88 vs a loose-passive calling range: Equity & Strategy
Pocket Eights (88) has 61.4% equity all-in preflop against a loose-passive calling range — 670 combos, 50.5% of all starting hands. It wins 60.9% of runouts outright, loses 38.2% and chops 0.8%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.
| Side | Win | Chop | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | 60.9% | 0.8% | 61.4% |
| a loose-passive calling range | 38.2% | 0.8% | 38.6% |
The range this is computed against
The classic recreational flatting range — a player who "likes to see a flop". Any pocket pair, any suited ace, king, queen or jack, every playable suited gapper, all the offsuit aces and a stack of offsuit broadways. Around half of all hands, and almost none of them are folded before the flop.
calling station — 670 combos, 50.5% of all starting hands: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, AKs, AQs, AJs, ATs, A9s, A8s, A7s, A6s, A5s, A4s, A3s, A2s, KQs, KJs, KTs, K9s, K8s, K7s, K6s, K5s, K4s, K3s, K2s, QJs, QTs, Q9s, Q8s, Q7s, Q6s, Q5s, Q4s, Q3s, Q2s, JTs, J9s, J8s, J7s, J6s, J5s, J4s, J3s, J2s, T9s, T8s, T7s, T6s, T5s, 98s, 97s, 96s, 95s, 87s, 86s, 85s, 84s, 76s, 75s, 74s, 65s, 64s, 63s, 54s, 53s, 43s, AKo, AQo, AJo, ATo, A9o, A8o, A7o, A6o, A5o, A4o, A3o, A2o, KQo, KJo, KTo, K9o, K8o, K7o, QJo, QTo, Q9o, Q8o, JTo, J9o, J8o, T9o, T8o, 98o
After card removal, 609 of those 670 combos are still available (61 are blocked by the cards 88 holds). 88 is ahead of 572 and behind 37.
Hardest parts of the range for 88
| Hand | Combos | 88 equity |
|---|---|---|
| 99 | 6 | 18.1% |
| TT | 6 | 18.4% |
| JJ | 6 | 18.8% |
| KK | 6 | 19.1% |
| 6 | 19.1% |
Easiest parts of the range for 88
| Hand | Combos | 88 equity |
|---|---|---|
| 84s | 2 | 86.3% |
| 85s | 2 | 84.6% |
| 86s | 2 | 83.3% |
| 74s | 4 | 82.1% |
| 87s | 2 | 82.0% |
Against a loose-passive calling range (670 combos, 50.5% of all hands), 88 runs at 61.4%. It wins 60.9% of runouts outright, loses 38.2% and splits the remaining 0.8%. Your own two cards remove 61 of those combos before the flop is even dealt — a blocker effect this number already accounts for, because every combo containing one of your exact cards is stripped out of the range first. You are ahead of 572 of the 609 combos you can still be facing (94%), which is what a 61.4% number actually looks like hand by hand.
Where does the range come from? The classic recreational flatting range — a player who "likes to see a flop". Any pocket pair, any suited ace, king, queen or jack, every playable suited gapper, all the offsuit aces and a stack of offsuit broadways. Around half of all hands, and almost none of them are folded before the flop. Broken down hand by hand, 88 does worst against 99 (18.1%), TT (18.4%) and JJ (18.8%) and best against 84s (86.3%), 85s (84.6%) and 86s (83.3%). Across the whole range 88's equity swings from 18.1% at the bottom to 86.3% at the top — the single 61.4% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.
A loose-passive calling range is the most profitable opponent in poker and 61.4% is why: 88 is ahead of the average call, but a station's range is wide enough that you will get outdrawn often — bet for value and stop bluffing.
88 vs calling station FAQ
What is 88's equity against a loose-passive calling range?
88 has 61.4% equity all-in preflop against a loose-passive calling range — it wins 60.9% of runouts outright, loses 38.2% and chops 0.8%. The range holds 670 combos (50.5% of all hands); 88 blocks 61 of them, leaving 609 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.
Which hands in a loose-passive calling range beat 88?
88 is behind 37 of the 609 live combos and ahead of the other 572. The worst matchups are 99 (18.1%), TT (18.4%) and JJ (18.8%); its best are 84s (86.3%), 85s (84.6%) and 86s (83.3%). Every figure is exact, computed against that hand's unblocked combos only.
What hands are in a loose-passive calling range?
105 hand classes and 670 combos — 50.5% of the 1,326 possible starting hands. By combo count it is 12% pocket pairs (13 pairs, 78 combos), 38% suited hands (64 classes, 256 combos) and 50% offsuit hands (28 classes, 336 combos). That shape is why 88 runs at 61.4% against it rather than against a random hand.
Does 88 do better against a wider or a tighter range?
Wider, almost always. 88 has 61.4% equity against a loose-passive calling range (50.5% of hands) but 41.6% against a 4-betting range (3.2%). Equity against a range is mostly a question of how many weak hands the range still contains — which is why the same holding can be a monster against a button open and a fold against a 4-bet.
Run any hand vs range in the free equity calculator · All hand-vs-range matchups · 88 vs utg-open · 88 vs mp-open · 88 vs co-open · aa vs calling-station · kk vs calling-station · qq vs calling-station