JJ vs a small-blind opening range: Equity & Strategy
Pocket Jacks (JJ) has 70.0% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — 534 combos, 40.3% of all starting hands. It wins 69.6% of runouts outright, loses 29.6% and chops 0.7%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.
| Side | Win | Chop | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| JJ | 69.6% | 0.7% | 70.0% |
| a small-blind opening range | 29.6% | 0.7% | 30.0% |
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, 491 of those 534 combos are still available (43 are blocked by the cards JJ holds). JJ is ahead of 472 and behind 19.
Hardest parts of the range for JJ
| Hand | Combos | JJ equity |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 18.0% | |
| KK | 6 | 18.5% |
| AA | 6 | 18.9% |
| JJ | 1 | 50.0% |
| KQs | 4 | 53.7% |
Easiest parts of the range for JJ
| Hand | Combos | JJ equity |
|---|---|---|
| JTo | 6 | 87.0% |
| J7s | 2 | 86.6% |
| T9o | 12 | 85.8% |
| J8s | 2 | 85.3% |
| J9s | 2 | 83.9% |
JJ has 70.0% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — 534 combos, 40.3% of all hands. Pocket Jacks wins the pot outright 69.6% of the time, loses 29.6% and chops 0.7%. Your own two cards remove 43 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 472 of the 491 combos you can still be facing (96%), which is what a 70.0% 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 JJ most are QQ (18.0%), KK (18.5%) and AA (18.9%); the ones you want to see are JTo (87.0%), J7s (86.6%) and T9o (85.8%). Across the whole range JJ's equity swings from 18.0% at the bottom to 87.0% at the top — the single 70.0% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.
The practical read on 70.0% against a small-blind opening range: 3-bet and get money in — you dominate the opener's continuing range and every free card costs you value.
JJ vs SB open FAQ
What is JJ's equity against a small-blind opening range?
JJ has 70.0% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — it wins 69.6% of runouts outright, loses 29.6% and chops 0.7%. The range holds 534 combos (40.3% of all hands); JJ blocks 43 of them, leaving 491 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.
Which hands in a small-blind opening range beat JJ?
JJ is behind 19 of the 491 live combos and ahead of the other 472. The worst matchups are QQ (18.0%), KK (18.5%) and AA (18.9%); its best are JTo (87.0%), J7s (86.6%) and T9o (85.8%). 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 JJ runs at 70.0% 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 3bet-value · jj vs 3bet-bluff · jj vs 4bet-range · aa vs utg-open · aa vs mp-open · aa vs co-open