JJ vs a value 3-betting range: Equity & Strategy

Pocket Jacks (JJ) has 50.4% equity all-in preflop against a value 3-betting range — 72 combos, 5.4% of all starting hands. It wins 49.5% of runouts outright, loses 48.7% and chops 1.8%. 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 pure QQ+/AK 3-bet is only 34 combos — 2.6% of hands — which is far tighter than anyone actually 3-bets for value in a modern game. The merged value range a good regular uses adds the mid pairs and the second-best broadways: 99+, AQs+, KQs and AQo+, about 5.4% of hands.

3-bet (value) — 72 combos, 5.4% of all starting hands: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, AKs, AQs, KQs, AKo, AQo

After card removal, 67 of those 72 combos are still available (5 are blocked by the cards JJ holds). JJ is ahead of 48 and behind 19.

Hardest parts of the range for JJ

Easiest parts of the range for JJ

Against a value 3-betting range (72 combos, 5.4% of all hands), JJ runs at 50.4%. It wins 49.5% of runouts outright, loses 48.7% and splits the remaining 1.8%. Your own two cards remove 5 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 48 of the 67 combos you can still be facing (72%), which is what a 50.4% number actually looks like hand by hand.

Where does the range come from? A pure QQ+/AK 3-bet is only 34 combos — 2.6% of hands — which is far tighter than anyone actually 3-bets for value in a modern game. The merged value range a good regular uses adds the mid pairs and the second-best broadways: 99+, AQs+, KQs and AQo+, about 5.4% of hands. Broken down hand by hand, JJ does worst against QQ (18.0%), KK (18.5%) and AA (18.9%) and best against TT (82.0%), 99 (81.6%) and AQo (56.9%). Across the whole range JJ's equity swings from 18.0% at the bottom to 82.0% at the top — the single 50.4% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.

Against a value 3-betting range — only 5.4% of hands — JJ holds 50.4%. That is enough to play a big pot: get it in, or 4-bet and let the bluffs fold out.

JJ vs 3-bet (value) FAQ

What is JJ's equity against a value 3-betting range?

JJ has 50.4% equity all-in preflop against a value 3-betting range — it wins 49.5% of runouts outright, loses 48.7% and chops 1.8%. The range holds 72 combos (5.4% of all hands); JJ blocks 5 of them, leaving 67 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.

Which hands in a value 3-betting range beat JJ?

JJ is behind 19 of the 67 live combos and ahead of the other 48. The worst matchups are QQ (18.0%), KK (18.5%) and AA (18.9%); its best are TT (82.0%), 99 (81.6%) and AQo (56.9%). Every figure is exact, computed against that hand's unblocked combos only.

What hands are in a value 3-betting range?

11 hand classes and 72 combos — 5.4% of the 1,326 possible starting hands. By combo count it is 50% pocket pairs (6 pairs, 36 combos), 17% suited hands (3 classes, 12 combos) and 33% offsuit hands (2 classes, 24 combos). That shape is why JJ runs at 50.4% against it rather than against a random hand.

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

Wider, almost always. JJ has 71.9% equity against a loose-passive calling range (50.5% of hands) but 42.0% 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 · jj vs utg-open · jj vs mp-open · jj vs co-open · aa vs 3bet-value · aa vs 3bet-bluff · kk vs 3bet-value