One of the first things you learn as a no-limit hold’em student is to avoid playing out of position when possible. Acting first on every betting round is a disadvantage.

Playing out of position is indeed a big disadvantage—against strong players. But, when your opponents play the less punishing style typical at $1-$2 and $2-$5, it’s not as big a problem. Here’s why:

The three-barrel bluff is a cornerstone strategy for in-position players. The threat that the button player can bluff you on all three post-flop streets—often getting all-in by the river—is the most powerful threat your opponent has.

It’s a cornerstone strategy, because without it there’s no reason to respect a button player’s aggression. Here’s what I mean.

Say you’re playing $2-$5 with $500 stacks. Your opponent open-raises to $20 from middle position, and you call in the big blind with K Q.

The flop comes K 9 4. You check, and your opponent bets $40. You call.

The turn is the 4. You check, and your opponent bets $120 into the $122 pot. You call.

The river is the 3. You check, and your opponent bets all-in for $320 into the $362 pot.

Without the threat of a three-barrel bluff, there’s no reason to call in this situation. If you can somehow know that your opponent won’t bluff three times like this, then you know the final bet can’t be a bluff. And if it’s not a bluff, it will be a hand that beats K-Q more often than two times in three.

This is, strategically, a very big deal. Because now you essentially never have to lose a stack in a hand like this one. You can call just two bets (folding to the third) instead of calling three, and therefore you can lose just $160 after the flop instead of $480.

I’ve oversimplified the math for clarity, but if you know your opponent won’t three-barrel bluff you, it makes all of the hands you play from out of position much more profitable than they would be against an opponent who will three-barrel bluff at an optimal frequency.

And, guess what? Many players at $1-$2 and $2-$5 will never three-barrel bluff. Others will do it occasionally—like when they flop a huge draw and miss both the turn and river. But very few $1-$2 and $2-$5 players will do it as often as they should to exploit their position fully.

So how do you take advantage of opponents who fail to execute this foundational play? First, you can fold to big river bets. Second, and less obviously, you can check more from out of position and “get away” with it.

It’s this second adjustment that helps you to gather information.

A lot of my students say they have trouble playing medium-high pocket pairs like tens and nines from out of position. In small stakes games, you can use checking to navigate the choppy waters. Here’s an example.

It’s a $2-$5 game with $500 stacks. You open for $20 with 10 10 from five off the button. Two players call, and the big blind calls.

The flop comes 8 6 4. The big blind checks, and you bet $60 into the $82 pot. Only the player on the button calls.

The turn is the A. There’s $202 in the pot and $420 behind. You could be ahead of a hand like 6-5, K-8, or Q J. Or you could be behind a hand like 8-6, A-7, or A J.

If you’re ahead, your opponent almost certainly has a decent chance to draw out. On the flipside, if you’re behind with 10-10, you’re often drawing to two outs.

Moreover, if you bet any amount at this point, you may feel like you’ve committed your stack.

So check. A strong opponent will usually bet the turn and, if you call, often shove the river. This river shove will sometimes be for value and sometimes be as a bluff. This is a tough situation to be in.

But chances are your $2-$5 opponent isn’t as likely to bluff the river. So you can check and, if your opponent bets, call. Then you can check the river and count on your opponent usually to check it back if you have the best hand.

Making the assumption that your opponent probably won’t bluff you twice makes the entire situation much less dangerous. The most you’ll lose to a better hand is the one bet. And you’re unlikely to end up folding the best hand.

It’s great to know that you’ll lose only one bet instead of two if you’re behind. But you can often improve even upon this by leveraging bet-sizing tells.

There’s $202 in the pot and $420 behind on a turn board of 8 6 4 A. Say your opponent holds 8-6 for two medium pair. There’s a flush draw, a three-straight, and a scary ace on board. If you check to your opponent, a typical $2-$5 player will be worried about getting drawn out on in a big pot. This fear will compel the player to make a big bet—almost certainly $100 or more, and perhaps $150 or more.

Now say your opponent holds 6-5 instead. You check, and he decides to try to steal the pot. This player isn’t worried about getting drawn out on, but he is worried about missing his draw and losing his bet. He will tend to bet a somewhat smaller amount. I’d be very surprised to see a bet as large as $150 from this player, and frequently I’d expect a bet of $100 or less.

Now if you check the turn and your opponent bets $80, it doesn’t mean you’re home free. Your opponent could hold a hand like 7-5 and be trying to keep you in the hand.

But if this is what’s going on, you’ll find out soon enough. After you call the $80 and check the river, your opponent will go for the big score. Since your opponent won’t shove all-in with 6-5 (this would be a big bluff we expect our opponent not to make frequently), you can just fold to a big river bet.

So the final strategy looks like this. You check the ace on the turn. If your opponent bets big, assume you are behind and fold. If your opponent bets small, call and check the river. If your opponent bets big on the river, assume you are behind and fold.

If your opponent checks back the turn, you can usually expect your opponent to have no better than an ace (perhaps with a draw to go with it). So if the river bricks, you can consider a big bluff (an overbet perhaps) to steal from weak aces.

Final Thoughts

Playing out of position is never fun. But it’s part of the game. And when your opponents fail to push their positional advantage by running three-barrel bluffs at the right frequencies, you can check to fish for information before committing stacks. It doesn’t mean you’ll never pay off a bad bet again. But if you’re consistently acting with more information than your opponents, you’ll see that lasting advantage in your results. ♠

Ed’s newest book, The Course: Serious Hold ‘Em Strategy For Smart Players is available now at his website edmillerpoker.com. You can also find original articles and instructional videos by Ed at the training site redchippoker.com.

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