99 vs a cutoff opening range: Equity & Strategy
Pocket Nines (99) has 60.4% equity all-in preflop against a cutoff opening range — 366 combos, 27.6% of all starting hands. It wins 60.0% of runouts outright, loses 39.1% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99 | 60.0% | 0.9% | 60.4% |
| a cutoff opening range | 39.1% | 0.9% | 39.6% |
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, 341 of those 366 combos are still available (25 are blocked by the cards 99 holds). 99 is ahead of 310 and behind 31.
Hardest parts of the range for 99
| Hand | Combos | 99 equity |
|---|---|---|
| TT | 6 | 18.0% |
| JJ | 6 | 18.4% |
| 6 | 18.8% | |
| AA | 6 | 19.1% |
| KK | 6 | 19.2% |
Easiest parts of the range for 99
| Hand | Combos | 99 equity |
|---|---|---|
| 97s | 2 | 83.5% |
| 98s | 2 | 82.2% |
| 88 | 6 | 81.9% |
| 22 | 6 | 81.8% |
| 86s | 4 | 81.7% |
Against a cutoff opening range (366 combos, 27.6% of all hands), 99 runs at 60.4%. It wins 60.0% of runouts outright, loses 39.1% and splits the remaining 0.9%. Your own two cards remove 25 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 310 of the 341 combos you can still be facing (91%), which is what a 60.4% number actually looks like hand by hand.
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. Inside that range, the combos that hurt 99 most are TT (18.0%), JJ (18.4%) and QQ (18.8%); the ones you want to see are 97s (83.5%), 98s (82.2%) and 88 (81.9%). Across the whole range 99's equity swings from 18.0% at the bottom to 83.5% at the top — the single 60.4% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.
Facing a cutoff opening range, 60.4% is a raise-or-fold number, not a call-and-see number: 99 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%).
99 vs CO open FAQ
What is 99's equity against a cutoff opening range?
99 has 60.4% equity all-in preflop against a cutoff opening range — it wins 60.0% of runouts outright, loses 39.1% and chops 0.9%. The range holds 366 combos (27.6% of all hands); 99 blocks 25 of them, leaving 341 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.
Which hands in a cutoff opening range beat 99?
99 is behind 31 of the 341 live combos and ahead of the other 310. The worst matchups are TT (18.0%), JJ (18.4%) and QQ (18.8%); its best are 97s (83.5%), 98s (82.2%) and 88 (81.9%). 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 99 runs at 60.4% against it rather than against a random hand.
Does 99 do better against a wider or a tighter range?
Wider, almost always. 99 has 64.9% 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 · 99 vs 3bet-value · 99 vs 4bet-range · 99 vs calling-station · aa vs utg-open · aa vs mp-open · aa vs co-open