Hijack Opening Range In 6 Max Cash
In The Smarter.Poker 6 Max Cash Reference At 100 Big Blinds, The Hijack Opens 13.2% Of All Starting Hands By Frequency And Plays 20.5% Of Them At Least Some Of The Time, With The Full Chart Below.
Preflop Lesson From Smarter.Poker, Updated
The Hijack Opening Chart
The Chart Is Generated From The Smarter.Poker Preflop Reference, The Same Ranges The Preflop Range Lab Drills. They Are An Authored Teaching Reference For Six Handed Cash At One Hundred Big Blinds, Not A Solver Export, And No Solve Tree Or Checksum Is Attached To Them. Two Sizes Describe A Mixed Range And They Are Not The Same Number. The First Counts Every Hand At The Rate It Is Actually Played, So A Hand Opened Half The Time Counts Half. The Second Counts Any Hand The Range Plays At Least Some Of The Time, In Full.
Read The Table By Row And Column. Pairs Run Down The Diagonal, Suited Hands Sit Above It And Offsuit Hands Below It, And Each Cell Shows How Often The Hand Is Raised When The Action Folds To The Hijack. A Cell At 0% Is A Fold Every Time.
| A | K | Q | J | T | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | AA100% | AKs100% | AQs100% | AJs100% | ATs100% | A9s68% | A8s32% | A7s8% | A6s0% | A5s82% | A4s62% | A3s38% | A2s18% |
| K | AKo100% | KK100% | KQs100% | KJs100% | KTs92% | K9s48% | K8s10% | K7s0% | K6s0% | K5s0% | K4s0% | K3s0% | K2s0% |
| Q | AQo100% | KQo78% | QQ100% | QJs100% | QTs88% | Q9s35% | Q8s0% | Q7s0% | Q6s0% | Q5s0% | Q4s0% | Q3s0% | Q2s0% |
| J | AJo82% | KJo42% | QJo25% | JJ100% | JTs95% | J9s48% | J8s8% | J7s0% | J6s0% | J5s0% | J4s0% | J3s0% | J2s0% |
| T | ATo42% | KTo10% | QTo0% | JTo0% | TT100% | T9s78% | T8s28% | T7s0% | T6s0% | T5s0% | T4s0% | T3s0% | T2s0% |
| 9 | A9o0% | K9o0% | Q9o0% | J9o0% | T9o0% | 99100% | 98s58% | 97s0% | 96s0% | 95s0% | 94s0% | 93s0% | 92s0% |
| 8 | A8o0% | K8o0% | Q8o0% | J8o0% | T8o0% | 98o0% | 8888% | 87s45% | 86s0% | 85s0% | 84s0% | 83s0% | 82s0% |
| 7 | A7o0% | K7o0% | Q7o0% | J7o0% | T7o0% | 97o0% | 87o0% | 7765% | 76s38% | 75s0% | 74s0% | 73s0% | 72s0% |
| 6 | A6o0% | K6o0% | Q6o0% | J6o0% | T6o0% | 96o0% | 86o0% | 76o0% | 6638% | 65s30% | 64s0% | 63s0% | 62s0% |
| 5 | A5o0% | K5o0% | Q5o0% | J5o0% | T5o0% | 95o0% | 85o0% | 75o0% | 65o0% | 5515% | 54s18% | 53s0% | 52s0% |
| 4 | A4o0% | K4o0% | Q4o0% | J4o0% | T4o0% | 94o0% | 84o0% | 74o0% | 64o0% | 54o0% | 440% | 43s0% | 42s0% |
| 3 | A3o0% | K3o0% | Q3o0% | J3o0% | T3o0% | 93o0% | 83o0% | 73o0% | 63o0% | 53o0% | 43o0% | 330% | 32s0% |
| 2 | A2o0% | K2o0% | Q2o0% | J2o0% | T2o0% | 92o0% | 82o0% | 72o0% | 62o0% | 52o0% | 42o0% | 32o0% | 220% |
What The Range Plays Every Time
15 Hand Classes Are Opened Every Time: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo, AJs, ATs, KQs, KJs, QJs. Together They Are 88 Of The 1326 Possible Starting Combinations. 32 More Hand Classes Are Opened Only Part Of The Time, And The Most Frequent Of Those Are JTs At 95%, KTs At 92%, 88 At 88%, QTs At 88%, AJo At 82%, A5s At 82%.
The Hijack Is The Seat Two To The Right Of The Button. Four Players Remain Behind It, The Cutoff, The Button And Both Blinds, And The Range Reflects That By Opening More Pairs And A Wider Band Of Suited Hands.
Why This Seat Plays This Way
Four Players Behind Is The Point Where A Range Starts To Feel Wide. Smaller Pairs Such As 66 And 55 Join At Low Frequencies Because They Are Cheap To Play And, When They Flop A Set, They Win Big Pots From Opponents Who Hold Overpairs Or Top Pair. Suited Connectors And Suited One Gappers Climb In Frequency Because They Flop Strong Draws Often Enough To Keep Betting.
The Hijack Is Also The First Seat That Can Open With An Eye On Stealing The Blinds. When The Cutoff And The Button Fold, Which Happens Often, The Pot Is Contested Only By The Blinds, Both Of Whom Are Out Of Position. That Extra Fold Equity Pays For Some Hands That Would Lose Money If They Were Always Called.
The Danger Is The Cutoff And The Button, Who Will Three Bet The Hijack More Often Than They Would Three Bet An Early Seat Because The Hijack Range Is Wider. Know In Advance Which Of Your Opens You Will Continue With Against A Three Bet And Which You Will Fold, So That You Are Not Guessing When It Happens.
Common Mistakes
The Most Common Leak Is Treating A Mixed Hand As A Pure One. A Hand Listed At A Frequency Below 100% Is Folded The Rest Of The Time, And Turning Every One Of Them Into An Open Adds Combinations The Reference Does Not Play. With Four Players Still To Act Behind This Seat, Every Extra Weak Open Is A Hand That Can Be Raised Off Its Equity.
The Second Is Copying A Chart To A Game It Was Not Built For. These Ranges Assume Six Players, 100 Big Blind Stacks And A Standard Open Size. Shorter Stacks, Antes, A Straddle Or A Very Passive Table All Change The Right Answer, So Use The Chart As A Baseline And Adjust With A Reason You Can Name.
Keep Learning
- Middle Position Opening Range, 6 Max
- Cutoff Opening Range In 6 Max Cash
- What To Do When You Face A 3-Bet
- How To Read Board Texture
Poker Terms In This Lesson
Practise It On Smarter.Poker
The Answer Above Is Complete. When You Want To Drill It, These Are The Matching Training Tools.
- Play Position Power The Training Game For This Lesson.
- Open The Preflop Range Lab
- Open Jarvis Training Insights Jarvis Explains Your Training Decisions In Words.
Free To Play. 18+. No Real Money Gambling. Chips And Diamonds Have No Cash Value.