AKo vs 98s
Two unpaired hands with no shared rank — the higher cards usually run 60–65%.
- AKo Win
- 60.0%
- Tie
- 0.4%
- AKo Lose
- 39.5%
- Card combinations
- 48
- AKo vs random
- 65.4% · #12
- 98s vs random
- 50.8% · #83
Win, tie and loss for AKo
When AKo and 98s get all in before the flop, AKo wins 60.2% of the time and 98s takes 39.8%. Broken down, AKo wins outright 60.0%, chops 0.4% and loses 39.5% — a margin of 20.5 points. Two unpaired hands with no shared rank — the higher cards usually run 60–65%.
The same matchup shifts depending on how the suits overlap. With no shared suit the number is 59.6% (for example As Kh against 9d 8d); with one shared suit it is 60.8% (As Kh against 9s 8s). That is a spread of 1.2 points across the 48 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 AKo 46.1%, 98s 32.3%, random 21.6%. AKo gives up 14.1 points and 98s gives up 7.5, 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, AKo is worth 65.4% against a random hand (rank 12 of 169) and 98s is worth 50.8% (rank 83). The gap between them in the ranking is only 14.6 points, yet head to head the gap is 20.5 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, AKo scoops roughly 60 pots, splits about one, and loses the remaining 40. Against eight random opponents rather than this one specific hand, AKo would be down to 19.1% 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, 39.8% is the break-even point for calling an all-in at 1.51:1 pot odds. Put another way, the call is profitable as long as the amount you have to put in is less than 39.8% of the pot you are playing for. AKo holds the other 60.2% of that same pot.
Two caveats keep this figure honest. First, it is showdown equity across all 48 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, AKo's 60.2% moves. Use the individual pages for AKo 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 | AKo Equity | Win | Tie | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No shared suit | As Kh vs 9d 8d | 24 | 59.6% | 59.4% | 0.4% | 40.2% |
| One shared suit | As Kh vs 9s 8s | 24 | 60.8% | 60.6% | 0.5% | 38.9% |
Adding a random third hand
200,000 simulated showdowns, with the third hand dealt at random each time.
At a bigger table
| Random opponents | AKo | 98s |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 65.4% | 50.8% |
| 2 | 47.9% | 36.2% |
| 4 | 32.4% | 23.6% |
| 8 | 19.1% | 14.4% |
Related
FAQ
AKo or 98s — which is ahead preflop?
AKo is the favourite. AKo takes 60.2% and 98s 39.8%, a margin of 20.5 points, with 0.4% of hands ending in a chop.
Do the suits change AKo vs 98s?
Yes. With no shared suit it is 59.6%, and with one shared suit it is 60.8% — a swing of up to 1.2 points.
What happens three-way?
With one extra random hand in the pot the split is AKo 46.1%, 98s 32.3%, random 21.6%. AKo drops 14.1 points compared with heads-up.
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