88 vs a cutoff opening range: Equity & Strategy
Pocket Eights (88) has 57.2% equity all-in preflop against a cutoff opening range — 366 combos, 27.6% of all starting hands. It wins 56.8% of runouts outright, loses 42.3% and chops 0.9%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.
| Side | Win | Chop | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | 56.8% | 0.9% | 57.2% |
| a cutoff opening range | 42.3% | 0.9% | 42.8% |
The range this is computed against
The cutoff opens roughly a quarter of hands: all pairs and suited aces, suited kings down to K5s, every suited connector and one-gapper, and offsuit broadways down to A8o / KTo / QJo / JTo. Two players behind instead of five is worth more than ten percentage points of width.
CO open — 366 combos, 27.6% 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, QJs, QTs, Q9s, Q8s, JTs, J9s, J8s, T9s, T8s, T7s, 98s, 97s, 87s, 86s, 76s, 75s, 65s, 64s, 54s, AKo, AQo, AJo, ATo, A9o, A8o, KQo, KJo, KTo, QJo, JTo
After card removal, 339 of those 366 combos are still available (27 are blocked by the cards 88 holds). 88 is ahead of 302 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 86s | 2 | 83.3% |
| 87s | 2 | 82.0% |
| 77 | 6 | 81.8% |
| 75s | 4 | 81.6% |
| 22 | 6 | 81.6% |
Against a cutoff opening range (366 combos, 27.6% of all hands), 88 runs at 57.2%. It wins 56.8% of runouts outright, loses 42.3% and splits the remaining 0.9%. Your own two cards remove 27 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 302 of the 339 combos you can still be facing (89%), which is what a 57.2% number actually looks like hand by hand.
Where does the range come from? The cutoff opens roughly a quarter of hands: all pairs and suited aces, suited kings down to K5s, every suited connector and one-gapper, and offsuit broadways down to A8o / KTo / QJo / JTo. Two players behind instead of five is worth more than ten percentage points of width. Broken down hand by hand, 88 does worst against 99 (18.1%), TT (18.4%) and JJ (18.8%) and best against 86s (83.3%), 87s (82.0%) and 77 (81.8%). Across the whole range 88's equity swings from 18.1% at the bottom to 83.3% at the top — the single 57.2% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.
Facing a cutoff opening range, 57.2% is a raise-or-fold number, not a call-and-see number: 88 is in front of the average opener but not by enough to want a bloated pot out of position. Against 27.6% of hands, you are priced in against a pot-sized bet (which needs about 33%).
88 vs CO open FAQ
What is 88's equity against a cutoff opening range?
88 has 57.2% equity all-in preflop against a cutoff opening range — it wins 56.8% of runouts outright, loses 42.3% and chops 0.9%. The range holds 366 combos (27.6% of all hands); 88 blocks 27 of them, leaving 339 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.
Which hands in a cutoff opening range beat 88?
88 is behind 37 of the 339 live combos and ahead of the other 302. The worst matchups are 99 (18.1%), TT (18.4%) and JJ (18.8%); its best are 86s (83.3%), 87s (82.0%) and 77 (81.8%). Every figure is exact, computed against that hand's unblocked combos only.
What hands are in a cutoff opening range?
63 hand classes and 366 combos — 27.6% of the 1,326 possible starting hands. By combo count it is 21% pocket pairs (13 pairs, 78 combos), 43% suited hands (39 classes, 156 combos) and 36% offsuit hands (11 classes, 132 combos). That shape is why 88 runs at 57.2% 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 3bet-value · 88 vs 4bet-range · 88 vs calling-station · aa vs utg-open · aa vs mp-open · aa vs co-open