AQ vs a nit's range: Equity & Strategy

Ace-Queen (AQ) has 45.7% equity all-in preflop against a nit's range — 104 combos, 7.8% of all starting hands. It wins 39.5% of runouts outright, loses 48.0% and chops 12.5%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.

The range this is computed against

The rock at the table: 77+, ATs+, KQs and AJo+, a shade under 8% of hands. A nit almost never has a marginal holding — when they put money in voluntarily, the range is close to this and their bluff frequency is close to zero.

nit — 104 combos, 7.8% of all starting hands: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, AKs, AQs, AJs, ATs, KQs, AKo, AQo, AJo

After card removal, 81 of those 104 combos are still available (23 are blocked by the cards AQ holds). AQ is ahead of 25 and behind 56.

Hardest parts of the range for AQ

Easiest parts of the range for AQ

Put AQ up against a nit's range — 104 combos, 7.8% of all hands — and the exact answer is 45.7% equity: 39.5% outright wins, 48.0% losses and 12.5% chops. Your own two cards remove 23 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 25 of the 81 combos still live (31%) — the rest of the range is level with or in front of you, which is why the figure sits below even money.

The range behind this number is not a guess. The rock at the table: 77+, ATs+, KQs and AJo+, a shade under 8% of hands. A nit almost never has a marginal holding — when they put money in voluntarily, the range is close to this and their bluff frequency is close to zero. AQ's worst spots in it are AA (8.6%), AKs (25.6%) and AKo (26.7%) — and its best are AJo (74.2%), KQs (70.7%) and AJs (69.9%). Across the whole range AQ's equity swings from 8.6% at the bottom to 74.2% at the top — the single 45.7% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.

Against a nit, the range is the whole story: 7.8% of hands, no bluffs, and AQ at 45.7%. 45.7% against a range with no bluffs in it means folding is not weak, it is correct. The classic leak is paying off a rock with a hand that is "too good to fold".

AQ vs nit FAQ

What is AQ's equity against a nit's range?

AQ has 45.7% equity all-in preflop against a nit's range — it wins 39.5% of runouts outright, loses 48.0% and chops 12.5%. The range holds 104 combos (7.8% of all hands); AQ blocks 23 of them, leaving 81 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.

Which hands in a nit's range beat AQ?

AQ is behind 56 of the 81 live combos and ahead of the other 25. The worst matchups are AA (8.6%), AKs (25.6%) and AKo (26.7%); its best are AJo (74.2%), KQs (70.7%) and AJs (69.9%). Every figure is exact, computed against that hand's unblocked combos only.

What hands are in a nit's range?

16 hand classes and 104 combos — 7.8% of the 1,326 possible starting hands. By combo count it is 46% pocket pairs (8 pairs, 48 combos), 19% suited hands (5 classes, 20 combos) and 35% offsuit hands (3 classes, 36 combos). That shape is why AQ runs at 45.7% against it rather than against a random hand.

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

Wider, almost always. AQ has 62.7% equity against a loose-passive calling range (50.5% of hands) but 34.1% 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 · aq vs utg-open · aq vs mp-open · aq vs co-open · aa vs nit · kk vs nit · qq vs nit