progressBB defense vs BTN open at 11 BB
8-max MTT · ante 12.5 % · Button opens, small blind folds · chip EV
How the BB defends at 11 BB
Facing a Button open to 2 BB (small blind folds) with 11 big blinds, the big blind folds only 27% of hands, calls 46% and goes all-in with 27%. The big blind already has one blind in the pot and closes the action, so it gets a good price.
Always all-in: AA, AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo, AJs, AJo, ATs, ATo, A9s, A9o, A8s, A8o, A7s, A7o, A6s and 25 more.
Folded: Q5o, Q3o, Q2o, J7o, J6o, J5o, J4o, J3o, J2o, T6o, T5o, T4o and 15 more.
Against other openers at 11 BB the big blind continues with: vs CO 71%, vs HJ 70%, vs LJ 72%, vs UTG+1 73%, vs UTG 71%. The defence does not simply grow with the position of the opener here; the exact chart for each opener matters.
Closest decisions (the book continues with them only part of the time): 96o 48%, T7o 58%, 42o 68%, Q7o 30%, Q6o 70%, 72s 80%. These are the hands worth drilling, because a small change in the opponents or the stack flips them.
What changes around 11 BB
The book continues with 73% of hands here, 72% at 10 BB and 75% at 12 BB. Compared with 10 BB, these hands come into the range: Q8o, Q6o. These leave it: 96o, 74o. Some hands switch to an all-in: KTs, KTo, K8o, K6o, K4o, K3o and 3 more.
Free 7-day ICM course by e-mail
One short lesson a day, each with a worked example in exact numbers: chips vs. money, the bubble factor, who feels the pressure, payout structures, satellites. No account needed.
Numbers come from the progressGTO solution book (v14, chip EV, 8-max, ante 12.5 %): our own equilibrium computation with a modelled postflop. It is an approximation, not an exact solution, and it keeps improving. Hover or tap a hand to see its exact frequencies.
progressGTOAll rangesGuidesDaily spotICM calculatorOpen the appPrivacyTerms