Poker Positions: Seat Names and Acting Order Before and After the Flop

Poker positions are your seats relative to the dealer button (BTN), which determine the acting order. Preflop, the player to the left of the big blind (BB)—usually called under the gun (UTG)—acts first, and BB acts last in the initial order. After the flop, the first player still in the hand to the left of the button acts first; the button acts last if still in. A table of two has a separate order. At a six-handed table, the blinds switch from the end of the order to the beginning: assuming all six players stay in, the small blind (SB) has 1 opponent behind preflop and 5 after the flop, BB has 0 and 4, and UTG has 5 and 3. Folds change those counts and who starts the flop, as the scenario table below shows.

Seat names vary by source; the acting order does not. This guide explains how to read that order, not which hands to play.

What is a position at a poker table

Your position is your seat relative to the button; see the glossary entry on position for the definition. Your seat does not change during a hand, but folds change which opponents act before or after you.

According to Pagat, at a table with more than two players, the small blind sits to the left of the button, followed by the big blind. Upswing Poker’s guide adds that the button and blinds shift one seat to the left after every hand. The glossary entry on blinds explains these forced bets.

You are in position against an opponent when you act after them in a betting round. You are out of position when you act before them. This describes the relationship between players, rather than a different name for a physical seat.

Who acts first and last before and after the flop

According to the Texas hold’em rules at pagat.com, the player to the left of the big blind acts first preflop, while each later betting round starts with the first remaining player to the left of the button. BB acts last in the initial preflop order and may raise even if everyone else has only called.

The table below shows the nine-handed order when every player stays in the hand. “Preflop order” and “Flop order” give the turn number; “Behind” is how many opponents act after you in that betting round. Here, LJ means lojack, HJ means hijack, and CO means cutoff; UTG+1 and UTG+2 are the next seats after UTG.

Nine-handed acting order before and after the flop, with the number of opponents behindTeaching diagram, not a poker room's interface: acting order at a nine-handed table when every player stays in the hand.

The same principle applies six-handed, with fewer opponents:

Assuming all six players stay in, the number of opponents behind changes as follows: SB 1 → 5, BB 0 → 4, UTG 5 → 3, BTN 2 → 0. The blinds move from the end of the preflop order to the beginning after the flop. When players fold, count only those remaining, as shown in the next table.

Count the players dealt into the hand, not the table’s capacity: if only six players are dealt in at a nine-seat table, use the six-handed table—UTG has 5 opponents behind, not 8.

These tables show the initial order, not a limit on how many actions can occur: a raise can bring the action back around. A straddle or house rules can change who acts first preflop; the button straddle guide covers that variation.

What changes when players fold

After folds, the first player remaining to the left of the button acts first on the flop. The seats keep their names; players who fold simply drop out of the acting order.

Here is who acts first and last on the flop in six-handed scenarios:

The remaining players keep their relative order. Folds can change who starts the betting round and, if the button folds, who acts last. The full-table counts of opponents behind therefore apply only while those opponents remain in the hand.

A worked hand: acting order round by round

In Hand A, BB acts first on the flop, but CO acts first on the turn because BB has folded. The example tracks the actions without assessing hand strength.

There are six players, the small blind is 0.5 chips, the big blind is 1 chip, and each starting stack is 100 chips. All amounts below are in chips, with the big blind set to 1. “Raise to 2.5” means the player’s total contribution for that betting round, not an additional 2.5.

The preflop pot is 2.5 × 3 + the folded small blind’s 0.5 = 8. BTN’s flop bet and CO’s call bring the pot to 14. On the turn, BTN’s uncalled bet of 6 is returned and does not increase the pot won. Rake is excluded from the examples in hands A, B and C.

BB acted first on the flop, but after BB folded, CO started the turn. BTN acted last in each betting round after the flop.

Hand B: BTN against BB. The earlier players have folded, BTN raises to 2.5, SB folds, and BB calls. The preflop pot is 5.5: 2.5 + 2.5 + 0.5. On the flop, turn and river, BB acts first and BTN acts last. Both check in each of those three betting rounds: six checks in total.

Hand C: UTG against HJ. UTG raises to 3, HJ calls, and everyone else folds. The preflop pot is 7.5: 3 + 3 + 0.5 + 1. With both blinds out, UTG acts first on the flop and HJ acts last. The preflop raiser does not necessarily act last: the order follows the seats, not who raised in the previous betting round.

What the seats are called at 6, 9 and other table sizes

Seat names are conventions, not separate rules for the acting order. At a table with more than three players, the first seat to act preflop is usually called UTG; the same seat may also be named by its distance from the button: LJ six-handed, HJ five-handed and CO four-handed.

Read each row from left to right, from first to act to last to act.

Three-handed, the button acts first preflop. Calling UTG “CO” four-handed or “HJ” five-handed is a naming convention; UTG+3 at a ten-handed table extends the same counting convention.

Sources shift names by one seat: in our glossary entry on position, the fourth of nine seats is MP and lojack is the third (UTG+2/LJ), while elsewhere lojack is the fourth of nine; the order stays the same, so check how many players are behind you.

Six-handed, UTG and LJ refer to the same seat in this table. The guide to six-handed opening ranges and raise math covers those topics separately; here, the names serve only to identify the acting order.

Who has position on whom

After the flop, the player who acts later is in position against the player who acts earlier. The non-blind seats keep their relative order before and after the flop; after the flop, each acts after both blinds, and BB acts after SB.

In this six-handed table, compare the row with the column: + means the row’s player acts after the column’s opponent after the flop; − means before; — marks a seat compared with itself.

If all six remain in the hand, BTN is in position against all five opponents, while SB is out of position against each of them.

If CO raises and only BTN calls, CO acts first in each betting round after the flop. If only a blind calls instead, CO acts after that player. Raising does not change these relationships.

Which hands to play from each seat is a separate question: how to read preflop charts addresses that topic, rather than this acting-order table.

Heads-up: a table of two versus a pot of two

Heads-up means play between two players, but a table of two and a pot between two players at a full table give the small blind different acting orders. At a table of two, SB is also BTN and acts last after the flop; if only SB and BB remain in a hand at a full table, SB acts first after the flop.

Under Poker TDA tournament rule 36C, at a table of two, the button posts the small blind, receives the last card, acts first preflop and acts last in every later betting round.

Rule 36C is a Poker TDA tournament rule; cash-game house rules may differ.

Find your acting order in three steps

To find your acting order, count the players dealt in, locate the button and remove anyone who has folded.

1. Count how many players were dealt cards. Choose the matching row in the seat-name table, rather than using the number of seats available.
2. Find the button and count clockwise. Identify the blinds and your seat, then write out the initial preflop order. For a table of two, use the separate BTN/SB, BB row.
3. Remove players as they fold and follow the remaining order in each betting round. Preflop, use the list starting to the left of BB, with the two-player exception above. After the flop, start with the first remaining player to the left of BTN. If you want to assemble sets of hands for two selected positions separately, open the range builder.