Aside from the cards you start with, your position at the table is the next most important factor to consider.

If you’ve got the dealer button and are last to act, you’re sitting in late position. This is the absolute best spot to be in, because you see all of the action before you have to make a decision. You’ll see raises and re-raises and know you should fold a decent but not great hand, something you’d never know if you have to act first. Likewise, if no one bets or seems interested in the hand you might raise with the same decent hand, as odds are everyone else may fold.

If you’re first to act, you’re in early position, which is no fun place to be. Because the action rotates around the table you can’t avoid being in early position, as it happens to everyone at some point, but you can minimize the impact by the way you play. Since you have to act first, you’ll often fold marginal hands and simply not take a chance on a speculative hand. Unless you have a really great hand you want to avoid raising wars, so you tend to fold more hands than you would in late position.

If you’re between the two, you’re in middle position. This isn’t horrible but it also isn’t great. Your strategy should be somewhere in the middle, waiting for good hands but also being willing to raise with fair hands if no one else has bet yet.