88 vs a UTG opening range: Equity & Strategy
Pocket Eights (88) has 53.9% equity all-in preflop against a UTG opening range — 202 combos, 15.2% of all starting hands. It wins 53.4% of runouts outright, loses 45.6% and chops 1.1%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.
| Side | Win | Chop | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | 53.4% | 1.1% | 53.9% |
| a UTG opening range | 45.6% | 1.1% | 46.1% |
The range this is computed against
Under the gun a competent 6-max regular opens roughly the top 15% of hands: every pocket pair, the suited aces (nut-flush and wheel blockers), suited broadways down to J9s, the strongest suited connectors, and only AJo+ / KQo offsuit — offsuit hands realise their equity badly from the worst seat at the table.
UTG open — 202 combos, 15.2% of all starting hands: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, AKs, AQs, AJs, ATs, A9s, A5s, A4s, A3s, KQs, KJs, KTs, QJs, QTs, JTs, J9s, T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s, AKo, AQo, AJo, KQo
After card removal, 193 of those 202 combos are still available (9 are blocked by the cards 88 holds). 88 is ahead of 156 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 87s | 2 | 82.0% |
| 77 | 6 | 81.8% |
| 22 | 6 | 81.6% |
| 33 | 6 | 81.6% |
| 76s | 4 | 81.5% |
Against a UTG opening range (202 combos, 15.2% of all hands), 88 runs at 53.9%. It wins 53.4% of runouts outright, loses 45.6% and splits the remaining 1.1%. Your own two cards remove 9 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 156 of the 193 combos you can still be facing (81%), which is what a 53.9% number actually looks like hand by hand.
Where does the range come from? Under the gun a competent 6-max regular opens roughly the top 15% of hands: every pocket pair, the suited aces (nut-flush and wheel blockers), suited broadways down to J9s, the strongest suited connectors, and only AJo+ / KQo offsuit — offsuit hands realise their equity badly from the worst seat at the table. Broken down hand by hand, 88 does worst against 99 (18.1%), TT (18.4%) and JJ (18.8%) and best against 87s (82.0%), 77 (81.8%) and 22 (81.6%). Across the whole range 88's equity swings from 18.1% at the bottom to 82.0% at the top — the single 53.9% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.
Facing a UTG opening range, 53.9% 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 15.2% of hands, you are priced in against a pot-sized bet (which needs about 33%).
88 vs UTG open FAQ
What is 88's equity against a UTG opening range?
88 has 53.9% equity all-in preflop against a UTG opening range — it wins 53.4% of runouts outright, loses 45.6% and chops 1.1%. The range holds 202 combos (15.2% of all hands); 88 blocks 9 of them, leaving 193 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.
Which hands in a UTG opening range beat 88?
88 is behind 37 of the 193 live combos and ahead of the other 156. The worst matchups are 99 (18.1%), TT (18.4%) and JJ (18.8%); its best are 87s (82.0%), 77 (81.8%) and 22 (81.6%). Every figure is exact, computed against that hand's unblocked combos only.
What hands are in a UTG opening range?
36 hand classes and 202 combos — 15.2% of the 1,326 possible starting hands. By combo count it is 39% pocket pairs (13 pairs, 78 combos), 38% suited hands (19 classes, 76 combos) and 24% offsuit hands (4 classes, 48 combos). That shape is why 88 runs at 53.9% 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