SPOT PRINCIPLE
More suited gappers, fewer offsuit broadways. The cutoff stays wide – but wide in hands that scale with depth.
Nut potential leads. Suited aces, pairs, and connected suited hands open wider — the connectors earn it through straights and disguised two pairs, and low suited hands still owe respect to bigger flushes; dominated offsuit hands keep shrinking.
The cutoff attacks the button and the blinds. This is the first position where pure steal equity carries a meaningful share of the range.
Assumes a live-standard open to ~4bb, raise-or-fold. In straddled games, halve your effective big blinds and read the chart at that depth.
Baseline assumptions: 9-handed · no ante · no straddle · 4bb opens · low-rake live structure · cold-calling allowed. Charts reduce low-frequency mixes to a single default action; adjust live for opponents and rake. Baseline v1 · updated 2026-08.