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Pool data

What the Ignition Big Blind Actually Defends With

The Ignition pool folds its big blind 51% to a button open and 61% to an early open. Measured defence ranges from 16,506 visible-card hands.

16,506 Ignition ring hands (NL100 and NL200, May–July 2026) with every dealt seat’s hole cards visible; 6,448 BB decisions facing a single open and 2,463 SB decisions facing a button open.

By Brad S · · 3 min read

Blind defence is where equilibrium and the pool part company most. A solver defends the big blind with something like 55–65% of hands against a button open; the forum consensus is that recreational pools over-defend. Neither is what the Ignition pool does. We have every card, so we can draw the actual ranges.

51%

BB folds to a button open

n = 1,905

61%

BB folds to an early-position open

n = 1,520

77%

SB folds to a button open

n = 2,463

11%

BB 3-bets the button

15% vs an SB open

Fold, call or 3-bet, by who opened

vs EP open: fold n=1,520
61.4%
vs EP open: call n=1,520
32.7%
vs EP open: 3-bet n=1,520
5.9%
vs CO open: fold n=1,446
58.1%
vs CO open: call n=1,446
35.2%
vs CO open: 3-bet n=1,446
6.7%
vs BTN open: fold n=1,905
51.3%
vs BTN open: call n=1,905
37.5%
vs BTN open: 3-bet n=1,905
11.2%
vs SB open: fold n=1,577
41.2%
vs SB open: call n=1,577
44.0%
vs SB open: 3-bet n=1,577
14.8%
Big blind response to a single open with no callers, Ignition ring NL100 + NL200, by opener position. Whiskers are 95% Wilson intervals.

The pool under-defends against every position. Against the button it folds 51% where a solver folds about 40%; against early position it folds 61%. The one place it loosens up is blind versus blind: facing a small-blind open it folds only 41% and 3-bets 15%.

The shape is right, the volume is wrong. The pool knows to defend more against late position; it just defends too little everywhere, and the gap is biggest where the open is widest.

The ranges themselves

Each cell is the share of the time the big blind, dealt that hand and facing that open, did not fold (call or 3-bet). Hatched cells have fewer than 10 observations.

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
Big blind defence frequency vs a button open, by hand. Ignition ring, 1,905 decisions.

Against the button the defended region is recognisable: pairs, suited aces, suited broadways and connectors, offsuit broadways down to about K9o and QTo. What is missing is the bottom of a solver’s defence: offsuit connectors, weak suited kings and queens, the J8o–T8o band. Those are folds here, which is where the 51% comes from.

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
Big blind 3-bet frequency vs a button open, by hand. Ignition ring, 1,905 decisions.

The 3-bet range is linear, not polar: premiums and strong broadways at high frequency, then a tail of suited aces and medium hands at low frequency. There are few of the A5s / K9s / 76s-type bluffs a solver uses. When the Ignition big blind 3-bets the button, the median hand is a strong one.

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
Big blind defence frequency vs an early-position (UTG/HJ) open, by hand. Ignition ring, 1,520 decisions.

Against early position the pool tightens to pairs, big suited hands and the strongest offsuit broadways, and that is roughly correct. The over-fold here is smaller than against the button.

The small blind folds 77% to the button

Fold n=2,463
76.9%
Call n=2,463
11.6%
3-bet n=2,463
11.5%
Small blind response to a button open with no callers, Ignition ring. n = 2,463.

This is the single largest over-fold in the preflop data. A solver’s small blind continues against a button open about 35–40% of the time, almost all of it by 3-betting. The pool continues 23% and splits it evenly between calling (11.6%) and 3-betting (11.5%). Half of its continues are the flat a solver almost never makes.

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
Small blind continue frequency vs a button open, by hand. Ignition ring, 2,463 decisions.

Combined with the big blind’s 51% fold, a button open against the Ignition blinds takes the pot uncontested about 39% of the time (0.77 × 0.51). At 1.5 bb a pot, that alone is worth close to 0.6 bb per button open before any postflop play, and it is why the measured pool button range could be wider than it is.

What to do with it

  • Open wider from the BTN and CO than a 100 bb 6-max chart. The blinds’ over-fold is the pool’s gift; take it with any suited hand, any ace, and offsuit broadways down further than the chart.
  • Do not 3-bet bluff the BB’s 3-bet. Its range is linear; 4-bet for value, fold the rest.
  • Flat the SB less than the pool does and 3-bet more; the pool’s SB flat is a capped range out of position that loses money in the preflop leak accounting.
  • Blind versus blind, expect a fight. The BB defends 59% and 3-bets 15% against the SB, nearly a solver-like frequency.

Data & method

Dataset
Ignition ring hand histories, every dealt seat's cards visible: own exports plus traded May 2026 files at NL100 and NL200, de-duplicated by hand number, hero seat excluded.
Sample
16,506 ring hands. BB facing a single open with no callers: EP 1,520, CO 1,446, BTN 1,905, SB 1,577 decisions. SB facing a BTN open: 2,463 decisions.
Period
May 3 – July 24, 2026

What the numbers cannot tell you

  • Per-hand cells have 1 to about 60 observations; cells under 10 are hatched. Read the grids for shape, the bar chart for frequencies.
  • About 85% of the sample is the traded May files, which run looser than our own June–September tables; the fold rates may be slightly higher in the live pool.
  • Opens of any size are pooled. The pool opens 2–3 bb almost always, so size mix is narrow.
  • “Solver” comparisons are to 100 bb 6-max charts solved with Ignition’s rake; the pool’s stacks are often shorter.

Why every seat's cards are visible

Ignition, Bovada and Bodog export hand histories that reveal every dealt seat's hole cards, including players who folded preflop. Population stats built from them have no showdown bias: a "limping range" here is the hands people actually limped, not only the ones that reached showdown.

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