What Is the Cutoff in Poker?

The cutoff is the seat directly to the right of the button, with only three players left to act behind you: the button, the small blind and the big blind. The name comes from cutting off the button — raise from here and you take the initiative away from the best seat at the table before it can use it. In 6-max it is the second most profitable position you can be dealt.

Why the cutoff is worth more than it looks

Every player still to act is another chance for someone to wake up with a better hand. From UTG five players can do that, which is why a solid opening range there sits at 15-17%. From the cutoff only three can, so your range widens to roughly a quarter of all hands.

When the button folds to your raise you also play every postflop street in position against the blinds: you risk 2.5bb to win 1.5bb outright, and you take the best seat in the hand when called.

A hand from the cutoff

You hold K♠9♠ at $1/$2. UTG and the hijack fold. From either of those seats this is a fold; from the cutoff it is a routine open to $5, risking $5 to pick up the $3 in blinds.

The big blind calls and the flop comes Q♠7♦4♠. You have a flush draw worth roughly 35% by the river, you act last on every street, and your range holds far more strong queens than the big blind's does. That combination is the cutoff's edge, and none of it exists when you open the same hand from UTG.

Open wider with every player who folds in front of you. The cutoff's profit comes from the seats behind you being empty, not from your cards.

Opening and 3-betting ranges

The pattern is steady: fewer players behind, wider range.

Position	Players behind	Rough opening range
UTG	5	15-17%
Cutoff	3	around a quarter of hands
Button	2	40-45%

3-betting works in reverse. From the cutoff you are attacking UTG and hijack ranges that are still strong, so your 3-betting range stays value-heavy — the solver mostly picks big broadways and suited aces, and flats far less than on the button.

Mistakes that cost you the seat's edge

• Opening like it is the button. A good button 3-bets you relentlessly, and the hands that print money there — offsuit broadway scraps, weak suited gappers — bleed chips when someone still acts after you.
• Limping in for a cheap flop. You surrender the fold equity that makes the seat profitable.
• Over-folding to the button's 3-bet. MDF = pot/(pot+bet), and against a wide button a hand like A♦J♦ is a clear continue, not a fold.

Learn one cutoff range properly and the rest of your preflop game tightens with it. The solver-built preflop charts show what to open, 3-bet and defend from every seat, so you can see how much wider the cutoff plays than the hijack — and where that stops.