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S — Seat: Play these hands, mostly from late seats

Play only the hands on the chart, and mostly when you're sitting late.

Here's the whisper: the best players at this table would rather have a bad hand in a good seat than a good hand in a bad seat. That sounds like mysticism, so let me make it concrete.

The little plastic disc — the button — marks the dealer and moves one seat left every hand. Whoever holds it acts last on every betting round after the flop. Think about what acting last actually gives you: every single hand, you watch everyone else decide before you have to. They check nervously? Now you know. They bet big? You know that too — and you haven't committed a chip yet. Meanwhile the poor soul who acts first is making every decision staring at the backs of six people's cards.

You have information they don't, on every street, all hand long. That advantage is worth more than the difference between most starting hands, and it's why the same cards can be a clear play from one seat and a clear fold from another.

The rule: play Group A from anywhere. Group B needs a middle or late seat. Group C needs a late seat and a cheap entry. (The ♣ CLUB section maps out exactly which seats are which.)

Example 1 — the easy yes. You're on the button with A♠J♦. A couple of players just called the minimum, nobody raised. That's a Group B hand in the best seat in the house. Raise. You'll have the information advantage the whole hand.

Example 2 — the one that feels wrong. Same A♠J♦, but now you're first to act with six players behind you. Fold it. Yes, really. Here's the problem: A-J looks pretty, but the hands that come after you and raise — A-K, A-Q, big pairs — all have it beat before the flop even lands. And if nobody raises, you still spend the whole hand acting first, guessing. Identical cards, different seat, different answer. When this fold stops feeling wrong, you've internalized the most valuable idea in this guide.

Example 3 — the judgment call. Button again, holding 7♥6♥ — a Group C suited connector. One player raised, two called. Group C wants a cheap entry, and this isn't free — but it's close to ideal anyway: three opponents means that if you flop a flush draw or straight, the pot will be fat when you hit. If the raise is small next to everyone's stacks, call. If it's big, let it go. (Gate ♠E gives you the exact arithmetic for the small-pair version of this decision.)

DIAL — ♠S by table size. 4-handed: the chart is far too tight. There is no early position and the blinds cost triple, so play all of Groups A and B from every seat, all of Group C from the button and cutoff, and add hands the chart omits — any pair, any ace, any two cards ten-or-higher, most suited hands. Target ~30–35% of hands. 8-handed: the chart as written. ~16–20%. 12-handed: tighten hard. Group A from anywhere; Group B only from the cutoff and button; Group C only on the button and only in an unraised pot. Fold A-10 and K-Q from early position — with eleven opponents somebody holds an ace 84% of the time, and those hands are how you make expensive second-best pairs. Target ~10–12%.