88 vs a nit's range: Equity & Strategy

Pocket Eights (88) has 43.0% equity all-in preflop against a nit's range — 104 combos, 7.8% of all starting hands. It wins 42.3% of runouts outright, loses 56.3% and chops 1.4%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.

The range this is computed against

The rock at the table: 77+, ATs+, KQs and AJo+, a shade under 8% of hands. A nit almost never has a marginal holding — when they put money in voluntarily, the range is close to this and their bluff frequency is close to zero.

nit — 104 combos, 7.8% of all starting hands: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, AKs, AQs, AJs, ATs, KQs, AKo, AQo, AJo

After card removal, 99 of those 104 combos are still available (5 are blocked by the cards 88 holds). 88 is ahead of 62 and behind 37.

Hardest parts of the range for 88

Easiest parts of the range for 88

88 has 43.0% equity all-in preflop against a nit's range — 104 combos, 7.8% of all hands. Pocket Eights wins the pot outright 42.3% of the time, loses 56.3% and chops 1.4%. Your own two cards remove 5 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 only 62 of the 99 combos still live (63%) — the rest of the range is level with or in front of you, which is why the figure sits below even money.

The range behind this number is not a guess. The rock at the table: 77+, ATs+, KQs and AJo+, a shade under 8% of hands. A nit almost never has a marginal holding — when they put money in voluntarily, the range is close to this and their bluff frequency is close to zero. 88's worst spots in it are 99 (18.1%), TT (18.4%) and JJ (18.8%) — and its best are 77 (81.8%), AJo (55.3%) and AQo (55.3%). Across the whole range 88's equity swings from 18.1% at the bottom to 81.8% at the top — the single 43.0% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.

Against a nit, the range is the whole story: 7.8% of hands, no bluffs, and 88 at 43.0%. 43.0% against a range with no bluffs in it means folding is not weak, it is correct. The classic leak is paying off a rock with a hand that is "too good to fold".

88 vs nit FAQ

What is 88's equity against a nit's range?

88 has 43.0% equity all-in preflop against a nit's range — it wins 42.3% of runouts outright, loses 56.3% and chops 1.4%. The range holds 104 combos (7.8% of all hands); 88 blocks 5 of them, leaving 99 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.

Which hands in a nit's range beat 88?

88 is behind 37 of the 99 live combos and ahead of the other 62. The worst matchups are 99 (18.1%), TT (18.4%) and JJ (18.8%); its best are 77 (81.8%), AJo (55.3%) and AQo (55.3%). Every figure is exact, computed against that hand's unblocked combos only.

What hands are in a nit's range?

16 hand classes and 104 combos — 7.8% of the 1,326 possible starting hands. By combo count it is 46% pocket pairs (8 pairs, 48 combos), 19% suited hands (5 classes, 20 combos) and 35% offsuit hands (3 classes, 36 combos). That shape is why 88 runs at 43.0% 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 nit · kk vs nit · qq vs nit