small Blind with a frequency of 9.2%, and then folds to a 4-bet 75% of the time, or 3 out of 4 times.

This creates an excellent opportunity to make a bluff 4-bet with our hand and try to take down the pot preflop.

Playing from early positions requires discipline and understanding of your population tendencies. Be cautious of unnecessary calls, and widen your range only in situations where it is truly profitable.

With Hand2Note 4, you can analyze stats and find ways to exploit your opponents’ playing styles. This will help you improve your strategy and choose optimal lines when playing from early positions.