99 vs a UTG opening range: Equity & Strategy
Pocket Nines (99) has 57.0% equity all-in preflop against a UTG opening range — 202 combos, 15.2% of all starting hands. It wins 56.5% of runouts outright, loses 42.5% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99 | 56.5% | 1.1% | 57.0% |
| a UTG opening range | 42.5% | 1.1% | 43.0% |
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, 189 of those 202 combos are still available (13 are blocked by the cards 99 holds). 99 is ahead of 158 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 98s | 2 | 82.2% |
| 88 | 6 | 81.9% |
| 22 | 6 | 81.8% |
| 87s | 4 | 81.6% |
| 77 | 6 | 81.6% |
99 has 57.0% equity all-in preflop against a UTG opening range — 202 combos, 15.2% of all hands. Pocket Nines wins the pot outright 56.5% of the time, loses 42.5% and chops 1.1%. Your own two cards remove 13 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 158 of the 189 combos you can still be facing (84%), which is what a 57.0% number actually looks like hand by hand.
The range behind this number is not a guess. 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. 99's worst spots in it are TT (18.0%), JJ (18.4%) and QQ (18.8%) — and its best are 98s (82.2%), 88 (81.9%) and 22 (81.8%). Across the whole range 99's equity swings from 18.0% at the bottom to 82.2% at the top — the single 57.0% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.
Facing a UTG opening range, 57.0% 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 15.2% of hands, you are priced in against a pot-sized bet (which needs about 33%).
99 vs UTG open FAQ
What is 99's equity against a UTG opening range?
99 has 57.0% equity all-in preflop against a UTG opening range — it wins 56.5% of runouts outright, loses 42.5% and chops 1.1%. The range holds 202 combos (15.2% of all hands); 99 blocks 13 of them, leaving 189 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.
Which hands in a UTG opening range beat 99?
99 is behind 31 of the 189 live combos and ahead of the other 158. The worst matchups are TT (18.0%), JJ (18.4%) and QQ (18.8%); its best are 98s (82.2%), 88 (81.9%) and 22 (81.8%). 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 99 runs at 57.0% 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