AJ vs a cutoff opening range: Equity & Strategy
Ace-Jack (AJ) has 56.6% equity all-in preflop against a cutoff opening range — 366 combos, 27.6% of all starting hands. It wins 54.1% of runouts outright, loses 41.0% and chops 4.9%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.
| Side | Win | Chop | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| AJ | 54.1% | 4.9% | 56.6% |
| a cutoff opening range | 41.0% | 4.9% | 43.4% |
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, 313 of those 366 combos are still available (53 are blocked by the cards AJ holds). AJ is ahead of 215 and behind 98.
Hardest parts of the range for AJ
| Hand | Combos | AJ equity |
|---|---|---|
| AA | 3 | 9.0% |
| AKs | 3 | 25.9% |
| AQs | 3 | 26.1% |
| AKo | 9 | 27.0% |
| AQo | 9 | 27.2% |
Easiest parts of the range for AJ
| Hand | Combos | AJ equity |
|---|---|---|
| KJo | 9 | 74.6% |
| A9o | 9 | 73.3% |
| ATo | 9 | 73.1% |
| QJo | 9 | 73.0% |
| A8o | 9 | 73.0% |
AJ has 56.6% equity all-in preflop against a cutoff opening range — 366 combos, 27.6% of all hands. Ace-Jack wins the pot outright 54.1% of the time, loses 41.0% and chops 4.9%. Your own two cards remove 53 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 215 of the 313 combos you can still be facing (69%), which is what a 56.6% 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 AJ most are AA (9.0%), AKs (25.9%) and AQs (26.1%); the ones you want to see are KJo (74.6%), A9o (73.3%) and ATo (73.1%). Across the whole range AJ's equity swings from 9.0% at the bottom to 74.6% at the top — the single 56.6% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.
The practical read on 56.6% against a cutoff opening range: you can 3-bet for value or flat in position, but this is not a stack-off-preflop holding against a 27.6% opener.
AJ vs CO open FAQ
What is AJ's equity against a cutoff opening range?
AJ has 56.6% equity all-in preflop against a cutoff opening range — it wins 54.1% of runouts outright, loses 41.0% and chops 4.9%. The range holds 366 combos (27.6% of all hands); AJ blocks 53 of them, leaving 313 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.
Which hands in a cutoff opening range beat AJ?
AJ is behind 98 of the 313 live combos and ahead of the other 215. The worst matchups are AA (9.0%), AKs (25.9%) and AQs (26.1%); its best are KJo (74.6%), A9o (73.3%) and ATo (73.1%). 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 AJ runs at 56.6% against it rather than against a random hand.
Does AJ do better against a wider or a tighter range?
Wider, almost always. AJ has 61.1% equity against a loose-passive calling range (50.5% of hands) but 33.5% 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 · aj vs 3bet-value · aj vs 4bet-range · aj vs calling-station · aa vs utg-open · aa vs mp-open · aa vs co-open