progressBB defense vs BTN open at 23 BB
8-max MTT · ante 12.5 % · Button opens, small blind folds · chip EV
How the BB defends at 23 BB
Facing a Button open to 2 BB (small blind folds) with 23 big blinds, the big blind folds only 12% of hands, calls 65%, 3-bets to 6.5 BB with 4.1% and goes all-in with 19%. The big blind already has one blind in the pot and closes the action, so it gets a good price.
Always 3-bet: AKs, AQs, A3o, KQs.
Always all-in: AQo, AJo, ATs, ATo, A9o, A8s, A8o, A7o, A6o, A5s, A5o, A4o, A2o, K6o, QJs, Q6o and 8 more.
Folded: Q3o, Q2o, T2o, 94o, 93o, 92o, 83o, 82o, 72o, 62o.
Against other openers at 23 BB the big blind continues with: vs CO 84%, vs HJ 79%, vs LJ 77%, vs UTG+1 74%, vs UTG 73%. The later the opener, the wider its range, and the more the big blind defends.
Closest decisions (the book continues with them only part of the time): T4o 58%, 84o 66%, Q4o 24%, 73o 22%. These are the hands worth drilling, because a small change in the opponents or the stack flips them.
What changes around 23 BB
The book continues with 88% of hands here, 87% at 22 BB and 88% at 24 BB. Compared with 22 BB, these hands come into the range: T4o. With the extra chips some former all-ins become small raises: AJs, A7s.
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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.
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