KK vs a 20bb shoving range: Equity & Strategy

Pocket Kings (KK) has 73.2% equity all-in preflop against a 20bb shoving range — 164 combos, 12.4% of all starting hands. It wins 72.7% of runouts outright, loses 26.2% and chops 1.2%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.

The range this is computed against

Double the stack, half the range. At twenty big blinds a jam risks far more chips to win the same blinds and antes, so the push collapses to hands that are happy to be called: 55+, the strong suited aces plus the wheel aces, suited broadways and ATo+. Around 12% of hands.

20bb shove — 164 combos, 12.4% of all starting hands: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, AKs, AQs, AJs, ATs, A9s, A5s, A4s, KQs, KJs, QJs, JTs, AKo, AQo, AJo, ATo, KQo

After card removal, 141 of those 164 combos are still available (23 are blocked by the cards KK holds). KK is ahead of 134 and behind 7.

Hardest parts of the range for KK

Easiest parts of the range for KK

Against a 20bb shoving range (164 combos, 12.4% of all hands), KK runs at 73.2%. It wins 72.7% of runouts outright, loses 26.2% and splits the remaining 1.2%. 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 134 of the 141 combos you can still be facing (95%), which is what a 73.2% number actually looks like hand by hand.

Where does the range come from? Double the stack, half the range. At twenty big blinds a jam risks far more chips to win the same blinds and antes, so the push collapses to hands that are happy to be called: 55+, the strong suited aces plus the wheel aces, suited broadways and ATo+. Around 12% of hands. Broken down hand by hand, KK does worst against AA (18.1%), KK (50.0%) and AKs (65.9%) and best against KQo (91.3%), KQs (86.1%) and KJs (85.7%). Across the whole range KK's equity swings from 18.1% at the bottom to 91.3% at the top — the single 73.2% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.

Against a 20bb shoving range (12.4% of hands), KK is a 73.2% proposition. You are the favourite, so the only question is whether the stack sizes and the payout ladder let you take the flip.

KK vs 20bb shove FAQ

What is KK's equity against a 20bb shoving range?

KK has 73.2% equity all-in preflop against a 20bb shoving range — it wins 72.7% of runouts outright, loses 26.2% and chops 1.2%. The range holds 164 combos (12.4% of all hands); KK blocks 23 of them, leaving 141 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.

Which hands in a 20bb shoving range beat KK?

KK is behind 7 of the 141 live combos and ahead of the other 134. The worst matchups are AA (18.1%), KK (50.0%) and AKs (65.9%); its best are KQo (91.3%), KQs (86.1%) and KJs (85.7%). Every figure is exact, computed against that hand's unblocked combos only.

What hands are in a 20bb shoving range?

26 hand classes and 164 combos — 12.4% of the 1,326 possible starting hands. By combo count it is 37% pocket pairs (10 pairs, 60 combos), 27% suited hands (11 classes, 44 combos) and 37% offsuit hands (5 classes, 60 combos). That shape is why KK runs at 73.2% 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 shove-10bb · aa vs shove-20bb · kk vs shove-10bb