QQ vs a small-blind opening range: Equity & Strategy
Pocket Queens (QQ) has 73.3% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — 534 combos, 40.3% of all starting hands. It wins 73.0% of runouts outright, loses 26.3% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 73.0% | 0.7% | 73.3% | |
| a small-blind opening range | 26.3% | 0.7% | 26.7% |
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, 479 of those 534 combos are still available (55 are blocked by the cards QQ holds). QQ is ahead of 466 and behind 13.
Hardest parts of the range for QQ
| Hand | Combos | QQ equity |
|---|---|---|
| KK | 6 | 18.1% |
| AA | 6 | 18.5% |
| 1 | 50.0% | |
| AKs | 4 | 54.0% |
| AKo | 12 | 56.8% |
Easiest parts of the range for QQ
| Hand | Combos | QQ equity |
|---|---|---|
| Q9o | 6 | 90.7% |
| QJo | 6 | 89.2% |
| QTo | 6 | 88.7% |
| Q4s | 2 | 88.2% |
| Q7s | 2 | 88.2% |
Put QQ up against a small-blind opening range — 534 combos, 40.3% of all hands — and the exact answer is 73.3% equity: 73.0% outright wins, 26.3% losses and 0.7% chops. Your own two cards remove 55 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 466 of the 479 combos you can still be facing (97%), which is what a 73.3% 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 QQ most are KK (18.1%), AA (18.5%) and QQ (50.0%); the ones you want to see are Q9o (90.7%), QJo (89.2%) and QTo (88.7%). Across the whole range QQ's equity swings from 18.1% at the bottom to 90.7% at the top — the single 73.3% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.
The practical read on 73.3% 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.
QQ vs SB open FAQ
What is QQ's equity against a small-blind opening range?
QQ has 73.3% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — it wins 73.0% of runouts outright, loses 26.3% and chops 0.7%. The range holds 534 combos (40.3% of all hands); QQ blocks 55 of them, leaving 479 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.
Which hands in a small-blind opening range beat QQ?
QQ is behind 13 of the 479 live combos and ahead of the other 466. The worst matchups are KK (18.1%), AA (18.5%) and QQ (50.0%); its best are Q9o (90.7%), QJo (89.2%) and QTo (88.7%). 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 QQ runs at 73.3% against it rather than against a random hand.
Does QQ do better against a wider or a tighter range?
Wider, almost always. QQ has 75.2% equity against a loose-passive calling range (50.5% of hands) but 46.0% 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 · qq vs 3bet-value · qq vs 3bet-bluff · qq vs 4bet-range · aa vs utg-open · aa vs mp-open · aa vs co-open