KQo vs QJs
Domination — a shared rank turns this into a kicker fight, and kicker fights are lopsided.
- KQo Win
- 68.8%
- Tie
- 2.4%
- KQo Lose
- 28.8%
- Card combinations
- 36
- KQo vs random
- 61.5% · #23
- QJs vs random
- 60.0% · #28
Win, tie and loss for KQo
When KQo and QJs get all in before the flop, KQo wins 70.0% of the time and QJs takes 30.0%. Broken down, KQo wins outright 68.8%, chops 2.4% and loses 28.8% — a margin of 40 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 69.5% (for example Ks Qh against Qd Jd); with one shared suit it is 70.9% (Ks Qh against Qs Js). That is a spread of 1.34 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 KQo 43.4%, QJs 26.1%, random 30.5%. KQo gives up 26.6 points and QJs gives up 3.9, 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, KQo is worth 61.5% against a random hand (rank 23 of 169) and QJs is worth 60.0% (rank 28). The gap between them in the ranking is only 1.5 points, yet head to head the gap is 40 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, KQo scoops roughly 69 pots, splits about 2, and loses the remaining 29. Against eight random opponents rather than this one specific hand, KQo would be down to 16.7% and QJs to 18.6%, so the shape of this particular confrontation matters far more than either hand's standing in the overall ranking.
From QJs's side, 30.0% is the break-even point for calling an all-in at 2.33:1 pot odds. Put another way, the call is profitable as long as the amount you have to put in is less than 30.0% of the pot you are playing for. KQo holds the other 70.0% 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 QJs really does hold exactly QJs; against the wider range a player would actually get all in with, KQo's 70.0% moves. Use the individual pages for KQo and QJs 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 | KQo Equity | Win | Tie | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No shared suit | Ks Qh vs Qd Jd | 24 | 69.5% | 68.3% | 2.4% | 29.3% |
| One shared suit | Ks Qh vs Qs Js | 12 | 70.9% | 69.6% | 2.5% | 27.9% |
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, KQo is ahead 83.1% of the time and QJs 16.9%, 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 KQo leads on the flop, QJs comes back on the turn and river 19.1% of the time. When QJs leads on the flop, KQo turns it around 21.7% of the time. The hand in front holds on to win 78.0% of the time from the flop and 86.2% from the turn (level spots left out).
With the turn out, KQo leads 76.6% and QJs 22.9%. Counted exhaustively, KQo finishes with 69.87% equity (the 70.0% at the top of the page is a 200,000-hand simulation).
| After the flop | How often | KQo wins | Tie | QJs wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KQo ahead | 83.1% | 78.2% | 2.69% | 19.1% |
| Level (same hand) | 0% | Never happens | ||
| QJs ahead | 16.9% | 21.7% | 1.26% | 77.0% |
| After the turn | How often | KQo wins | Tie | QJs wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KQo ahead | 76.6% | 85.9% | 2.50% | 11.6% |
| Level (same hand) | 0.440% | 9.09% | 85.0% | 5.95% |
| QJs ahead | 22.9% | 12.1% | 0.700% | 87.2% |
"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 | KQo | QJs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 61.5% | 60.0% |
| 2 | 44.4% | 44.1% |
| 4 | 29.2% | 30.3% |
| 8 | 16.7% | 18.6% |
Related
FAQ
KQo or QJs — which is ahead preflop?
KQo is the favourite. KQo takes 70.0% and QJs 30.0%, a margin of 40 points, with 2.4% of hands ending in a chop.
Do the suits change KQo vs QJs?
Yes. With no shared suit it is 69.5%, and with one shared suit it is 70.9% — a swing of up to 1.34 points.
What happens three-way?
With one extra random hand in the pot the split is KQo 43.4%, QJs 26.1%, random 30.5%. KQo drops 26.6 points compared with heads-up.
How often does the flop leader lose in KQo vs QJs?
The hand ahead on the flop goes on to lose 19.5% of the time (level spots left out). When KQo leads, QJs comes back 19.1%. When QJs leads, KQo comes back 21.7%. Exact counts over every flop, turn and river.
433 words / 29 distinct figures — Method