AK vs a small-blind opening range: Equity & Strategy

Ace-King (AK) has 64.0% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — 534 combos, 40.3% of all starting hands. It wins 62.2% of runouts outright, loses 34.2% and chops 3.6%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.

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, 454 of those 534 combos are still available (80 are blocked by the cards AK holds). AK is ahead of 380 and behind 74.

Hardest parts of the range for AK

Easiest parts of the range for AK

AK has 64.0% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — 534 combos, 40.3% of all hands. Ace-King wins the pot outright 62.2% of the time, loses 34.2% and chops 3.6%. Your own two cards remove 80 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 380 of the 454 combos you can still be facing (84%), which is what a 64.0% number actually looks like hand by hand.

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. Inside that range, the combos that hurt AK most are AA (8.2%), KK (31.1%) and TT (43.8%); the ones you want to see are K9o (76.4%), KQo (75.0%) and KJo (74.7%). Across the whole range AK's equity swings from 8.2% at the bottom to 76.4% at the top — the single 64.0% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.

The practical read on 64.0% against a small-blind opening range: you can 3-bet for value or flat in position, but this is not a stack-off-preflop holding against a 40.3% opener.

AK vs SB open FAQ

What is AK's equity against a small-blind opening range?

AK has 64.0% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — it wins 62.2% of runouts outright, loses 34.2% and chops 3.6%. The range holds 534 combos (40.3% of all hands); AK blocks 80 of them, leaving 454 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.

Which hands in a small-blind opening range beat AK?

AK is behind 74 of the 454 live combos and ahead of the other 380. The worst matchups are AA (8.2%), KK (31.1%) and TT (43.8%); its best are K9o (76.4%), KQo (75.0%) and KJo (74.7%). 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 AK runs at 64.0% against it rather than against a random hand.

Does AK do better against a wider or a tighter range?

Wider, almost always. AK has 64.5% equity against a loose-passive calling range (50.5% of hands) but 46.1% 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 · ak vs 3bet-value · ak vs 3bet-bluff · ak vs 4bet-range · aa vs utg-open · aa vs mp-open · aa vs co-open