SPOT PRINCIPLE
At 1000bb, AQo is a trap from up front – the only offsuit hand left is AKo, and even it plays for restraint.
Only hands that can make the nuts – or fold without regret – belong in the range. Offsuit big cards win small pots and lose enormous ones.
Early position opens into seven or eight players. Tightness here is not timidity – it is respect for how often someone behind wakes up with position and a hand.
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.