99 preflop: pair of nines

Pair of nines has 72.1% against a random hand, the 6th best of the 169 starting hands. Below are its odds against every hand and on the flop, and what the charts do with it from each seat.

Lesson: Work out the price of a call (needs an invite). In the glossary: Equity, Hand classes, Combo. How the numbers are made.

Last updated

72.1%
6th
6

Quick answers

Is 99 a good hand?

99 ranks 6th of the 169 starting hands by against a random hand, in the top 4% of hand classes. Classes have different numbers of card combinations; this is not a deal-frequency percentile. First in at 100bb, the charts say: raise from every seat.

What is 99's equity against AA?

19.1% all in before the flop. 99 vs AA in full

How often does 99 hit the flop?

99 flops a set or better on 12.0% of flops.

99 against common hands

for 99 all in before the flop. The line marks 50%; linked hands have their own matchup page.

99 against every hand

Each cell is 99's in percent against that hand, all in before the flop. Blue cells are hands 99 is ahead of, red cells hands it is behind.

Under 20%20–35%35–45%45–55%55–65%65–80%80% and up

99 equity against each of the 169 hands, in percent
AA 19AKs 53AQs 53AJs 53ATs 53A9s 66A8s 68A7s 67A6s 68A5s 66A4s 67A3s 67A2s 67
AKo 55KK 19KQs 53KJs 53KTs 53K9s 65K8s 68K7s 68K6s 68K5s 68K4s 68K3s 68K2s 68
AQo 55KQo 55QQ 19QJs 52QTs 52Q9s 64Q8s 68Q7s 68Q6s 68Q5s 68Q4s 68Q3s 68Q2s 69
AJo 55KJo 55QJo 55JJ 18JTs 51J9s 63J8s 67J7s 68J6s 68J5s 68J4s 68J3s 68J2s 69
ATo 56KTo 55QTo 55JTo 54TT 18T9s 61T8s 67T7s 67T6s 68T5s 68T4s 68T3s 68T2s 69
A9o 70K9o 69Q9o 68J9o 66T9o 6599 5098s 8297s 8396s 8595s 8694s 8893s 8892s 88
A8o 71K8o 72Q8o 71J8o 71T8o 7098o 8788 8287s 8286s 8285s 8284s 8383s 8482s 84
A7o 71K7o 71Q7o 72J7o 71T7o 7197o 8887o 8677 8276s 8075s 8074s 8173s 8372s 84
A6o 71K6o 71Q6o 71J6o 72T6o 7196o 9086o 8676o 8466 8165s 7964s 8063s 8162s 83
A5o 69K5o 71Q5o 71J5o 71T5o 7295o 9185o 8675o 8465o 8355 8154s 7853s 7952s 81
A4o 70K4o 72Q4o 72J4o 72T4o 7294o 9384o 8774o 8564o 8454o 8244 8143s 8042s 81
A3o 70K3o 72Q3o 72J3o 72T3o 7293o 9383o 8873o 8763o 8553o 8343o 8433 8132s 81
A2o 70K2o 72Q2o 72J2o 72T2o 7292o 9482o 8872o 8962o 8752o 8542o 8632o 8622 82

Cells with a matchup page are links.

Compare starting hands

Against one random hand, 99 has and AA has 85.20%: 13.15 percentage points less for 99.

against one to eight random opponents

Hover or tap the plot to inspect a value. Use the opponent slider with the arrow keys for the same values.

0%25%50%75%100%12345678Opponents99, 1 opponent: 72.06%99, 2 opponents: 53.58%99, 3 opponents: 40.94%99, 4 opponents: 32.53%99, 5 opponents: 26.47%99, 6 opponents: 22.41%99, 7 opponents: 19.44%99, 8 opponents: 17.24%AA, 1 opponent: 85.20%AA, 2 opponents: 73.27%AA, 3 opponents: 63.90%AA, 4 opponents: 55.94%AA, 5 opponents: 49.15%AA, 6 opponents: 43.51%AA, 7 opponents: 38.82%AA, 8 opponents: 34.78%
  • 99: 72.06%
  • AA: 85.20%
View all graph values
Equity by number of random opponents
Opponents99AA
172.06%85.20%
253.58%73.27%
340.94%63.90%
432.53%55.94%
526.47%49.15%
622.41%43.51%
719.44%38.82%
817.24%34.78%

The one-opponent values are exact. Two to eight opponents use 100,000 seeded deals per point; small differences can be sampling noise. All opponents have random hands. These curves do not measure profit or account for position, betting or opponents folding.

99 on the flop

The best five-card hand 99 holds after the flop, over all 19,600 flops. Pairs on the board count.
  • One pair71.8%
  • Two pair16.2%
  • Three of a kind10.8%
  • Full house1.0%
  • Four of a kind0.2%
Draws on the flop, counted only when the hand has not already made that straight or flush or better.
  • Flush draw2.2%
  • Open-ended straight draw1.3%
  • Gutshot3.9%

How to play 99

A pocket pair is made before the flop. It flops a set or better on 12.0% of flops; the rest of the time it plays as one pair.

First in

Raise from every seat.

Facing a raise

3-bet from middle position, the cutoff, the button and the small blind; 3-bet 80% and call 20% from the big blind.

Facing a 3-bet

Call from under the gun, middle position, the button and the big blind; call 75% and 4-bet 25% from the cutoff.

From the six-handed 100bb charts. A percentage means the chart mixes actions with this hand.

What each chart does with 99

Six-handed cash charts at 100 big blinds. A spot marked mix plays 99 more than one way.

Where these numbers come from

Heads-up equity comes from the same preflop table the odds calculator uses, which averages each pair of hands over every board and suit pattern. Against a random hand, your own two cards make some hands less likely: holding an ace leaves three aces for the other player, so each hand counts once for every way it can still be dealt. Equity against several players is sampled with a fixed seed, so it can move by a few tenths of a point from the exact figure. The flop figures count every one of the 19,600 flops.

All 169 starting hands