I am a new poker player and still have a bad understanding of poker positions. I ask for help and explanations.
First of all, you need to know that the positions are rotating, and they change clockwise as the blinds move (the forced bets). Let's use the example of a table with 9 players, which is the most common one to see.
We have the forced players: small blind (SB) and big blind (BB), then under the gun (UTG), who is the first to act, early position. After these positions, we have 3 middle positions (MP, MP1, MP2), then followed by hijack (HJ), coootoff (CO) and button (BTN).
In short, early positions such as UTG and middle positions always have an information disadvantage because they are the first to act, so generally only stronger
hands from these positions are played. While late positions such as HJ, CO and BTN have an information advantage over the other players before making their decision, you are the last to act or close to the last. Positions are also relative, depending on which players fold and what position they were in, except for the SB and BB positions, which are not relative; For example: you are in MP2 and open a raise, everyone folds, and only the SB and BB complete, so you are no longer in MP, but in late position, and you are the last to speak.
If you are starting, another consideration is that the SB is always the first to speak after pre-flop, and if he folds, the BB is the first to speak, and so on.