BB defense vs CO open at 8 bb (4-max)
When CO opens, everyone else folds and you're in the BB, with an effective stack of 8 bb in a 4-max tournament, the solver plays 48.4% of its hands (call 24.1%, all-in 24.3%) and folds 51.6%. These frequencies come from Exploit It's full preflop tree: a chip-EV equilibrium with antes, computed for every position at the table.
Each cell: the share of each action for that hand, left to right. Gray cell: hand not in the range at this point.
Key takeaways for this spot
- The solver plays 48.4% of the hands that reach this spot, about 642 combos out of 1,326.
- Call is the main action for 24.3% of hands: from QTs down to 32o, the weakest hand played this way.
- All-in is the main action for 24.1% of hands: from AA down to A2o, the weakest hand played this way.
- Surprise: the solver folds some top-50 hands here, such as Q9s.
- Conversely, the solver plays hands ranked outside the top 100, such as T5s, T4s, 86s, 76s.
What changes at 10 bb (26 hands change action)
- K9s: all-in here, call at 10 bb
- KTo: all-in here, call at 10 bb
- K9o: all-in here, call at 10 bb
- Q9s: fold here, call at 10 bb
- 44: call here, all-in at 10 bb
- Q8s: fold here, call at 10 bb
Frequently asked questions
Which hands should you play from BB, facing an open, at 8 bb in 4-max?
The solver plays 48.4% of the hands that reach this spot, about 642 combos out of 1,326. Call is the main action for 24.3% of hands: from QTs down to 32o, the weakest hand played this way.
What should you do with small pairs (22 to 66) in this spot?
The solver's main action with each hand: 22 call, 33 call, 44 call, 55 all-in, 66 all-in.
What should you do with weak suited aces (A2s to A5s) in this spot?
The solver's main action with each hand: A2s all-in, A3s all-in, A4s all-in, A5s all-in.
How do you train on this spot?
Exploit It's free quiz deals you random hands in this exact spot and shows you the solver's answer after each choice.
Short stack: the push/fold chart, from 5 to 20 bb
Equilibrium computed by the Exploit It solver in chip-EV, antes included, open size 2 bb at 25 bb or less and 2.2 bb deeper. The model's range-width caps can make some EVs of unplayed actions optimistic: play the frequencies.