55 vs 53s: preflop equity

In equity, 55 against 53s stands at 82.77% to 17.23%, a gap of 65.54 points.

55

82.77%

Wins 80.11%, ties 5.33%

53s

17.23%

Wins 14.56%, ties 5.33%

Equity counts a tie as half a win. Exact over every board.

55 against 53s: the numbers

Exact preflop results for 55 against 53s, in percent
HandWinsTiesLosesEquity
5580.1065.32914.56582.770
53s14.5655.32980.10617.230

55 and 53s are a pocket pair and a suited hand, in that order. One hand holds a card of the same rank as the pair, which removes a card the pair needs and makes the pair a bigger favorite.

A gap this wide means 53s is in trouble before the flop and has few good runouts. Of every 100 boards, about 5.33 are split pots, and the equity figures already include them.

For context, 55 sits at number 27 of 169 starting hands and 53s at number 146 when each is run against a random hand.

Boards behind the percentages: 20,547,648 counted in all
HandBoards won, aboutBoards tied, aboutBoards lost, about
5516,460,0001,095,0002,993,000
53s2,993,0001,095,00016,460,000

The total is exact: 12 specific deals times 1,712,304 boards. The three counts are approximate, worked out from the percentages to five decimals and rounded to the nearest thousand.

55 against 53s read as odds
HandEquity as odds (to 1)Wins one deal inLoses one deal inPot odds needed to call (to 1)
554.8041.2486.8660.208
53s0.2086.8661.2484.804

In the last column, a pot-to-call ratio at or above the figure makes a call break even or better at this equity.

Who is ahead on which flops

55 prefers rainbow flops topped by a ten or better, where it holds 88.01%, and likes monotone flops least, where it holds 74.52%. 55 stays ahead on all five textures.

55 against 53s by flop texture, in percent
FlopShare of flops55 winsTies53s wins55 equity
Rainbow, ten or higher25.78686.4283.17110.40188.013
Rainbow, nine or lower4.99573.8729.59816.53078.671
Two-tone46.23679.9493.91016.14181.904
Monotone5.15272.1824.67423.14474.519
Paired17.83175.40311.12113.47680.964

A rainbow flop shows three suits, a two-tone flop repeats one suit, a monotone flop is a single suit, and a paired flop repeats a rank.

Compared with a random hand

Start from the random-hand figures, 60.33% for 55 and 39.69% for 53s. This opponent changes them by +22.44 and -22.46 points.

55 and 53s here compared with each against a random hand, in percent
CaseEquity hereAgainst a random handChange in pointsTimes the random-hand equity
55, all flops82.77060.325+22.4451.37207
55, rainbow, ten or higher88.01360.325+27.6881.45898
55, rainbow, nine or lower78.67160.325+18.3461.30412
55, two-tone81.90460.325+21.5791.35771
55, monotone74.51960.325+14.1941.23529
55, paired80.96460.325+20.6391.34213
53s, all flops17.23039.693-22.4630.43408
53s, rainbow, ten or higher11.98739.693-27.7060.30199
53s, rainbow, nine or lower21.32939.693-18.3640.53735
53s, two-tone18.09639.693-21.5970.45590
53s, monotone25.48139.693-14.2120.64195
53s, paired19.03639.693-20.6570.47958

Does a shared suit matter?

Every legal deal of 55 against 53s leaves the hands with no suit in common, so the suit split does not apply here.

55 against 53s by suit overlap, in percent
DealsSpecific dealsShare of deals55 winsTies53s wins55 equity
Share a suit00.00not possiblenot possiblenot possiblenot possible
No shared suit12100.0080.1065.32914.56582.770

How often this matchup comes up

The class pair covers 12 combinations of specific cards in a fixed seat order, 0.0007% of 1,624,350, and 24 (0.0015%) in either order.

A worked example

Worked example: both players commit $100, so $200 sits in the middle. Over every board, 55's average share is $165.54 (a gain of $65.54) and 53s' is $34.46 (a loss of $65.54).

Think in thousands: about 801 of 1,000 go to 55, about 146 go to 53s, and about 53 are chopped.

The same matchup from the other side

53s versus 55 is this same page seen from the other hand: 17.23% for 53s, 82.77% for 55.

5s5h against 5d3d is a ready-made deal for the calculator, with no suit in common between the hands. The neighboring matchups below replace one hand with another of similar strength.

How this was computed

Each figure is a complete count over boards. Take the 12 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.

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