First in (RFI) · full-ring table, 8–9 players · 40 big blinds or more
With antes — the standard in today's tournaments and what the Pokwise app shows for this spot. Without antes: 27%.
With a deep stack, the cutoff is where stealing the blinds becomes routine: only the button and the blinds are left, and fold equity pays most of the bill. As a result, the CO opens 30% of hands — a wide range: with few players left to act, even mediocre hands make money just from the chance of taking the blinds.
Sizing matters as much as the cards: the standard raise here is 2.3 BB. Just calling the blind (limping) with 40 BB+ is the most common way to turn a good hand into a messy pot.
What about a short stack? From around 10 BB the math changes completely: small opens disappear and the decision becomes shove or fold — check the CO push/fold chart.
Everyone plays the obvious hands the same way — the edge of a player who studies shows up exactly in this grey zone.
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