Preflop Raising By Position Part 2: Late Position

Preflop Raising Range Part 2: Late Position

The cutoff and the button are the 2 most profitable positions at the table in shorthanded no limit holdem. As we get closer to the button, our VPIP should increase exponentially as winrates are far higher in these 2 positions.

Cutoff

Now we only have one person with position on us. If the button is a straight forward tag, we can really take advantage of our position by raising an extremely wide range of hands. We can open all suited 3 gappers, ace x hands, offsuit connectors and big offsuited broadways such as Kto. The tighter the players behind us, the wider range we can open from the cutoff.

Conversely, if there is a good aggressive player on the button who is 3betting our cutoff raises frequently, we need to tighten our raising range. If a player is using their positional advantage to put pressure on us, we can adapt and play a smaller range of hands.

In the cutoff, we should be raising about 32% of hands.

Button

When we are on the button, we have the luxury of knowing we will be always be the last to act postflop. In this position, we should be raising a massive range, composed of almost any two cards under the right table conditions. If the blinds are folding a lot to steals, we can open any 2 suited cards, all ace x and king x hands, all offsuited connectors, off suit one/two/three gappers.

Against more aggressive players, we should tighten this range according to how often they 3bet preflop. If they call a lot preflop we should decide to raise based on how they play postflop. If someone calls and check folds most flops, we can continue to raise a wide range. If they play back a lot postflop, then we should stcik with a  tighter range.

Overall, as a generality, we should be opening between 40 and 55% of hands on the button. A loose button opening range is demonstrated below: