--- title: "44 vs 87s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/44-vs-87s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/44-vs-87s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "44 vs 87s is close to a coin flip before the flop: 48.57% to 51.43% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/44-vs-86s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/44-vs-76s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/j9s-vs-87s.md"] --- # 44 vs 87s: preflop equity 44 vs 87s is close to a coin flip before the flop: 48.57% to 51.43% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Over all 1,712,304 boards that can follow this deal, 87s finishes with 51.43% of the pot and 44 with 48.57%. ## 44 against 87s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for 44 against 87s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 44 | 47.781 | 1.583 | 50.636 | 48.573 | | 87s | 50.636 | 1.583 | 47.781 | 51.427 | 44 and 87s are a pocket pair and a suited hand, in that order. A pair against two higher cards is the classic race: the pair is usually a small favorite or close to even, and each overcard that pairs is a way to take the lead. That is a slim edge: neither hand is far ahead. Ties are part of the picture: 1.58% of boards end in a split pot, and each side counts that as half a win. 44 ranks number 48 of 169 starting hands, and 87s ranks number 100, by equity against a random hand. **Boards behind the percentages: 41,095,296 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 44 | 19,636,000 | 651,000 | 20,809,000 | | 87s | 20,809,000 | 651,000 | 19,636,000 | The board total is exact, 24 deals at 1,712,304 boards each. Won, tied and lost counts are rounded to the nearest thousand from the five-decimal percentages. **44 against 87s read as odds** | Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 44 | 0.945 | 2.093 | 1.975 | 1.059 | | 87s | 1.059 | 1.975 | 2.093 | 0.945 | The final column gives the least the pot must offer for each unit called for a call to break even at this equity. ## Who is ahead on which flops Split by what the flop looks like, 87s peaks at 58.42% on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) and bottoms out at 47.08% on paired flops. The lead reverses on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better and paired flops: there 44 is the favorite even though 87s is ahead overall. **44 against 87s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | 44 wins | Ties | 87s wins | 44 equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.844 | 49.660 | 0.949 | 49.391 | 50.135 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 5.065 | 41.301 | 0.557 | 58.142 | 41.579 | | Two-tone | 46.545 | 46.416 | 0.842 | 52.742 | 46.837 | | Monotone | 5.212 | 47.060 | 3.244 | 49.696 | 48.682 | | Paired | 17.334 | 50.759 | 4.316 | 44.925 | 52.917 | Rainbow flops have three suits, two-tone flops repeat one suit, monotone flops are all one suit, and paired flops repeat a rank. ## Compared with a random hand How much does the opponent matter? Compared with its random-hand 57.02%, 44 changes by -8.45 points, and 87s, from 47.94%, by +3.49. **44 and 87s here compared with each against a random hand, in percent** | Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 44, all flops | 48.573 | 57.023 | -8.450 | 0.85181 | | 44, rainbow, ten or higher | 50.135 | 57.023 | -6.888 | 0.87921 | | 44, rainbow, nine or lower | 41.579 | 57.023 | -15.444 | 0.72916 | | 44, two-tone | 46.837 | 57.023 | -10.186 | 0.82137 | | 44, monotone | 48.682 | 57.023 | -8.341 | 0.85373 | | 44, paired | 52.917 | 57.023 | -4.106 | 0.92799 | | 87s, all flops | 51.427 | 47.936 | +3.491 | 1.07283 | | 87s, rainbow, ten or higher | 49.865 | 47.936 | +1.929 | 1.04024 | | 87s, rainbow, nine or lower | 58.421 | 47.936 | +10.485 | 1.21873 | | 87s, two-tone | 53.163 | 47.936 | +5.227 | 1.10904 | | 87s, monotone | 51.318 | 47.936 | +3.382 | 1.07055 | | 87s, paired | 47.083 | 47.936 | -0.853 | 0.98221 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Of the deals of this matchup, 12 share a suit (87s at 51.30%) and 12 do not (51.55%). 87s does better with no shared suit, by 0.25 points. **44 against 87s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | 44 wins | Ties | 87s wins | 44 equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 12 | 50.00 | 47.888 | 1.617 | 50.495 | 48.697 | | No shared suit | 12 | 50.00 | 47.675 | 1.548 | 50.777 | 48.449 | ## How often this matchup comes up Exactly 24 specific deals fit this matchup in one seat order, which is 0.0015% of 1,624,350; both orders together give 48, or 0.0030%. ## A worked example Put $100 each into a $200 pot and deal every board once: 87s averages $102.86 back, ahead of its $100 by $2.86, while 44 averages $97.14, short of its $100 by $2.86. Out of 1,000 deals you should see around 506 outright wins for 87s, 478 for 44, and 16 split pots. ## The same matchup from the other side Read it from the other side: 87s against 44 is the same matchup with the numbers swapped, so 87s holds 51.43% and 44 holds 48.57%. That address sends you back to this page. ## Keep exploring The calculator link fills in 4s4h against 8d7d, a deal where the two hands share no suit. Change any card to test your own hand. The neighboring matchups below swap one of the two hands for one of similar strength. - [Open 4s4h against 8d7d in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=4s4h&p2=8d7d) - [44 combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/44.md) - [87s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/87s.md) - [44 vs 86s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/44-vs-86s.md) - [44 vs 76s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/44-vs-76s.md) - [J9s vs 87s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/j9s-vs-87s.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## How this was computed Each figure is a complete count over boards. Take the 24 specific deals, group them by suit pattern, deal all 1,712,304 boards against each, and compare the two seven-card hands. Equity counts a tie as half a win; the flop rows use every one of a board's ten flops. Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used. ## Related - [44 vs 86s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/44-vs-86s.md) - [44 vs 76s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/44-vs-76s.md) - [J9s vs 87s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/j9s-vs-87s.md)