AKs vs a 4-betting range: Equity & Strategy

Ace-King Suited (AKs) has 48.2% equity all-in preflop against a 4-betting range — 42 combos, 3.2% of all starting hands. It wins 32.7% of runouts outright, loses 36.4% and chops 31.0%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.

The range this is computed against

Four-betting is the tightest voluntary action in preflop poker. The standard construction is QQ+ and AK for value plus a token pair of blocker bluffs — A5s and A4s, which remove combos of AA and AK from the opponent's continuing range and still flop wheel and nut-flush draws when called. About 3% of hands.

4-bet — 42 combos, 3.2% of all starting hands: AA, KK, QQ, AKs, A5s, A4s, AKo

After card removal, 27 of those 42 combos are still available (15 are blocked by the cards AKs holds). AKs is ahead of 12 and behind 15.

Hardest parts of the range for AKs

Easiest parts of the range for AKs

Against a 4-betting range (42 combos, 3.2% of all hands), AKs runs at 48.2%. It wins 32.7% of runouts outright, loses 36.4% and splits the remaining 31.0%. Your own two cards remove 15 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 only 12 of the 27 combos still live (44%) — the rest of the range is level with or in front of you, which is why the figure sits below even money.

Where does the range come from? Four-betting is the tightest voluntary action in preflop poker. The standard construction is QQ+ and AK for value plus a token pair of blocker bluffs — A5s and A4s, which remove combos of AA and AK from the opponent's continuing range and still flop wheel and nut-flush draws when called. About 3% of hands. Broken down hand by hand, AKs does worst against AA (12.1%), KK (34.1%) and QQ (46.0%) and best against A4s (70.2%), A5s (69.8%) and AKo (52.5%). Across the whole range AKs's equity swings from 12.1% at the bottom to 70.2% at the top — the single 48.2% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.

Against a 4-betting range, AKs runs at 48.2%. 48.2% against a 3.2% range is what "dominated" looks like as a number. Folding here costs you nothing you were going to win.

AKs vs 4-bet FAQ

What is AKs's equity against a 4-betting range?

AKs has 48.2% equity all-in preflop against a 4-betting range — it wins 32.7% of runouts outright, loses 36.4% and chops 31.0%. The range holds 42 combos (3.2% of all hands); AKs blocks 15 of them, leaving 27 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.

Which hands in a 4-betting range beat AKs?

AKs is behind 15 of the 27 live combos and ahead of the other 12. The worst matchups are AA (12.1%), KK (34.1%) and QQ (46.0%); its best are A4s (70.2%), A5s (69.8%) and AKo (52.5%). Every figure is exact, computed against that hand's unblocked combos only.

What hands are in a 4-betting range?

7 hand classes and 42 combos — 3.2% of the 1,326 possible starting hands. By combo count it is 43% pocket pairs (3 pairs, 18 combos), 29% suited hands (3 classes, 12 combos) and 29% offsuit hands (1 classes, 12 combos). That shape is why AKs runs at 48.2% against it rather than against a random hand.

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

Wider, almost always. AKs has 65.8% equity against a loose-passive calling range (50.5% of hands) but 48.2% 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 · aks vs utg-open · aks vs mp-open · aks vs co-open · aa vs 4bet-range · kk vs 4bet-range · qq vs 4bet-range