TT vs a small-blind opening range: Equity & Strategy

Pocket Tens (TT) has 66.9% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — 534 combos, 40.3% of all starting hands. It wins 66.5% of runouts outright, loses 32.7% and chops 0.8%. These are exact figures from full board enumeration against every unblocked combo in the range, not a simulation.

The range this is computed against

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, 483 of those 534 combos are still available (51 are blocked by the cards TT holds). TT is ahead of 458 and behind 25.

Hardest parts of the range for TT

Easiest parts of the range for TT

TT has 66.9% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — 534 combos, 40.3% of all hands. Pocket Tens wins the pot outright 66.5% of the time, loses 32.7% and chops 0.8%. Your own two cards remove 51 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 458 of the 483 combos you can still be facing (95%), which is what a 66.9% 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 TT most are JJ (18.0%), QQ (18.4%) and KK (18.9%); the ones you want to see are T9o (87.2%), T6s (86.2%) and T7s (84.9%). Across the whole range TT's equity swings from 18.0% at the bottom to 87.2% at the top — the single 66.9% headline is the combo-weighted average of all of it.

The practical read on 66.9% against a small-blind opening range: you can 3-bet for value or flat in position, but this is not a stack-off-preflop holding against a 40.3% opener.

TT vs SB open FAQ

What is TT's equity against a small-blind opening range?

TT has 66.9% equity all-in preflop against a small-blind opening range — it wins 66.5% of runouts outright, loses 32.7% and chops 0.8%. The range holds 534 combos (40.3% of all hands); TT blocks 51 of them, leaving 483 live. This is exact full board enumeration, not a simulation.

Which hands in a small-blind opening range beat TT?

TT is behind 25 of the 483 live combos and ahead of the other 458. The worst matchups are JJ (18.0%), QQ (18.4%) and KK (18.9%); its best are T9o (87.2%), T6s (86.2%) and T7s (84.9%). 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 TT runs at 66.9% against it rather than against a random hand.

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

Wider, almost always. TT has 68.6% equity against a loose-passive calling range (50.5% of hands) but 42.2% 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 · tt vs 3bet-value · tt vs 3bet-bluff · tt vs 4bet-range · aa vs utg-open · aa vs mp-open · aa vs co-open