Nomenclature for Table Position in Poker 

Eric Gin (Binkley)  – https://rec.poker/binkley/ – binkley@rec.poker 

Table Positions

When discussing poker strategy, an important factor to consider is each player’s position at the table. In particular, knowing a player’s position relative to the button is a critical data point. Preflop strategy depends heavily on position. But despite its importance, there is no consistent terminology for table position. 

Across the numerous strategy books, training sites, and poker software, you will find a wide variety of ways to describe position. Awkward terms like UTG+1 and MP2 are used. The same term can change meaning depending on the total number of players at the table. UTG could be used to describe the player 6 seats to the right of the button when 9-handed but then represent the player 3 seats away from the button in 6-max. It’s confusing. 

I have developed a standard nomenclature for table position. My system quickly communicates a player’s table position relative to the button. It covers all table sizes from a full 9-handed table down to 4-handed. 

I have been using this nomenclature whenever I participate in study groups. I encourage everyone to start using it. Please use it when posting to the RecPoker forums. It will be a great help to our strategy discussions. My hope is that this nomenclature will become the standard in the forums and in our strategy discussions. 

Description of each Position

For each position of a full 9-handed table, I assign one of the following nine names: Button, Cutoff, Hijack, Lojack, MP, EP, UTG, Big Blind and Small Blind. 

Below are explanations of all nine positions. The abbreviation for each is shown in parentheses. 

Button (BN also BTN, BU) is also known as the dealer button. Preflop this player acts 3rd to last. On all postflop betting rounds this player acts last. 

Cutoff (CO) is seated immediately to the right of the Button. 

Hijack (HJ) is two seats to the right of the Button and immediately to the right of the Cutoff. 

Lojack (LJ) is three seats to the right of the Button and immediately to the right of the Hijack. At a 6-max table, this is the player first to act preflop. 

MP (MP) is four seats to the right of the Button and immediately to the right of the Lojack.

EP (EP) is 5 seats to the right of the Button and immediately to the right of MP. 

UTG (UTG) is 6 seats to the right of the Button and immediately to the right of EP. At a nine-handed table, this is the player first to act preflop. 

Big Blind (BB) is the player who preflop posts the mandatory full bet and acts last. 

Small Blind (SB) is the player preflop who posts a mandatory preflop bet which is traditionally one half of the BB bet. This player acts next to last preflop and is first to act postflop. 

9-Handed Table 

The positions for a table with 9 players are: BN (Button), CO (Cutoff), HJ (Hijack), LJ (Lojack), MP (MP), EP (EP), UTG (UTG), BB (Big Blind), SB (Small Blind) 

For tables with less than 9 players, the seats immediately to the left of the big blind are eliminated until the desired number of seats is reached. For example, for an 8-handed table, there is no player in the UTG position. In 6-max, UTG, EP, and MP are dropped.

6-Max Table: 

The positions in 6-max are: BN (Button), CO (Cutoff), HJ (Hijack)., LJ (Lojack), BB (Big Blind), SB (Small Blind) 

Adjustments from Current Terminology 

Under my system, some common terms are never applied to tables with a medium number of players and below. UTG is only used when 9-handed. At 6-max and less, EP and MP are not employed. This may feel unnatural at first. But it has the advantage of helping to reshape our thinking of ranges for each position. 

For example, at a 9-handed table, the default strategy of the player to the left of BB (UTG) is to play a very tight preflop range. Is it because this player is the first to act or is it because there are 8 other players that will act after them? 

At a 5-handed table, the player to the left of BB (HJ) can play a wider preflop range than if it were 9-handed. This player is still first to act. But now there are only 4 players left to act after them. By using the term HJ instead of UTG, we have moved the focus to the proper data point. 

It should be noted that the positions UTG, EP, and MP are the full names of those assigned table positions. My system does not use the terms “under the gun”, “early position”, or “middle position” to reference any particular table position. This allows continued use of these common terms. It would have broad meaning, when someone says they were in “early position” But when saying they were in “EP”, this references an exact position.