AA vs a small-blind opening range: Equity & Strategy
Pocket Aces (AA) has 84.4% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — 534 combos, 40.3% of all starting hands. It wins 83.9% of runouts outright, loses 15.2% and chops 0.8%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.
| Side | Win | Chop | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA | 83.9% | 0.8% | 84.4% |
| a small-blind opening range | 15.2% | 0.8% | 15.6% |
The range this is computed against
A small blind raising first in is heads-up against a single opponent, so it opens nearly as wide as the button — around 40% — but trims the weakest offsuit hands and the trashiest suited gappers, because unlike the button it will be out of position on every postflop street.
SB open — 534 combos, 40.3% 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, K4s, K3s, K2s, QJs, QTs, Q9s, Q8s, Q7s, Q6s, Q5s, Q4s, JTs, J9s, J8s, J7s, T9s, T8s, T7s, T6s, 98s, 97s, 96s, 87s, 86s, 85s, 76s, 75s, 65s, 64s, 54s, 43s, AKo, AQo, AJo, ATo, A9o, A8o, A7o, A6o, A5o, A4o, A3o, A2o, KQo, KJo, KTo, K9o, QJo, QTo, Q9o, JTo, T9o
After card removal, 433 of those 534 combos are still available (101 are blocked by the cards AA holds). AA is ahead of 432 and behind 1.
Hardest parts of the range for AA
| Hand | Combos | AA equity |
|---|---|---|
| AA | 1 | 50.0% |
| 87s | 4 | 77.5% |
| 76s | 4 | 77.5% |
| 65s | 4 | 77.5% |
| T9s | 4 | 77.8% |
Easiest parts of the range for AA
| Hand | Combos | AA equity |
|---|---|---|
| A9o | 6 | 93.8% |
| A6o | 6 | 93.6% |
| A7o | 6 | 93.3% |
| A8o | 6 | 93.3% |
| A2o | 6 | 93.2% |
AA has 84.4% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — 534 combos, 40.3% of all hands. Pocket Aces wins the pot outright 83.9% of the time, loses 15.2% and chops 0.8%. Your own two cards remove 101 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 432 of the 433 combos you can still be facing (100%), which is what a 84.4% number actually looks like hand by hand.
Where does the range come from? A small blind raising first in is heads-up against a single opponent, so it opens nearly as wide as the button — around 40% — but trims the weakest offsuit hands and the trashiest suited gappers, because unlike the button it will be out of position on every postflop street. Broken down hand by hand, AA does worst against AA (50.0%), 87s (77.5%) and 76s (77.5%) and best against A9o (93.8%), A6o (93.6%) and A7o (93.3%). Across the whole range AA's equity swings from 50.0% at the bottom to 93.8% at the top — the single 84.4% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.
The practical read on 84.4% against a small-blind opening range: 3-bet and get money in — you dominate the opener's continuing range and every free card costs you value.
AA vs SB open FAQ
What is AA's equity against a small-blind opening range?
AA has 84.4% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — it wins 83.9% of runouts outright, loses 15.2% and chops 0.8%. The range holds 534 combos (40.3% of all hands); AA blocks 101 of them, leaving 433 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.
Which hands in a small-blind opening range beat AA?
AA is behind 1 of the 433 live combos and ahead of the other 432. The worst matchups are AA (50.0%), 87s (77.5%) and 76s (77.5%); its best are A9o (93.8%), A6o (93.6%) and A7o (93.3%). Every figure is exact, computed against that hand's unblocked combos only.
What hands are in a small-blind opening range?
85 hand classes and 534 combos — 40.3% of the 1,326 possible starting hands. By combo count it is 15% pocket pairs (13 pairs, 78 combos), 38% suited hands (51 classes, 204 combos) and 47% offsuit hands (21 classes, 252 combos). That shape is why AA runs at 84.4% against it rather than against a random hand.
Does AA do better against a wider or a tighter range?
Wider, almost always. AA has 84.3% equity against a loose-passive calling range (50.5% of hands) but 84.5% 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 · aa vs 3bet-value · aa vs 3bet-bluff · aa vs 4bet-range · aa vs utg-open · aa vs mp-open · aa vs co-open