--- title: "55 vs 53s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/55-vs-53s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/55-vs-53s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "55 is a big favorite over 53s before the flop: 82.77% to 17.23% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/55-vs-43s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qjs-vs-53s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/55-vs-64s.md"] --- # 55 vs 53s: preflop equity 55 is a big favorite over 53s before the flop: 82.77% to 17.23% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. In equity, 55 against 53s stands at 82.77% to 17.23%, a gap of 65.54 points. ## 55 against 53s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for 55 against 53s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 55 | 80.106 | 5.329 | 14.565 | 82.770 | | 53s | 14.565 | 5.329 | 80.106 | 17.230 | 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** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 55 | 16,460,000 | 1,095,000 | 2,993,000 | | 53s | 2,993,000 | 1,095,000 | 16,460,000 | 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** | Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 55 | 4.804 | 1.248 | 6.866 | 0.208 | | 53s | 0.208 | 6.866 | 1.248 | 4.804 | 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** | Flop | Share of flops | 55 wins | Ties | 53s wins | 55 equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.786 | 86.428 | 3.171 | 10.401 | 88.013 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 4.995 | 73.872 | 9.598 | 16.530 | 78.671 | | Two-tone | 46.236 | 79.949 | 3.910 | 16.141 | 81.904 | | Monotone | 5.152 | 72.182 | 4.674 | 23.144 | 74.519 | | Paired | 17.831 | 75.403 | 11.121 | 13.476 | 80.964 | 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** | Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 55, all flops | 82.770 | 60.325 | +22.445 | 1.37207 | | 55, rainbow, ten or higher | 88.013 | 60.325 | +27.688 | 1.45898 | | 55, rainbow, nine or lower | 78.671 | 60.325 | +18.346 | 1.30412 | | 55, two-tone | 81.904 | 60.325 | +21.579 | 1.35771 | | 55, monotone | 74.519 | 60.325 | +14.194 | 1.23529 | | 55, paired | 80.964 | 60.325 | +20.639 | 1.34213 | | 53s, all flops | 17.230 | 39.693 | -22.463 | 0.43408 | | 53s, rainbow, ten or higher | 11.987 | 39.693 | -27.706 | 0.30199 | | 53s, rainbow, nine or lower | 21.329 | 39.693 | -18.364 | 0.53735 | | 53s, two-tone | 18.096 | 39.693 | -21.597 | 0.45590 | | 53s, monotone | 25.481 | 39.693 | -14.212 | 0.64195 | | 53s, paired | 19.036 | 39.693 | -20.657 | 0.47958 | ## 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** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | 55 wins | Ties | 53s wins | 55 equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 0 | 0.00 | not possible | not possible | not possible | not possible | | No shared suit | 12 | 100.00 | 80.106 | 5.329 | 14.565 | 82.770 | ## 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. ## Keep exploring 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. - [Open 5s5h against 5d3d in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=5s5h&p2=5d3d) - [55 combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/55.md) - [53s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/53s.md) - [55 vs 43s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/55-vs-43s.md) - [QJs vs 53s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qjs-vs-53s.md) - [55 vs 64s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/55-vs-64s.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## 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. ## Related - [55 vs 43s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/55-vs-43s.md) - [QJs vs 53s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qjs-vs-53s.md) - [55 vs 64s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/55-vs-64s.md)