Terminology and position relevance.

[Doc]

Good day all, some exceedingly easy questions for you I'm sure.

I've been watching some poker on TV and some of the terms has me puzzled.

- What is a "three-bet"?
- What's the difference between a raise and a re-raise, is a re-raise just a raise that takes place after you've raised once?

Also, on positions, I've noticed the commentators talk about how someone is more likely to bet because of the position they're in, whether they have the button or not, etc. I don't understand what difference this makes.

Thanks for your time. :D

[Golden Holden]

Hi Doc,

First of all, a three bet is a reraise of a raise. For example, if blinds are $1 and $2, and one player raises to $6, this is known as the second bet. The third bet, or three-bet, would be a raise of this bet, say for example to $18. Three-bets are a large part of preflop play.

As for position, its similar in poker to in blackjack. In blackjack, the dealer gets to go after the player. The advantage for the house comes from the fact that the player could bust before the dealer even has to draw cards.

In poker, position isn't quite as important, but its still very valuable. The reason is because players in "late position" get to make their decisions after the players in "early position". Most importantly, the early position player has to decide if they bet or check, with no knowledge of what the late position player will do. Often this is advantageous for the late position player, as they can bet when checked to to steal the pot.

Players can afford to be much more aggressive when they are in later positions because of the additional information they will have to make their decisions. Another example... if three people are in a hand, and the first one goes all in, the remaining two players decide if they will play in order. This means the third player gets to see if the second player will call before making his or her own decision. This can be a huge advantage.

I hope this answers your question.

Also check out http://www.texasholdem-poker.com/position