‘Position is prime!’ It’s a statement you’ll hear over and over during TV tournaments, but it’s very rarely explained.

‘Position’ refers to your proximity to the button, which represents the nominal dealer. Online this is done automatically, but the button is there to show who would be dealing and who must pay the blinds (forced bets to instigate action).

You can find these – small and big – to the left of the button. These are also the last to act during the opening round of betting (dependant on the strength of your hole cards), but are the first to act in all other betting rounds.

It’s universally accepted that you’re in the best position if you’re in button, as you have the benefit of seeing everyone else’s decisions prior to making your own: to check, bet, raise or fold. Furthermore, if you hold the button you’re ideally placed to make an attack on the blinds – commonly known as a ‘button raise’ or ‘button steal’.

The beauty of button raises is you only have to get past two players (the small and big blinds) and considering the probability of either holding a pocket pair is 16/1 and any Ace nearly 6/1, you often do. It’s very hard to contest a raise with no hand even if you strongly suspect your chips are being stolen by a move-maker in possession of the button.

When considering which hands to play, the decision-making process invariably involves ‘position’. Basically, the later your position the stronger the likelihood of none of the remaining (yet-to-act) players having a sizeable hand. Likewise, if you’re one of the first to act – in an early position – there’s a greater possibility of a powerful hand being among the players who have yet to be offered their option of folding, calling or raising.

Considering this, you should only call in an early position with a powerful hand. The likes of 9-10 suited are nice cards to limp into a multi-way pot with in a late position for example, but doing so in an early position is unwise and invariably costly. All it takes is one big raise from the players behind you and you’ve effectively just given them free chips.

Similarly, a hand such as A -10 can be used to raise with in a late position as it offers a lot of value against one or possibly two opponents. If you’re a more aggressive player you might even see them as worth a raise in middle positions. But the hard and fast rule is that if you want to win you’d muck the cards at the early stages of a tournament as one of the first players to act.

Obviously these rules vary depending on how many players are left in. If you’re under the gun with only two other opponents you can call and raise with a lot less than when you’re staring down the barrel of a full ten-man table.

But what’s a powerful hand? It’s always good to see a pocket pair but you need to play them properly. I can’t stress enough that it’s folly not to raise when holding a big pocket pair. Pocket Aces are a huge favourite over any other single hand, but consider the following percentages - pocket Aces have an 80 percent chance of prevailing against 6♦-9♥. However, throw in a J♣-Q♣ and this drops to 62 percent.

Stick two more random cards into the mix and the Aces are now favourite to lose. It’s ironic, but raising with Aces guarantees the chances of you taking on a player holding a good hand while also increasing the possibility of heads-up action. The latter point is vital if you want to avoid getting busted out.

I say ironic as you want to go against a good hand as your raise will create a pot worth fighting over and one that a player with a strong hand may well commit all his chips to on a flop that shows promise. Large raises will often be called by the likes of pocket Jacks, who will love the look of an 8- high flop, or Q-K who will relish a Queen or King-high flop. In either scenario you could see all the chips going into the centre with your opponent needing a small miracle to survive.

Most players try to limp into a pot when holding a small pocket pair. That’s a fair enough play providing the blinds are small enough to get in cheaply. However, virtually every player will then check if they hit three-of-a-kind (commonly known as trips) on the flop.

Indeed, ‘trips’ is a big hand and trapping should get you paid off but you have to bear in mind that by giving someone a free card you’re giving them the chance to draw to a winning hand.

Conversely, when betting a well-disguised huge hand your opponents will never believe the strength you have. They are likely to be attracted by the amount of chips now in the pot prompting a re-raise or an all-in move, especially by someone holding the likes of A-J on a J-7-2 flop… lovely jubbly when you’re clutching pocket Sevens!

The best piece of advice I can offer here is to mix up your play so that your opponent can’t ever put you on a certain hand. If you always check and re-raise, or always bet big when you’ve got a made hand you’re going to be easy to read and, as a result, easy to beat.

What, you say? Good fortune? But poker isn’t a game of luck, I hear you cry. Let me explain. Bad beats, for example, create a sense of pessimism. You’re going to get a period of play, no matter who you are, when your opponents seem to continuously hit miracle cards to win pots that were yours for the taking. Consequently your game is affected as your confidence dips. Conversely when everything’s going well – winning your coin-toss hands and filling your flush draws – the optimism such good fortune induces leads to a completely different playing style.

Here’s a basic example. You’re holding pocket Queens and an aggressive player raises into you. You know this opponent is the type that will have some kind of strong hand and will not relinquish it should you move all-in. With abundant confidence you’ll put a gun to your opponent’s head and move all-in. However, if you’re on a bad run where you seem to continuously come out second best in the classic ‘pair versus two over-card confrontations’, you’re likely to just call and look for a flop with no Ace or King on it.

With the way things are going, the flop will, of course, come King-high and you’ll pass to any bet. Naturally, the bet will have come from your opponent who missed with his A-J but sensed your weakness and lack of desire to get involved in a big confrontation and successfully preyed on it. If not for the pessimism, things would have gone entirely differently and instead of losing chips, you could well have doubled-up.

Try to create and maintain a rush, but don’t get overly despondent when things aren’t going well. Unless you’re a natural born cooler, luck will even out in the end and you don’t need to put yourself on tilt to try and reverse it – it’s a sure-fire way of losing even more and creating even more pessimism in your play.

Now, you might not like this last bit but it’s true. If you enjoy doing other things while you’re playing you’re going to lose. That’s because if you’re happy chatting or being distracted by Match of the Day you’re not concentrating on what’s going on around the table.

Poker can be a long-haul game and you need to have patience and be able to sit through hands you’re not playing, while still keeping focus on what’s going on around you. Drift off and you’ll miss vital bits of information that could win or lose you the game later on.

The good news is that most players, especially on the lower-stakes tables online, are remarkably consistent in movemaking and basic play. The best players note down every characteristic and tell and that’s why they win consistently. Make basic notes when you’re playing and look out for the same players again. It’s easy to identify people’s mannerisms but you need to be constantly vigilant.