KQ vs a 20bb shoving range: Equity & Strategy

King-Queen (KQ) has 40.2% equity all-in preflop against a 20bb shoving range — 164 combos, 12.4% of all starting hands. It wins 36.9% of runouts outright, loses 56.4% and chops 6.7%. 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 KQ holds). KQ is ahead of 17 and behind 124.

Hardest parts of the range for KQ

Easiest parts of the range for KQ

Put KQ up against a 20bb shoving range — 164 combos, 12.4% of all hands — and the exact answer is 40.2% equity: 36.9% outright wins, 56.4% losses and 6.7% chops. 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 only 17 of the 141 combos still live (12%) — the rest of the range is level with or in front of you, which is why the figure sits below even money.

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. Inside that range, the combos that hurt KQ most are KK (10.0%), AA (13.9%) and AKs (25.4%); the ones you want to see are QJs (70.1%), KJs (70.0%) and JTs (61.5%). Across the whole range KQ's equity swings from 10.0% at the bottom to 70.1% at the top — the single 40.2% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.

Against a 20bb shoving range (12.4% of hands), KQ is a 40.2% proposition. You are the underdog, so the call has to be paid for by the dead money already in the pot — chip EV and ICM can disagree sharply here.

KQ vs 20bb shove FAQ

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

KQ has 40.2% equity all-in preflop against a 20bb shoving range — it wins 36.9% of runouts outright, loses 56.4% and chops 6.7%. The range holds 164 combos (12.4% of all hands); KQ blocks 23 of them, leaving 141 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.

Which hands in a 20bb shoving range beat KQ?

KQ is behind 124 of the 141 live combos and ahead of the other 17. The worst matchups are KK (10.0%), AA (13.9%) and AKs (25.4%); its best are QJs (70.1%), KJs (70.0%) and JTs (61.5%). 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 KQ runs at 40.2% against it rather than against a random hand.

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

Wider, almost always. KQ has 55.8% equity against a loose-passive calling range (50.5% of hands) but 26.5% 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 · kq vs utg-open · kq vs mp-open · kq vs co-open · aa vs shove-10bb · aa vs shove-20bb · kk vs shove-10bb