Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

One of the most intriguing strategies in winning poker is how to play the button.

In most poker games, there are blinds that must be posted to start the betting. In Texas Hold'em, for example, there are two blinds that move around the table. The player on the button is the last to act.

Stud games whether high or high-low require players to post an ante. Again, there will be a 'button' player who is the last to act and herein comes the advantage.

Since the player on the button is the last to act, he already knows who has the power. If all of the players check to him, he can bet any reasonable hand or even a pure bluff with a great chance of success.

Sometimes a button player will get miracle cards. For example, there are certain starting cards in Omaha High-Low that are very powerful, like aces or even better, suited aces with a deuce-three. When you get such a hand, it's a no brainer. This is a raising hand because your chances of scooping the pot are very high.

While I have not played the button as effectively as I might have played, I have seen some very positive results come about in hands I have not played.

George Hardy, a former executive with Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas, was one of the most effective button players I have ever met. Indeed, George got a kick out of playing the button.

"Sometimes I play it blind,? he admitted over coffee at Binion's. "I don't even look at my cards. I simply play according to how the other players act."

Poker is a game of chance as well as skill. While skill accounts for 60 to 70 percent of your profits, a lucky draw makes up the rest of it. That is why the button player is in the driver's seat.

Let's say a player in the big blind raises the pot after all the other players have passed. I am on the button. What kind of hand can I call that player with?

Just about any cards in the deck!

It's true. Until the flop comes, nobody has a hand. The flop can miss the raiser's hand entirely. When that happens, you don't need a winning hand to beat him. All you need is a bet if he checks or a raise when he bets. Your hand is probably good enough to win.

Now the button comes to you only one time out of nine or 10, depending on the number of players in the game. When it does, take full advantage of it. Play the button well, and your bankroll should benefit. Play it badly, and you will lose, of course. That's why they call it gambling.

The other evening I was playing the $8-16 mixed game of Omaha High-Low and seven card stud high-low at Talking Stick Casino. I was on the button. The dealer dealt me queen, nine, deuce, four.

This is not a great starting hand in a high-low game. There were several callers and I folded my hand.

The flop came queen, nine, nine. On fourth street, a third nine came, which would have given me quads and a spin on the casino's wheel that could have won me up to $5,000. I lost that opportunity by failing to play the button.

There are different ways to gain an advantage in poker. Playing the button is one of the best. Let the games begin.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).