Hijack

The Hijack is a transitional position between early and late position play. In a 6-Max game, the Hijack is the second player to act (after UTG), giving it three opponents left to act when opening. This means the HJ range is wider than UTG but must still account for the Cutoff, Button, and blinds potentially waking up with strong hands. A typical Hijack opening range at 100bb in a 6-Max MTT is around 20-25% of hands. This includes all pocket pairs, suited aces down to about A7s, suited broadways, offsuit broadways like AKo, AQo, and KQo, and some suited connectors from 78s up. Compared to UTG, the Hijack adds hands like smaller suited aces, more suited connectors, and weaker offsuit broadways. The strategic challenge of the Hijack is managing the three players behind you. The Cutoff and Button have positional advantage, so facing a 3-bet from these positions puts you in a tough spot with marginal hands. For this reason, the Hijack opening range still exercises considerable discipline compared to late positions. When the Hijack opens and faces a 3-bet, the response range depends on whether the 3-bet comes from the Cutoff, Button, or blinds. A 3-bet from the Cutoff or Button is typically wider (they are exploiting position), so you can defend wider. A 3-bet from the blinds might be tighter, suggesting more caution. The Hijack is sometimes called the 'Lojack' in older poker literature, though this usage has declined. In modern 6-Max MTT terminology, HJ is the standard abbreviation.