AKo vs AQo
Domination — a shared rank turns this into a kicker fight, and kicker fights are lopsided.
- AKo Win
- 72.0%
- Tie
- 4.7%
- AKo Lose
- 23.2%
- Card combinations
- 108
- AKo vs random
- 65.4% · #12
- AQo vs random
- 64.4% · #14
Win, tie and loss for AKo
When AKo and AQo get all in before the flop, AKo wins 74.4% of the time and AQo takes 25.6%. Broken down, AKo wins outright 72.0%, chops 4.7% and loses 23.2% — a margin of 48.8 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 no shared suit the number is 73.8% (for example As Kh against Ad Qc); with both suits shared it is 74.6% (As Kh against Ah Qs). That is a spread of 0.8 points across the 108 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 48.6%, AQo 22.1%, random 29.3%. AKo gives up 25.8 points and AQo gives up 3.5, 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 AQo is worth 64.4% (rank 14). The gap between them in the ranking is only 1 points, yet head to head the gap is 48.8 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 72 pots, splits about 5, and loses the remaining 23. Against eight random opponents rather than this one specific hand, AKo would be down to 19.1% and AQo to 17.5%, so the shape of this particular confrontation matters far more than either hand's standing in the overall ranking.
From AQo's side, 25.6% is the break-even point for calling an all-in at 2.91:1 pot odds. Put another way, the call is profitable as long as the amount you have to put in is less than 25.6% of the pot you are playing for. AKo holds the other 74.4% of that same pot.
Two caveats keep this figure honest. First, it is showdown equity across all 108 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 AQo really does hold exactly AQo; against the wider range a player would actually get all in with, AKo's 74.4% moves. Use the individual pages for AKo and AQo 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 Ad Qc | 24 | 73.8% | 71.5% | 4.7% | 23.8% |
| One shared suit | As Kh vs Ah Qd | 72 | 74.6% | 72.2% | 4.7% | 23.1% |
| Both suits shared | As Kh vs Ah Qs | 12 | 74.6% | 72.3% | 4.8% | 23.0% |
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, AKo is ahead 84.3% of the time and AQo 15.7%, 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 AKo leads on the flop, AQo comes back on the turn and river 12.6% of the time. When AQo leads on the flop, AKo turns it around 18.5% of the time. The hand in front holds on to win 81.8% of the time from the flop and 88.2% from the turn (level spots left out).
With the turn out, AKo leads 79.3% and AQo 19.6%. Counted exhaustively, AKo finishes with 74.39% equity (the 74.4% at the top of the page is a 200,000-hand simulation).
| After the flop | How often | AKo wins | Tie | AQo wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AKo ahead | 84.3% | 82.1% | 5.37% | 12.6% |
| Level (same hand) | 0% | Never happens | ||
| AQo ahead | 15.7% | 18.5% | 0.948% | 80.6% |
| After the turn | How often | AKo wins | Tie | AQo wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AKo ahead | 79.3% | 88.1% | 4.52% | 7.37% |
| Level (same hand) | 1.12% | 8.94% | 85.5% | 5.52% |
| AQo ahead | 19.6% | 10.6% | 0.681% | 88.7% |
"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 | AKo | AQo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 65.4% | 64.4% |
| 2 | 47.9% | 46.9% |
| 4 | 32.4% | 30.3% |
| 8 | 19.1% | 17.5% |
Related
FAQ
AKo or AQo — which is ahead preflop?
AKo is the favourite. AKo takes 74.4% and AQo 25.6%, a margin of 48.8 points, with 4.7% of hands ending in a chop.
Do the suits change AKo vs AQo?
Yes. With no shared suit it is 73.8%, and with both suits shared it is 74.6% — a swing of up to 0.8 points.
What happens three-way?
With one extra random hand in the pot the split is AKo 48.6%, AQo 22.1%, random 29.3%. AKo drops 25.8 points compared with heads-up.
How often does the flop leader lose in AKo vs AQo?
The hand ahead on the flop goes on to lose 13.5% of the time (level spots left out). When AKo leads, AQo comes back 12.6%. When AQo leads, AKo comes back 18.5%. Exact counts over every flop, turn and river.
433 words / 28 distinct figures — Method