Under the Gun Strategy

Playing under the gun in poker is a fairly weak position to be in. Unfortunately, it is a position you will have to feel comfortable playing in as every player will spend some percentage of their time in this position. Playing from under the gun does not have to be an exercise in patience and folding and you can actually use the relative weakness of the position to your advantage in some scenarios. There are many ways to play under the gun but it is important that you change it up to keep your opponents guessing.

Obviously, when playing under the gun at FullTiltPoker.net you should avoid playing most hands. As the first person to act, chances are whatever you are holding is going to be raised by someone behind you so traditional playing strategy dictates that should keep nothing but the best and avoid playing everything else. For the most part, this is the best way to go about it, playing nothing but the most premium hands in this position is the right way to go. Large pairs, hands like big slick, and other excellent hands are perfect for this position as you can use the position to mask the quality of your hand.

With that said, however, you can use the inherent weakness in playing under the gun to your advantage. Everyone assumes that when playing under the gun a player will play more conservatively and you can exploit this ultra-tight image that you get when you are in this position to your advantage. Sometimes making a big raise from under the gun with a mediocre or poor hand will push out most of the people who are acting behind you because it is signaling a monster hand. If you do get a few callers, you can usually push them out of the hand on the flop and collect a nice sized pot without having much in your hand.

Unfortunately, the above does not always work and continuing the push can be a very costly mistake. If you do get a call, it is likely that any and all callers have monster hands and you should be wary of what comes on the flop. Without a strong plan, bluffing from under the gun can have devastating consequences.

Playing from under the gun at Poker Stars is usually seen as an unfortunate circumstance because of the inherent weakness in having to be first to act. It is possible, though, to take this weakness and the ultra-tight play that people associate with this position at the table and use it to your advantage to not only keep your opponents on their toes but and some chips to your stack as well.