88: the 6 combos
To count 88, pick 2 of the 4 eights: 4 x 3 / 2 = 6 pairings.
Every 88 you can be dealt is one of these 6 holdings. They are listed once each, higher card first.
How cards you can see change the count
Known cards cannot be in an opponent's hand. For 88, the table lists the combos left after one card of each rank is out of play.
| Known card | 88 combos left |
|---|---|
| Ace | 6 |
| King | 6 |
| Queen | 6 |
| Jack | 6 |
| Ten | 6 |
| Nine | 6 |
| Eight | 3 |
| Seven | 6 |
| Six | 6 |
| Five | 6 |
| Four | 6 |
| Three | 6 |
| Two | 6 |
An eight you can see leaves 3 of 6, so 50% of the combos are gone. Any card of a different rank leaves all 6 combos in play.
When the board is paired
A pair on the board uses up two of the four cards of its rank. The 88 combos that survive are in the table, one row per rank.
| Board pair | 88 combos left |
|---|---|
| Aces | 6 |
| Kings | 6 |
| Queens | 6 |
| Jacks | 6 |
| Tens | 6 |
| Nines | 6 |
| Eights | 1 |
| Sevens | 6 |
| Sixes | 6 |
| Fives | 6 |
| Fours | 6 |
| Threes | 6 |
| Twos | 6 |
Pairing eights on the board cuts 88 to 1 combo. Every other paired board leaves the full 6.
A worked example
Take a hand of an eight and a two. Your opponent then holds one of 1,225 possible hands, and 3 of them are 88. That is 0.24%, or 1 in 408, instead of the 0.49% (1 in 204) you get when your cards do not block it.
How strong is 88?
Rank 7 of 169 belongs to 88, inside the top 10 of the 169 classes, on 69.16% equity against a random hand. Equity here is wins plus half of the ties across all boards.
Add 88 to every hand ranked above it and you hold 42 of the 1,326 two-card hands, 3.17% of all deals.
88 against ranges of hands
A range is a list of hands, and equity against it weights each hand by its live combos. For 88 the five ranges give 33.64% against the top 5 percent (60 combos), 46.66% against the top 10 percent (130 combos), 53.35% against the top 20 percent (264 combos), 57.00% against the top 30 percent (386 combos) and 61.04% against the top 50 percent (658 combos).
| Opponent range | Combos in range | 88 equity |
|---|---|---|
| Top 5 percent | 60 | 33.64% |
| Top 10 percent | 130 | 46.66% |
| Top 20 percent | 264 | 53.35% |
| Top 30 percent | 386 | 57.00% |
| Top 50 percent | 658 | 61.04% |
The line sits between the top 10 and top 20 percent: 88 is behind the narrower range and ahead of the wider one.
Holding 88 removes some premium combos from an opponent's reach: of the 130 in the top 10 percent, an average of 125.00 remain. That is 5.00 combos fewer than the 130 an opponent has before you look.
Hands next to 88
A one-place difference in rank can be a large or small gap in a direct matchup. 88 has 18.06% equity against 99, the hand ranked number 6: it wins 17.73% of boards, ties 0.67% and loses 81.60%. It is the underdog in that matchup. 88 has 52.48% equity against AKs, the hand ranked number 8: it wins 52.28% of boards, ties 0.40% and loses 47.33%. It is the favorite in that matchup.
Because both cards of 88 have the same rank, there is no suited version of it. The 13 pairs are 78 combos in all, 5.88% of the 1,326 hands.
Questions about 88 combos
- How many combos of 88 are there?
- 6 combos, which is 0.45% of the 1,326 two-card starting hands, so you are dealt 88 about 1 time in 221.0.
- How many 88 combos are left if I hold an eight?
- 3 combos of 88 remain out of 6. With a two as your other card, an opponent has it about 1 time in 408.
- Which hands rank next to 88?
- 99 ranks number 6, just above 88, and 88 has 18.06% equity against it. AKs ranks number 8, just below, and 88 has 52.48% equity against it.
How this was computed
Every 88 combo was listed from the 1,326 two-card holdings. For each blocker or board-pair row, the combos that contain a visible card were dropped and the rest were counted.
The rank and equity figures use our matchup table, which counts all 1,712,304 boards for each pair of classes. Ties are halves, and range matchups are weighted by live combos.
Source: GeorgeLiPoker's own count of the 52-card deck and its preflop matchup table.