We’ve written a few stories now explaining where some of poker’s unique terminology comes from and what it means. Today we’re going to look at not one but two terms describing players’ positions at the table – the cut-off and the hijack.
By now you should all know which seat is the button. If not, it’s pretty obvious – just look for the player with the big white button on the table in front of them. The cut-off is the player immediately to the button’s right and the hijack is the player to the right of the cut-off.
But why are they known by these names? It all comes down to the fact that the button has historically used their positional advantage to “steal the blinds”. That is, raise with all sorts of hands in the knowledge that more often than not the players seated in the blinds will be forced to fold.
Because the cut-off knows this is the case, it makes sense that they would get in first because just like the blinds, the button will often be dealt weak hands and be forced to fold as well. They are “cutting off” the button’s ability to steal.
And for the same reasons, the hijack can get in before both the button and the cut-off – effectively “hijacking” the pair of them!
Poker is very much a battle of wits and subterfuge and it’s good to see these terms openly acknowledging the deception that goes into becoming a solid player.
