KK vs a 4-betting range: Equity & Strategy

Pocket Kings (KK) has 59.9% equity all-in preflop against a 4-betting range — 42 combos, 3.2% of all starting hands. It wins 57.9% of runouts outright, loses 38.2% and chops 3.8%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.

The range this is computed against

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, 29 of those 42 combos are still available (13 are blocked by the cards KK holds). KK is ahead of 22 and behind 7.

Hardest parts of the range for KK

Easiest parts of the range for KK

Put KK up against a 4-betting range — 42 combos, 3.2% of all hands — and the exact answer is 59.9% equity: 57.9% outright wins, 38.2% losses and 3.8% chops. Your own two cards remove 13 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 22 of the 29 combos you can still be facing (76%), which is what a 59.9% number actually looks like hand by hand.

The range behind this number is not a guess. 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. KK's worst spots in it are AA (18.1%), KK (50.0%) and AKs (65.9%) — and its best are QQ (81.9%), AKo (69.9%) and A4s (67.0%). Across the whole range KK's equity swings from 18.1% at the bottom to 81.9% at the top — the single 59.9% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.

A 4-bet is the tightest action in preflop poker, and 59.9% reflects that: KK is genuinely ahead of even this range, which is the definition of a hand you never fold preflop. There is no flat-and-outplay-them line against 3.2% of hands with the stacks a 4-bet creates.

KK vs 4-bet FAQ

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

KK has 59.9% equity all-in preflop against a 4-betting range — it wins 57.9% of runouts outright, loses 38.2% and chops 3.8%. The range holds 42 combos (3.2% of all hands); KK blocks 13 of them, leaving 29 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.

Which hands in a 4-betting range beat KK?

KK is behind 7 of the 29 live combos and ahead of the other 22. The worst matchups are AA (18.1%), KK (50.0%) and AKs (65.9%); its best are QQ (81.9%), AKo (69.9%) and A4s (67.0%). 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 KK runs at 59.9% against it rather than against a random hand.

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

Wider, almost always. KK has 78.7% equity against a loose-passive calling range (50.5% of hands) but 59.9% 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 · kk vs utg-open · kk vs mp-open · kk vs co-open · aa vs 4bet-range · qq vs 4bet-range · jj vs 4bet-range