The opening hands you play in dark poker largely depend on your table position. The earlier your position is, the stricter requirements you must have, otherwise you run the risk of losing a significant amount of poker chips. This text assumes a dark poker table with eight players. The positions are numbered according to the order of the first betting round:
Opening positions 1, 2, and 3: The least favorable hand to start with from these positions is a pair of aces. Always remember to raise when initiating the game. Never call.
Rank 4: From this standpoint, you can also commence with a pair of kings. Otherwise, the same rules apply as in ranks 1, 2, and 3.
Position 5: From this spot, you can also initiate with a pair of queens and jacks. The same principles apply as for positions 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Position 6 ("the button"): This represents the ultimate spot to occupy at a poker table. Here, you possess the optimal advantage, allowing you to commence the game confidently with pairs of tens and nines, granted you possess an ace or additional cards above nine in your hand. Therefore, you engage in hands such as 9-9-K-Q-7, 9-9-J-10-3, and 9-9-A-5-4, while discarding hands like 9-9-K-8-4 and 9-9-7-6-5. From this vantage point, you gain the upper hand, prepared to tackle the challenges that lie ahead.
Position 7 (little shadows): Arguably the most complicated position. Your gameplay largely depends on what you know about the player in the big shadows. If you have no information about that player, you should play as follows: call with anything from A-Q to pairs of sixes (this is one of the few times it is correct to call instead of raising). Raise with pairs of sevens or better. If the big shadows player raises, you should call and then draw three cards.
Playing from the big blind (Position 8): Your strategy for playing from the big blind depends on the position of the player who opened the game and whether they raised or not. If two, three, or more players called, you should raise with a pair of kings or better. If someone raised and two or three players are still in the hand, you should call with a pair of tens or better, drawing hands, and low two pairs. If you have two pairs with jacks or better as your highest pair, you should re-raise. Of course, you should also raise if you have three of a kind or an even better hand.