My poker friend and buddy, Lucy, invited me to dinner. He has a beautiful house on the edge of Beverly Hills. He has already cooked one of my idol appetizers, roast beef with all the ingredients.

When we were enjoying a glass of wine while the meal was in the oven, he brought up the object he wanted to talk to me about: “Irene, what do you suggest about seating and the order in which the hold’em game is played?” Good question.

In Texas hold’em, Button – the last betting sequence of each round following the pre-flop betting round – rotates clockwise after each hand; so each person, in turn, has an equal chance of being in the highest order to bet. The same is true for the worst order – initial, as well as the middle order at this. If you’re on Button, after the flop and for the hand to remain, you can see what all your foes are up to before you have to decide whether to invest further in that hand, given the flop and your two hole cards. Getting all the news before taking action, give you a big advantage over coming.

So, for example, if a fast player has brought before the action to you, you can comfortably fold your normal hand that barely fills up, or just slightly goes beyond the terms of the Hold’em Algorithm, knowing you’ve saved a lot of chips.

Stored chips are just as valuable – if not more – than the ones you win.