The order of action is set at the beginning of each hand: the player to left of the button acts first and the player who has the button acts last. Your spot in the action can make a big difference, and it should definitely influence the way you play each hand.

The later your position, the more information you have. For example, if you're on the button and you've seen a raise and a re-raise behind you, it's relatively safe to assume that your opponents are holding some pretty good cards, and unless you have a really solid holding, you probably shouldn't put any money in the pot.

However, if you're on the button and everyone folds to you, you have some options. A seemingly mediocre hand may actually be the best at the table. And even if you have a meager holding, it could be a good time to represent a big hand and raise.

There's a sort of continuum at the table. As you move from less favorable to more favorable position you can play a greater variety of hands.

In this tutorial, early position is considered the three seats to the left of the big blind; middle position is the next three seats, and late position is the final two seats. The blinds will be discussed separately.

If at any time you want to take get a feel for position play, head over to Party Poker where you can play for small denominations or play money.

Start by looking at early-position play.