Poker positions, explained.

Where you sit relative to the dealer button decides when you act — and acting later, after you've seen what everyone else did, is one of the biggest edges in poker. Here's every seat at a six-player table.

The button moves one seat to the left after every hand, so everyone rotates through every position. Before the flop, the player left of the big blind (UTG) acts first and the big blind acts last.

Every seat

share of hands to open

UTGUnder the Gun. First to act before the flop, with five players still to act behind you. Play your tightest range here.13%
MPMiddle Position (also called the hijack). Still early: four players behind. A little wider than UTG, still disciplined.17%
COCutoff. The seat right of the button. Only the button and blinds are left — open up and attack them.26%
BTNButton (the dealer). The best seat at the table: you act last on every street after the flop. Play the most hands here.38%
SBSmall Blind. Posts half a big blind before the cards are dealt, then acts first after the flop — a tough seat. Raise or fold more than you call.29%
BBBig Blind. Posts one big blind and closes the action before the flop, so you get a good price to defend — but you're out of position after it.defends

Percentages are the share of all starting hands worth raising first from each seat in a typical 6-max game. The big blind doesn't "open" — if everyone folds to it, it wins the pot.

Why position matters

Information. Acting last, you see whether opponents check (often weak) or bet (often strong) before you decide.
Control. In position you choose the size of the pot: bet to build it with strong hands, check behind to keep it small with medium ones, take free cards with draws.
Fewer players behind. From UTG, five players can still wake up with a big hand; from the button, only two. That's why the same hand can be a raise on the button and a fold under the gun.

Bigger and smaller tables

Full ring (9 players) adds early seats before the middle: UTG, UTG+1, UTG+2, then the lojack, hijack, cutoff, button and blinds. More players behind means even tighter early ranges.
Short-handed tables drop the early seats first. Four-handed, the first player to act is the cutoff; heads-up, the button is also the small blind and acts first before the flop.
Seats are named by how many players act after you, so a 4-handed cutoff plays like a 6-max cutoff.