How many hands are in the top 25 percent?

The top 25 percent is 47 hands and 328 combos, which is 24.74% of the 1,326 two-card hands. It runs from AA down to QTo. 44 is the first hand left out, because 6 more combos would reach 25.19%.

Why is the top 25 percent really 24.74%?

Hands go in as whole classes, in rank order, and a class is never split. The range stops at the last class that keeps the total at or under 25 percent, so it lands on 24.74%, 328 of 1,326 combos, rather than exactly 25.

How many of the combos have an ace in them?

22 hands in the range have an ace as the higher card, adding up to 162 of 328 combos, 49.4%. Holding one ace yourself leaves 286 combos of the range possible for an opponent.

Top 25% of Poker Hands: Range and Combos

The top 25 percent range has 47 hands covering 328 combos, 24.74% of the 1,326 hands. Its bottom edge is QTo, and a random hand belongs to it about 1 time in 4.04.

The 47 hands in the top 25 percent

A budget of 331.50 combos (25 percent of 1,326) decides the range. Classes go in from the top of the ranking until the next one, 44 with 6 combos, would carry the total to 25.19%. It stays out, and the range sits at 24.74%.

The top 25 percent on the 13 by 13 grid

AA AKs AQs AJs ATs A9s A8s A7s A6s A5s A4s A3s A2s AKo KK KQs KJs KTs K9s K8s K7s K6s K5s K4s K3s K2s AQo KQo QQ QJs QTs Q9s Q8s Q7s Q6s Q5s Q4s Q3s Q2s AJo KJo QJo JJ JTs J9s J8s J7s J6s J5s J4s J3s J2s ATo KTo QTo JTo TT T9s T8s T7s T6s T5s T4s T3s T2s A9o K9o Q9o J9o T9o 99 98s 97s 96s 95s 94s 93s 92s A8o K8o Q8o J8o T8o 98o 88 87s 86s 85s 84s 83s 82s A7o K7o Q7o J7o T7o 97o 87o 77 76s 75s 74s 73s 72s A6o K6o Q6o J6o T6o 96o 86o 76o 66 65s 64s 63s 62s A5o K5o Q5o J5o T5o 95o 85o 75o 65o 55 54s 53s 52s A4o K4o Q4o J4o T4o 94o 84o 74o 64o 54o 44 43s 42s A3o K3o Q3o J3o T3o 93o 83o 73o 63o 53o 43o 33 32s A2o K2o Q2o J2o T2o 92o 82o 72o 62o 52o 42o 32o 22

In the range
Not in the range

In order, the hands are AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, AKs, 77, AQs, AJs, AKo, ATs, AQo, AJo, KQs, 66, A9s, ATo, KJs, A8s, KTs, KQo, A7s, A9o, KJo, 55, QJs, K9s, A5s, A6s, A8o, KTo, QTs, A4s, A7o, K8s, A3s, QJo, K9o, A5o, A6o, Q9s, K7s, JTs, A2s, QTo.

How the combos split

Pairs, suited hands and offsuit hands each add to the range in their own way. The table gives the hand count and the combo count for each kind.

The top 25 percent by kind of hand
Kind	Hands	Combos	Share of range
Pairs	10	60	18.29%
Suited hands	22	88	26.83%
Offsuit hands	15	180	54.88%

10 pairs make 60 combos, 22 suited hands make 88 and 15 offsuit hands make 180. The largest share is offsuit hands, at 54.9% of the range.

The range by top card

Count the range by its higher card and the weight of each rank is clear. Hands and combos for every top card are in the table.

The top 25 percent by higher card
Top card	Hands	Combos
Ace	22	162
King	11	78
Queen	6	42
Jack	2	10
Ten	1	6
Nine	1	6
Eight	1	6
Seven	1	6
Six	1	6
Five	1	6
Four	0	0
Three	0	0
Two	0	0

The ace row alone is 162 combos, 49.4% of 328. The range ends at the five row, which has 1 hand and 6 combos.

Hands worth knowing at the edge

QTo (number 47, 57.29% equity) is the weakest hand that fits, and 44 (number 48, 57.02%) is the strongest that does not.

Compared with the top 20 percent, this range adds 8 hands and 64 combos: K9o, A5o, A6o, Q9s, K7s, JTs, A2s, QTo.

How your cards shrink the range

Each card you hold removes combos that need it. Below is the range after one known card of each rank, and after you hold both cards of some common starting hands.

Combos of the top 25 percent left after one known card of each rank
Known card	Combos left	Combos removed
Ace	286	42
King	303	25
Queen	308	20
Jack	312	16
Ten	312	16
Nine	316	12
Eight	320	8
Seven	320	8
Six	321	7
Five	321	7
Four	327	1
Three	327	1
Two	327	1

Combos of the top 25 percent left when you hold both cards of a hand
You hold	Combos left
AA	245
KK	279
AKs	262
AKo	262
QQ	289
JTs	297
77	313
A5s	280
72o	319

An ace is the biggest blocker, removing 42 combos and leaving 286. A two removes 1. Two aces cut the range to 245, and 72o to 319.

A worked example

Worked example: you look down at AKs and an opponent's range is the top 25 percent, 328 combos before you look. Your cards remove some, leaving 262. Of the 1,225 hands left in the deck, 21.39% are in the range.

How strong the range is as a group

Put the range against two opponents. A random hand gives it 62.88%; the top 50 percent gives 57.11%. Weights are the combos that can be dealt together.

Questions about the top 25 percent

How many hands are in the top 25 percent?: The top 25 percent is 47 hands and 328 combos, which is 24.74% of the 1,326 two-card hands. It runs from AA down to QTo. 44 is the first hand left out, because 6 more combos would reach 25.19%.
Why is the top 25 percent really 24.74%?: Hands go in as whole classes, in rank order, and a class is never split. The range stops at the last class that keeps the total at or under 25 percent, so it lands on 24.74%, 328 of 1,326 combos, rather than exactly 25.
How many of the combos have an ace in them?: 22 hands in the range have an ace as the higher card, adding up to 162 of 328 combos, 49.4%. Holding one ace yourself leaves 286 combos of the range possible for an opponent.

How this was computed

The range comes from our ranking of all 169 starting hands by equity against a random hand. Hands are added in that order while the total of their combos (6 for a pair, 4 for a suited hand, 12 for an offsuit hand) stays within 25 percent of 1,326, and a hand that would go over is left out whole.

Blocker counts list every combo of every hand in the range and remove the ones that use a known card. Group equity comes from our table of all 169 by 169 preflop matchups, counted over every one of the 1,712,304 boards with no sampling, and weighted by the pairs of hands that can be dealt together.

Source: GeorgeLiPoker's own count of the 52-card deck and its preflop matchup table.