JJ vs a UTG opening range: Equity & Strategy
Pocket Jacks (JJ) has 65.0% equity all-in preflop against a UTG opening range — 202 combos, 15.2% of all starting hands. It wins 64.5% of runouts outright, loses 34.5% and chops 1.1%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.
| Side | Win | Chop | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| JJ | 64.5% | 1.1% | 65.0% |
| a UTG opening range | 34.5% | 1.1% | 35.0% |
The range this is computed against
Under the gun a competent 6-max regular opens roughly the top 15% of hands: every pocket pair, the suited aces (nut-flush and wheel blockers), suited broadways down to J9s, the strongest suited connectors, and only AJo+ / KQo offsuit — offsuit hands realise their equity badly from the worst seat at the table.
UTG open — 202 combos, 15.2% of all starting hands: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, AKs, AQs, AJs, ATs, A9s, A5s, A4s, A3s, KQs, KJs, KTs, QJs, QTs, JTs, J9s, T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s, AKo, AQo, AJo, KQo
After card removal, 181 of those 202 combos are still available (21 are blocked by the cards JJ holds). JJ is ahead of 162 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 |
|---|---|---|
| J9s | 2 | 83.9% |
| JTs | 2 | 82.2% |
| TT | 6 | 82.0% |
| 22 | 6 | 81.9% |
| T9s | 4 | 81.7% |
Put JJ up against a UTG opening range — 202 combos, 15.2% of all hands — and the exact answer is 65.0% equity: 64.5% outright wins, 34.5% losses and 1.1% chops. Your own two cards remove 21 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 162 of the 181 combos you can still be facing (90%), which is what a 65.0% number actually looks like hand by hand.
The range behind this number is not a guess. Under the gun a competent 6-max regular opens roughly the top 15% of hands: every pocket pair, the suited aces (nut-flush and wheel blockers), suited broadways down to J9s, the strongest suited connectors, and only AJo+ / KQo offsuit — offsuit hands realise their equity badly from the worst seat at the table. JJ's worst spots in it are QQ (18.0%), KK (18.5%) and AA (18.9%) — and its best are J9s (83.9%), JTs (82.2%) and TT (82.0%). Across the whole range JJ's equity swings from 18.0% at the bottom to 83.9% at the top — the single 65.0% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.
Facing a UTG opening range, 65.0% is a raise-or-fold number, not a call-and-see number: JJ is in front of the average opener but not by enough to want a bloated pot out of position. Against 15.2% of hands, you are priced in against a pot-sized bet (which needs about 33%).
JJ vs UTG open FAQ
What is JJ's equity against a UTG opening range?
JJ has 65.0% equity all-in preflop against a UTG opening range — it wins 64.5% of runouts outright, loses 34.5% and chops 1.1%. The range holds 202 combos (15.2% of all hands); JJ blocks 21 of them, leaving 181 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.
Which hands in a UTG opening range beat JJ?
JJ is behind 19 of the 181 live combos and ahead of the other 162. The worst matchups are QQ (18.0%), KK (18.5%) and AA (18.9%); its best are J9s (83.9%), JTs (82.2%) and TT (82.0%). Every figure is exact, computed against that hand's unblocked combos only.
What hands are in a UTG opening range?
36 hand classes and 202 combos — 15.2% of the 1,326 possible starting hands. By combo count it is 39% pocket pairs (13 pairs, 78 combos), 38% suited hands (19 classes, 76 combos) and 24% offsuit hands (4 classes, 48 combos). That shape is why JJ runs at 65.0% 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