AJs vs AKo
Domination — a shared rank turns this into a kicker fight, and kicker fights are lopsided.
- AJs Win
- 28.0%
- Tie
- 4.5%
- AJs Lose
- 67.6%
- Card combinations
- 36
- AJs vs random
- 65.4% · #11
- AKo vs random
- 65.4% · #12
Win, tie and loss for AJs
When AJs and AKo get all in before the flop, AJs wins 30.2% of the time and AKo takes 69.8%. Broken down, AJs wins outright 28.0%, chops 4.5% and loses 67.6% — a margin of -39.6 points. Domination — a shared rank turns this into a kicker fight, and kicker fights are lopsided.
The same matchup shifts depending on how the suits overlap. With one shared suit the number is 29.4% (for example As Js against Ah Ks); with no shared suit it is 30.6% (As Js against Ah Kd). That is a spread of 1.18 points across the 36 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 AJs 26.1%, AKo 45.9%, random 28.0%. AJs gives up 4.1 points and AKo gives up 23.9, so the underdog loses more than the favourite does. Extra players always eat into the leader's share faster than into anyone else's.
Taken on their own, AJs is worth 65.4% against a random hand (rank 11 of 169) and AKo is worth 65.4% (rank 12). The gap between them in the ranking is only 0 points, yet head to head the gap is 39.6 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, AJs scoops roughly 28 pots, splits about 4, and loses the remaining 68. Against eight random opponents rather than this one specific hand, AJs would be down to 20.1% and AKo to 19.1%, so the shape of this particular confrontation matters far more than either hand's standing in the overall ranking.
From AKo's side, 69.8% is the break-even point for calling an all-in at 0.43:1 pot odds. Put another way, the call is profitable as long as the amount you have to put in is less than 69.8% of the pot you are playing for. AJs holds the other 30.2% of that same pot.
Two caveats keep this figure honest. First, it is showdown equity across all 36 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 AKo really does hold exactly AKo; against the wider range a player would actually get all in with, AJs's 30.2% moves. Use the individual pages for AJs and AKo 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 | AJs Equity | Win | Tie | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No shared suit | As Js vs Ah Kd | 24 | 30.6% | 28.4% | 4.5% | 67.2% |
| One shared suit | As Js vs Ah Ks | 12 | 29.4% | 27.2% | 4.5% | 68.3% |
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, AJs is ahead 16.6% of the time and AKo 83.4%, 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 AJs leads on the flop, AKo comes back on the turn and river 17.9% of the time. When AKo leads on the flop, AJs turns it around 17.4% of the time. The hand in front holds on to win 78.1% of the time from the flop and 86.1% from the turn (level spots left out).
With the turn out, AJs leads 22.2% and AKo 76.7%. Counted exhaustively, AJs finishes with 30.17% equity (the 30.2% at the top of the page is a 200,000-hand simulation).
| After the flop | How often | AJs wins | Tie | AKo wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJs ahead | 16.6% | 81.0% | 1.07% | 17.9% |
| Level (same hand) | 0% | Never happens | ||
| AKo ahead | 83.4% | 17.4% | 5.10% | 77.5% |
| After the turn | How often | AJs wins | Tie | AKo wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJs ahead | 22.2% | 89.5% | 0.806% | 9.74% |
| Level (same hand) | 1.11% | 9.65% | 81.6% | 8.76% |
| AKo ahead | 76.7% | 10.5% | 4.37% | 85.2% |
"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 | AJs | AKo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 65.4% | 65.4% |
| 2 | 48.0% | 47.9% |
| 4 | 32.2% | 32.4% |
| 8 | 20.1% | 19.1% |
Related
FAQ
AJs or AKo — which is ahead preflop?
AKo is the favourite. AJs takes 30.2% and AKo 69.8%, a margin of 39.6 points, with 4.5% of hands ending in a chop.
Do the suits change AJs vs AKo?
Yes. With one shared suit it is 29.4%, and with no shared suit it is 30.6% — a swing of up to 1.18 points.
What happens three-way?
With one extra random hand in the pot the split is AJs 26.1%, AKo 45.9%, random 28.0%. AJs drops 4.1 points compared with heads-up.
How often does the flop leader lose in AJs vs AKo?
The hand ahead on the flop goes on to lose 17.5% of the time (level spots left out). When AJs leads, AKo comes back 17.9%. When AKo leads, AJs comes back 17.4%. Exact counts over every flop, turn and river.
433 words / 27 distinct figures — Method
