55 vs 87s
Pair against two overcards — the classic coinflip, with the pair a shade ahead.
- 55 Win
- 49.1%
- Tie
- 1.3%
- 55 Lose
- 49.6%
- Card combinations
- 24
- 55 vs random
- 60.3% · #27
- 87s vs random
- 47.9% · #101
Win, tie and loss for 55
When 55 and 87s get all in before the flop, 55 wins 49.8% of the time and 87s takes 50.2%. Broken down, 55 wins outright 49.1%, chops 1.3% and loses 49.6% — a margin of -0.4 points. Pair against two overcards — the classic coinflip, with the pair a shade ahead.
The same matchup shifts depending on how the suits overlap. With no shared suit the number is 49.6% (for example 5s 5h against 8d 7d); with one shared suit it is 50.0% (5s 5h against 8s 7s). That is a spread of 0.36 points across the 24 distinct card combinations, and it comes almost entirely from whether the two hands are fighting over the same flush.
Add a third player holding a random hand and the split becomes 55 34.5%, 87s 36.1%, random 29.4%. 55 gives up 15.3 points and 87s gives up 14.1, so the favourite loses more than the underdog does. Extra players always eat into the leader's share faster than into anyone else's.
Taken on their own, 55 is worth 60.3% against a random hand (rank 27 of 169) and 87s is worth 47.9% (rank 101). The gap between them in the ranking is only 12.4 points, yet head to head the gap is 0.4 points, which is roughly what the ranking table predicts.
Framed as a run of one hundred identical all-ins, 55 scoops roughly 49 pots, splits about 1, and loses the remaining 50. Against eight random opponents rather than this one specific hand, 55 would be down to 13.2% and 87s to 14.0%, so the shape of this particular confrontation matters far more than either hand's standing in the overall ranking.
From 87s's side, 50.2% is the break-even point for calling an all-in at 0.99:1 pot odds. Put another way, the call is profitable as long as the amount you have to put in is less than 50.2% of the pot you are playing for. 55 holds the other 49.8% of that same pot.
Two caveats keep this figure honest. First, it is showdown equity across all 24 card combinations with five board cards still to come — there is no fold equity in it, so the value of shoving in practice is usually higher than the raw percentage suggests. Second, it assumes 87s really does hold exactly 87s; against the wider range a player would actually get all in with, 55's 49.8% moves. Use the individual pages for 55 and 87s to see how each of them fares against all 168 other holdings before treating this single pairing as the whole picture.
Overlapping suits move the number
200,000 simulated showdowns per condition. The example column shows one concrete four-card layout.
| Condition | Example | Combos | 55 Equity | Win | Tie | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No shared suit | 5s 5h vs 8d 7d | 12 | 49.6% | 49.0% | 1.2% | 49.8% |
| One shared suit | 5s 5h vs 8s 7s | 12 | 50.0% | 49.3% | 1.4% | 49.4% |
Adding a random third hand
200,000 simulated showdowns, with the third hand dealt at random each time.
At a bigger table
| Random opponents | 55 | 87s |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60.3% | 47.9% |
| 2 | 40.1% | 33.7% |
| 4 | 22.6% | 22.4% |
| 8 | 13.2% | 14.0% |
Related
FAQ
55 or 87s — which is ahead preflop?
87s is the favourite. 55 takes 49.8% and 87s 50.2%, a margin of 0.4 points, with 1.3% of hands ending in a chop.
Do the suits change 55 vs 87s?
Yes. With no shared suit it is 49.6%, and with one shared suit it is 50.0% — a swing of up to 0.36 points.
What happens three-way?
With one extra random hand in the pot the split is 55 34.5%, 87s 36.1%, random 29.4%. 55 drops 15.3 points compared with heads-up.
424 words / 32 distinct figures — Method