AJ vs a middle-position opening range: Equity & Strategy

Ace-Jack (AJ) has 52.4% equity all-in preflop against a middle-position opening range — 258 combos, 19.5% of all starting hands. It wins 49.4% of runouts outright, loses 44.5% and chops 6.1%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.

The range this is computed against

With one fewer player left to act, middle position adds the rest of the suited aces, the suited one-gappers and a second layer of offsuit broadways (ATo, KJo) to the UTG chart — about 19% of hands.

MP open — 258 combos, 19.5% 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, QJs, QTs, Q9s, JTs, J9s, T9s, T8s, 98s, 87s, 76s, 65s, AKo, AQo, AJo, ATo, KQo, KJo

After card removal, 218 of those 258 combos are still available (40 are blocked by the cards AJ holds). AJ is ahead of 120 and behind 98.

Hardest parts of the range for AJ

Easiest parts of the range for AJ

AJ has 52.4% equity all-in preflop against a middle-position opening range — 258 combos, 19.5% of all hands. Ace-Jack wins the pot outright 49.4% of the time, loses 44.5% and chops 6.1%. Your own two cards remove 40 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 120 of the 218 combos you can still be facing (55%), which is what a 52.4% number actually looks like hand by hand.

With one fewer player left to act, middle position adds the rest of the suited aces, the suited one-gappers and a second layer of offsuit broadways (ATo, KJo) to the UTG chart — about 19% of hands. 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%), ATo (73.1%) and KJs (70.5%). Across the whole range AJ's equity swings from 9.0% at the bottom to 74.6% at the top — the single 52.4% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.

Facing a middle-position opening range, 52.4% is a raise-or-fold number, not a call-and-see number: AJ is in front of the average opener but not by enough to want a bloated pot out of position. Against 19.5% of hands, you are priced in against a pot-sized bet (which needs about 33%).

AJ vs MP open FAQ

What is AJ's equity against a middle-position opening range?

AJ has 52.4% equity all-in preflop against a middle-position opening range — it wins 49.4% of runouts outright, loses 44.5% and chops 6.1%. The range holds 258 combos (19.5% of all hands); AJ blocks 40 of them, leaving 218 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.

Which hands in a middle-position opening range beat AJ?

AJ is behind 98 of the 218 live combos and ahead of the other 120. The worst matchups are AA (9.0%), AKs (25.9%) and AQs (26.1%); its best are KJo (74.6%), ATo (73.1%) and KJs (70.5%). Every figure is exact, computed against that hand's unblocked combos only.

What hands are in a middle-position opening range?

46 hand classes and 258 combos — 19.5% of the 1,326 possible starting hands. By combo count it is 30% pocket pairs (13 pairs, 78 combos), 42% suited hands (27 classes, 108 combos) and 28% offsuit hands (6 classes, 72 combos). That shape is why AJ runs at 52.4% 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