99 vs a nit's range: Equity & Strategy

Pocket Nines (99) has 46.9% equity all-in preflop against a nit's range — 104 combos, 7.8% of all starting hands. It wins 46.2% of runouts outright, loses 52.4% 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 99 holds). 99 is ahead of 68 and behind 31.

Hardest parts of the range for 99

Easiest parts of the range for 99

99 has 46.9% equity all-in preflop against a nit's range — 104 combos, 7.8% of all hands. Pocket Nines wins the pot outright 46.2% of the time, loses 52.4% 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 68 of the 99 combos still live (69%) — the rest of the range is level with or in front of you, which is why the figure sits below even money.

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. 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 88 (81.9%), 77 (81.6%) and AJo (55.5%). Across the whole range 99's equity swings from 18.0% at the bottom to 81.9% at the top — the single 46.9% 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 99 at 46.9%. 46.9% 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".

99 vs nit FAQ

What is 99's equity against a nit's range?

99 has 46.9% equity all-in preflop against a nit's range — it wins 46.2% of runouts outright, loses 52.4% and chops 1.4%. The range holds 104 combos (7.8% of all hands); 99 blocks 5 of them, leaving 99 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.

Which hands in a nit's range beat 99?

99 is behind 31 of the 99 live combos and ahead of the other 68. The worst matchups are TT (18.0%), JJ (18.4%) and QQ (18.8%); its best are 88 (81.9%), 77 (81.6%) and AJo (55.5%). 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 99 runs at 46.9% 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 utg-open · 99 vs mp-open · 99 vs co-open · aa vs nit · kk vs nit · qq vs nit