How to play the most complicated UTG position in poker?

Content writer - Jan, 2021 -

Unther the Gun. The translation of the term UTG in poker would come to mean "the player who is under the gun." Does this definition seem exaggerated? When you start playing several games and feel the pressure to be the first or the first to speak, you will start to suffer.

Jokes and drama aside, when you are UTG in poker you should play with very little information, and this is complicated. If you are a relatively novice player you will be happy to be a UTG in poker because you will not have bets ahead ... until some dislikes take away this delusion. Realistically… what can we expect from this position at the poker table?

"Being the first to speak does not mean being the UTG in poker. If only 4 players speak behind you, you will be in a middle position and if you only have 3 or 4 left you will be a 'dealer' or 'cutoff' respectively."

In most cases, there will be a player behind you with a better hand, and the more advanced you are the more you will see it. At an 8-player table, there is almost a 25% chance that one of the players who is the first to speak will have a pair of cards in hand or AK and almost two-thirds of the time they will have a high pair (greater than 7) or two figures in hand. If you are new, maybe A5 or 10J, for example, will excite you, but you must be in another position to play it. At least to play it optimally.

When to play from the UTG in poker?

Perfect. Given this bleak outlook, will we almost always have to fold in these positions? And the short answer to this question is yes. In most cases we will fold a hand from the UTG in poker. But of course, there are exceptions. To see them, we refer to the poker odds:

A very powerful hand: Obviously, if you have AA, AK, KK, you will call. Right off the bat, it's a hand that you would push all-in with without thinking. This excludes pocket pairs like TT or JJ (to be played conservatively), or hands like QK…. in most cases! Now we will detail ...

How many blinds do we have left? If the big blinds are at 20% of our 'stack' it would be justified to extend the range of hands to TT, JJ, AJ or KQ, because we will hardly see a better hand until the blinds return.

If the blind means more than 35% or 40% of the stack, it would be justified to open with those 2/3 of the superior hand (two figures not paired in hand or a pair greater than 7)

Pair in hand: If we have a pair lower than TT in hand, we will call the big blind as long as it does not represent more than 1/20 of our 'stack'. If it supposes us a higher risk, we will leave, but with that 5% it pays us to take a risk in case we link a trio. The odds are on our side.

Outside of these situations, we will only play we will enter poker plays from UTG if we want to bluff, but that is another matter. It is important that you know how to differentiate UTG in poker from first to speak. It can be the same, but not necessarily. If you only have 4 left on the table you will be a 'cutoff' and you will have to adjust your game to that. And if you are 10, you will be under the gun even if you are the second to speak.

How do I play from Under The Gun?

If we play from Under The Gun with a powerful hand, we will raise. Even assuming that we have to go 'all-in' if someone re-raises or that they directly answer us with everything. If you have these hands you should not be hesitant. In case of good minor hands from UTG in poker tournaments, going all-in may be a good idea. It is not ideal, but we are in an unfavorable situation.

In the latter case, as we have already detailed, we will look for the call because the cost-benefit ratio can be very interesting. As you have already seen, playing UTG in poker leads to very counter-intuitive situations. But in the long run, the odds rule. To get shooting and experience in poker, it is good to use welcome bonuses, precisely because of this, because playing against the current before our intuition can be difficult at first.

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