--- title: "85s Combos: Count, Blockers, Board Pairs" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/combos/85s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/combos/85s" last_updated: "2026-10-21" type: "reference" summary: "85s is 4 combos of the 1,326 starting hands (0.30%). See how a known card or a board pair changes the count, plus its rank and equity." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/combos.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/combos/t2s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/combos/96o.md"] --- # 85s Combos: Count, Blockers, Board Pairs 85s is 4 combos of the 1,326 starting hands (0.30%). See how a known card or a board pair changes the count, plus its rank and equity. 85s can be dealt in 4 combos. That is 0.30% of the 1,326 two-card hands, and its 44.55% equity against a random hand ranks it number 119 out of 169. - Combos: 4 - Share of 1,326: 0.30% - Rank of 169: 119 - Equity vs random: 44.55% - This hand and stronger: 66.82% ## 85s: the 4 combos Fix the suit, and the eight and five of that suit are the only choice; four suits make 4 combos. These are the 4 specific hands that count as 85s. Each tile is one two-card holding, and no two tiles are the same hand. The 4 combos of 85s: 8s 5s, 8h 5h, 8d 5d, 8c 5c. ## How cards you can see change the count This is the blocker table for 85s. One visible card of a given rank removes the combos that need it, and the rest stay possible. 85s combos left after one known card of each rank: | Known card | 85s combos left | | --- | --- | | Ace | 4 | | King | 4 | | Queen | 4 | | Jack | 4 | | Ten | 4 | | Nine | 4 | | Eight | 3 | | Seven | 4 | | Six | 4 | | Five | 3 | | Four | 4 | | Three | 4 | | Two | 4 | With an eight or a five in view, 3 of the 4 combos of 85s remain, which removes 25%. Any card of a different rank leaves all 4 combos in play. ## When the board is paired Boards with a pair remove two cards of one rank at once. The rows give the 85s combos left for each paired rank. 85s combos left after a pair of each rank on the board: | Board pair | 85s combos left | | --- | --- | | Aces | 4 | | Kings | 4 | | Queens | 4 | | Jacks | 4 | | Tens | 4 | | Nines | 4 | | Eights | 2 | | Sevens | 4 | | Sixes | 4 | | Fives | 2 | | Fours | 4 | | Threes | 4 | | Twos | 4 | Only a board pair of eights or fives matters here: 2 combos of 85s remain, against 4 for any other pair. ## A worked example Suppose you look down at an eight and a two. Any opponent hand comes from 1,225 possibilities. 85s makes up 3 of them, which is 0.24% (1 in 408); if you held neither card's rank in common with 85s, it would be 4 of them, 0.33%. ## How strong is 85s? Order all 169 classes by equity against a random hand and 85s lands at number 119, below the middle of the ranking, with 44.55%. A tie is worth half a win in that figure. Down to and including 85s, the ranking holds 886 combos, or 66.82% of deals; 882 of them belong to hands above it. ## 85s against ranges of hands Five ranges, five equities for 85s. Counting only the combos your cards leave possible, it has 24.18% against the top 5 percent (60 combos), 31.69% against the top 10 percent (130 combos), 34.62% against the top 20 percent (264 combos), 36.02% against the top 30 percent (386 combos) and 37.65% against the top 50 percent (658 combos). 85s equity against the strongest hands: | Opponent range | Combos in range | 85s equity | | --- | --- | --- | | Top 5 percent | 60 | 24.18% | | Top 10 percent | 130 | 31.69% | | Top 20 percent | 264 | 34.62% | | Top 30 percent | 386 | 36.02% | | Top 50 percent | 658 | 37.65% | 85s is behind all five of these ranges, even the top 50 percent, so it is the underdog on average against each of them. Blockers work on ranges as well as hands. Against the 130 combos of the top 10 percent, 85s leaves an average of 127.00. That is 3.00 combos fewer than the 130 an opponent has before you look. ## Hands next to 85s Look at 85s against the hands that rank next to it. 85s has 43.50% equity against T2s, the hand ranked number 118: it wins 42.53% of boards, ties 1.93% and loses 55.53%. It is the underdog in that matchup. 85s has 40.65% equity against 96o, the hand ranked number 120: it wins 39.14% of boards, ties 3.02% and loses 57.84%. It is the underdog in that matchup. 85o is what the same two ranks look like when they are offsuit: 12 combos at number 137, 41.43% equity. 85o is 3 times as many combos but 3.12 points weaker against a random hand. Related to 85s: - [T2s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/t2s.md) - [96o combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/96o.md) - [85o combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/85o.md) - [All starting hands](https://georgelipoker.com/combos.md) - [Hand ranking calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/hand-ranking-calculator.md) - [Poker equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md) ## Questions about 85s combos **How many combos of 85s are there?** 4 combos, which is 0.30% of the 1,326 two-card starting hands, so you are dealt 85s about 1 time in 331.5. **How many 85s combos are left if I hold an eight?** 3 combos of 85s remain out of 4. With a two as your other card, an opponent has it about 1 time in 408. **Is 85s stronger than 85o?** Yes, by 3.12 points: 85s has 44.55% equity against a random hand and ranks number 119, while 85o has 41.43% and ranks number 137. 85o has 12 combos to 85s's 4. ## How this was computed All 1,326 two-card holdings were grouped into classes, and the 85s group was counted. The blocker rows drop each combo containing a visible card; the board-pair rows do it for a visible pair. Exact matchups, counted over all 1,712,304 boards, supply the rank and equity. A tie counts as half, and ranges are weighted by the combos that remain. Source: GeorgeLiPoker's own count of the 52-card deck and its preflop matchup table. ## Related - [Poker Combos: Count Every Starting Hand](https://georgelipoker.com/combos.md) - [T2s Combos: Count, Blockers, Board Pairs](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/t2s.md) - [96o Combos: Count, Blockers, Board Pairs](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/96o.md)