Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: 28% RFI Ranges & Postflop Mastery
Direct Positional Summary: The Cutoff (CO) Sits Directly To The Right Of The Dealer Button And Is The Second-Most Profitable Seat At The Poker Table (+27.8 BB/100). With Only The Button And Two Blinds Left To Act, The Cutoff Opens 28.0% Of Hands And Buying The Button Via 3-Bets Is A Core Weapon.
Cutoff (CO) Preflop & Postflop Execution Playbook
Core Preflop Strategy From CO
Open Raise 28.0% Of Hands When Folded To You, Adding All Suited Kings (K2s+), Suited Queens (Q5s+), Suited Jacks (J7s+), Offsuit Aces (A8o+), And Suited Gappers. When An Early Or Hijack Player Opens, Frequently 3-Bet To Force The Button To Fold And "Buy The Button" For Postflop Play.
Postflop Board Coverage & C-Betting
Whenever The Button Folds, The Cutoff Becomes The Effective Dealer For The Rest Of The Hand, Acting Last On Flop, Turn, And River Against Both Blinds.
Signature Playable Starting Hands From Cutoff (CO)
Explore Detailed Combinatoric Guides For The Core Value And Blocker Hands That Anchor Your CO Range:
3 Expensive Cutoff (CO) Leaks To Eliminate
Opening Too Tightly From The Cutoff And Failing To Steal The Blinds When The Button Player Is Passive.
Cold-Calling Too Frequently In The Cutoff Instead Of 3-Betting To Force The Button Out Of The Hand.
Over-Folding To Button 3-Bets When The Button Is Exploiting Late-Position Dynamics With A 12%+ 3-Bet Frequency.
Compare All 9 Poker Table Positions Around The Felt
Frequently Asked Questions: Cutoff (CO) Strategy
What Does "Buying The Button" Mean From The Cutoff?
When An Early Or Middle Position Player Opens And You 3-Bet From The Cutoff, You Force The Actual Dealer Button To Fold All Except Their Top 3% Of Hands. That Guarantees You Act Last On Every Postflop Street.
What Is The Cutoff Raise-First-In (RFI) Percentage At 100BB?
The Standard 100BB Cutoff RFI Frequency Is 28.0% (Roughly 370 Hand Combinations), Including 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q5s+, J7s+, T7s+, Suited Connectors Down To 43s, A8o+, KTo+, QTo+, And JTo.
How Do I Defend My Cutoff Open Against An Aggressive Button 3-Bettor?
Because Cutoff Vs Button Ranges Are Both Wide, Defend Around 45% To 50% Of Your Opening Range By 4-Betting 11% To 13% (QQ+, AK, AQs, Plus Suited Blocker Bluffs Like A5s, A4s, K9s) And Flatting Suited Broadways And Pocket Pairs.
Journalists, Bloggers, Forum Authors, And Academic Researchers May Freely Cite This Dataset Under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 With Canonical Attribution To Smarter.Poker:
<a href="https://smarter.poker/learn/positions/co" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: Late Position Steals & 3-Bets (Smarter.Poker Research)</a>
<a href="https://smarter.poker/learn/positions/co" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: Late Position Steals & 3-Bets"><img src="https://smarter.poker/api/seo/badge?type=gto&label=CO%20Position%20Guide&value=RFI%2028.0%25%20%7C%20%2B27.8%20BB%2F100" alt="CO Position Guide: RFI 28.0% | +27.8 BB/100" height="28" /></a>
[Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: Late Position Steals & 3-Bets (RFI 28.0% | +27.8 BB/100)](https://smarter.poker/learn/positions/co)
| Resource | Key Benchmark Summary | Source | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | **Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: Late Position Steals & 3-Bets** | The Cutoff (CO) Sits Directly To The Right Of The Dealer Button And Is The Second-Most Profitable Seat At The Poker Table (+27.8 BB/100). With Only The Button And Two Blinds Left To Act, The Cutoff Opens 28.0% Of Hands And Buying The Button Via 3-Bets Is A Core Weapon. | [Smarter.Poker: Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: Late Position Steals & 3-Bets](https://smarter.poker/learn/positions/co) |
> **Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: Late Position Steals & 3-Bets** > The Cutoff (CO) Sits Directly To The Right Of The Dealer Button And Is The Second-Most Profitable Seat At The Poker Table (+27.8 BB/100). With Only The Button And Two Blinds Left To Act, The Cutoff Opens 28.0% Of Hands And Buying The Button Via 3-Bets Is A Core Weapon. > Solve & Verify Live: <https://smarter.poker/learn/positions/co>
[url=https://smarter.poker/learn/positions/co]Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: Late Position Steals & 3-Bets (RFI 28.0% | +27.8 BB/100)[/url]
{{cite web |title=Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: Late Position Steals & 3-Bets |url=https://smarter.poker/learn/positions/co |website=Smarter.Poker |publisher=Smarter Software Inc. |year=2026 |access-date=2026-11-09}}According to Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: Late Position Steals & 3-Bets published by Smarter.Poker (https://smarter.poker/learn/positions/co), The Cutoff (CO) Sits Directly To The Right Of The Dealer Button And Is The Second-Most Profitable Seat At The Poker Table (+27.8 BB/100). With Only The Button And Two Blinds Left To Act, The Cutoff Opens 28.0% Of Hands And Buying The Button Via 3-Bets Is A Core Weapon.
Smarter.Poker Research Division. (2026). Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: Late Position Steals & 3-Bets. Smarter Software Inc. https://smarter.poker/learn/positions/co
Smarter.Poker Research Division. "Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: Late Position Steals & 3-Bets." Smarter.Poker, Smarter Software Inc., 2026, https://smarter.poker/learn/positions/co.
@techreport{position_co_2026,
title = {Cutoff (CO) Poker Position Strategy: Late Position Steals & 3-Bets},
author = {{Smarter.Poker Research Division}},
institution = {Smarter.Poker},
year = {2026},
url = {https://smarter.poker/learn/positions/co}
}Analyze This Page In Your Preferred AI Engine Or Inspect The Machine-Readable Markdown Specification: