88 vs 98s
Pair against one overcard — roughly 70/30 in the pair's favour.
- 88 Win
- 59.9%
- Tie
- 2.1%
- 88 Lose
- 37.9%
- Card combinations
- 12
- 88 vs random
- 69.2% · #7
- 98s vs random
- 50.8% · #83
Win, tie and loss for 88
When 88 and 98s get all in before the flop, 88 wins 61.0% of the time and 98s takes 39.0%. Broken down, 88 wins outright 59.9%, chops 2.1% and loses 37.9% — a margin of 22 points. Pair against one overcard — roughly 70/30 in the pair's favour.
The same matchup shifts depending on how the suits overlap. With no shared suit the number is 61.0% (for example 8s 8h against 9d 8d); with no shared suit it is 61.0% (8s 8h against 9d 8d). That is a spread of 0 points across the 12 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 88 42.6%, 98s 30.2%, random 27.3%. 88 gives up 18.4 points and 98s gives up 8.8, 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, 88 is worth 69.2% against a random hand (rank 7 of 169) and 98s is worth 50.8% (rank 83). The gap between them in the ranking is only 18.4 points, yet head to head the gap is 22 points — a reminder that a ranking table and a direct matchup are two different questions.
Framed as a run of one hundred identical all-ins, 88 scoops roughly 60 pots, splits about 2, and loses the remaining 38. Against eight random opponents rather than this one specific hand, 88 would be down to 15.9% and 98s to 14.4%, so the shape of this particular confrontation matters far more than either hand's standing in the overall ranking.
From 98s's side, 39.0% is the break-even point for calling an all-in at 1.56:1 pot odds. Put another way, the call is profitable as long as the amount you have to put in is less than 39.0% of the pot you are playing for. 88 holds the other 61.0% of that same pot.
Two caveats keep this figure honest. First, it is showdown equity across all 12 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 98s really does hold exactly 98s; against the wider range a player would actually get all in with, 88's 61.0% moves. Use the individual pages for 88 and 98s 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 | 88 Equity | Win | Tie | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No shared suit | 8s 8h vs 9d 8d | 12 | 61.0% | 59.9% | 2.1% | 37.9% |
Who leads on each street, and how often it flips
Exact counts from the 48 unseen cards: all 17,296 flops × 990 turn-and-river pairs, and all 194,580 four-card turns × 44 rivers, for every suit combination — no simulation.
When the three flop cards are out, 88 is ahead 80.4% of the time and 98s 19.6%, and the two hands are never level on the flop. "Ahead" means the better best-five-card hand from the cards showing plus the two hole cards; draws are not counted.
When 88 leads on the flop, 98s comes back on the turn and river 25.7% of the time. When 98s leads on the flop, 88 turns it around 6.30% of the time. The hand in front holds on to win 76.0% of the time from the flop and 85.7% from the turn (level spots left out).
With the turn out, 88 leads 70.7% and 98s 29.0%. Counted exhaustively, 88 finishes with 61.00% equity (the 61.0% at the top of the page is a 200,000-hand simulation).
| After the flop | How often | 88 wins | Tie | 98s wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88 ahead | 80.4% | 73.0% | 1.22% | 25.7% |
| Level (same hand) | 0% | Never happens | ||
| 98s ahead | 19.6% | 6.30% | 5.70% | 88.0% |
| After the turn | How often | 88 wins | Tie | 98s wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88 ahead | 70.7% | 83.2% | 0.688% | 16.1% |
| Level (same hand) | 0.395% | 2.34% | 94.5% | 3.11% |
| 98s ahead | 29.0% | 3.89% | 4.29% | 91.8% |
"Ahead" compares the best five-card hands available at that point (draws are not counted). "Flips" is the share of leads that end in a loss, with level spots left out.
Adding a random third hand
200,000 simulated showdowns, with the third hand dealt at random each time.
At a bigger table
| Random opponents | 88 | 98s |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 69.2% | 50.8% |
| 2 | 50.2% | 36.2% |
| 4 | 29.2% | 23.6% |
| 8 | 15.9% | 14.4% |
Related
FAQ
88 or 98s — which is ahead preflop?
88 is the favourite. 88 takes 61.0% and 98s 39.0%, a margin of 22 points, with 2.1% of hands ending in a chop.
Do the suits change 88 vs 98s?
Yes. With no shared suit it is 61.0%, and with no shared suit it is 61.0% — a swing of up to 0 points.
What happens three-way?
With one extra random hand in the pot the split is 88 42.6%, 98s 30.2%, random 27.3%. 88 drops 18.4 points compared with heads-up.
How often does the flop leader lose in 88 vs 98s?
The hand ahead on the flop goes on to lose 21.9% of the time (level spots left out). When 88 leads, 98s comes back 25.7%. When 98s leads, 88 comes back 6.30%. Exact counts over every flop, turn and river.
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