Early Position (EP)
Early position means being one of the first players to act in a betting round.
The simple explanation
Early position refers to the seats that act first before the flop, just to the left of the big blind. A player in early position has to decide with little information about what others will do. This is the weakest position, so players generally play fewer hands from there.
A closer look
Acting early is a disadvantage because you have no information about the opponents' actions. For that reason, players open with stronger hands in early position and widen their ranges as they move closer to the button. The first seat is called under the gun, followed by under the gun plus one and so on.
A practical example
At a nine-player table, the three players to the left of the big blind are in early position. They act first and fold most of their hands.
Full explanation
Early position means being one of the first players to act in a betting round.
Early position refers to being one of the first players to act in a round of betting. In hold’em it usually means the first two or three seats clockwise of the big blind.
These players are also called under the gun, with variations such as UTG+1 and UTG+2. They must decide with little knowledge of what the others will do.
Because the position is a disadvantage, players open a narrower range of hands from it. Strong hands such as high pairs and ace-king are standard.
The opposite is late position, where players act after most of the others.
Alternative spelling: Early Position, EP
Under the gun
No-limit Hold’em · Blinds 1/2 chips · No rake
Player D is under the gun, immediately clockwise after the big blind. This is the first seat to act before the flop.
Read the example transcript
- Preflop · Pot: 3 chips
Player D is under the gun, immediately clockwise after the big blind. This is the first seat to act before the flop.
- Player A BTN AAce of clubs (Ac)QQueen of diamonds (Qd) · Stack 200 · In this round 0
- Player B SB KKing of hearts (Kh)JJack of diamonds (Jd) · Stack 199 · In this round 1
- Player C BB 99 of clubs (9c)99 of hearts (9h) · Stack 198 · In this round 2
- Player D UTG 77 of hearts (7h)66 of hearts (6h) · Stack 200 · In this round 0
- Player E HJ 55 of clubs (5c)55 of diamonds (5d) · Stack 200 · In this round 0
- Player F CO 1010 of spades (Ts)88 of spades (8s) · Stack 200 · In this round 0
Cards are shown for learning; totals are displayed before pot collection.