--- title: "88 vs 33: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-33.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-33" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "88 is a big favorite over 33 before the flop: 81.62% to 18.38% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-t8s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-t9o.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-33.md"] --- # 88 vs 33: preflop equity 88 is a big favorite over 33 before the flop: 81.62% to 18.38% 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, 88 finishes with 81.62% of the pot and 33 with 18.38%. ## 88 against 33: the numbers **Exact preflop results for 88 against 33, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 88 | 81.109 | 1.022 | 17.869 | 81.620 | | 33 | 17.869 | 1.022 | 81.109 | 18.380 | Here pocket pairs face each other, 88 on one side and 33 on the other. A pair against a smaller pair is the classic crush: the smaller pair needs one of its two remaining cards to make a set. 88 is a big favorite here before anyone sees a flop. Ties are part of the picture: 1.02% of boards end in a split pot, and each side counts that as half a win. Among the 169 starting hands, 88 is number 7 and 33 is number 66 by strength against a random hand. **Boards behind the percentages: 61,642,944 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 88 | 49,998,000 | 630,000 | 11,015,000 | | 33 | 11,015,000 | 630,000 | 49,998,000 | The total is exact: 36 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. **88 against 33 read as odds** | Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 88 | 4.441 | 1.233 | 5.596 | 0.225 | | 33 | 0.225 | 5.596 | 1.233 | 4.441 | 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 Across the five flop textures 88's equity moves by 11.82 points, from 74.21% on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) to 86.03% on paired flops. 88 stays ahead on all five textures. **88 against 33 by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | 88 wins | Ties | 33 wins | 88 equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.844 | 82.440 | 0.601 | 16.959 | 82.741 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 5.065 | 73.776 | 0.863 | 25.361 | 74.208 | | Two-tone | 46.363 | 80.420 | 0.628 | 18.952 | 80.734 | | Monotone | 5.152 | 74.964 | 2.514 | 22.522 | 76.221 | | Paired | 17.576 | 84.883 | 2.288 | 12.829 | 86.027 | Flop types: rainbow means three different suits, two-tone means one suit twice, monotone means one suit three times, paired means a repeated rank. ## Compared with a random hand Start from the random-hand figures, 69.16% for 88 and 53.69% for 33. This opponent changes them by +12.46 and -35.31 points. **88 and 33 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 88, all flops | 81.620 | 69.163 | +12.457 | 1.18011 | | 88, rainbow, ten or higher | 82.741 | 69.163 | +13.578 | 1.19632 | | 88, rainbow, nine or lower | 74.208 | 69.163 | +5.045 | 1.07294 | | 88, two-tone | 80.734 | 69.163 | +11.571 | 1.16730 | | 88, monotone | 76.221 | 69.163 | +7.058 | 1.10205 | | 88, paired | 86.027 | 69.163 | +16.864 | 1.24383 | | 33, all flops | 18.380 | 53.693 | -35.313 | 0.34232 | | 33, rainbow, ten or higher | 17.259 | 53.693 | -36.434 | 0.32144 | | 33, rainbow, nine or lower | 25.792 | 53.693 | -27.901 | 0.48036 | | 33, two-tone | 19.266 | 53.693 | -34.427 | 0.35882 | | 33, monotone | 23.779 | 53.693 | -29.914 | 0.44287 | | 33, paired | 13.973 | 53.693 | -39.720 | 0.26024 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Looking only at deals where the hands share a suit, 88 has 81.75%; looking only at deals where they do not, 80.95%. 88 does better with a shared suit, by 0.80 points. **88 against 33 by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | 88 wins | Ties | 33 wins | 88 equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 30 | 83.33 | 81.238 | 1.033 | 17.729 | 81.754 | | No shared suit | 6 | 16.67 | 80.464 | 0.967 | 18.569 | 80.947 | ## How often this matchup comes up Counting specific cards, 88 against 33 appears in 36 of the 1,624,350 ordered heads-up deals (0.0022%), and in 72 when the seats are swapped too (0.0044%). ## A worked example With $100 from each side, the $200 pot is split on average as $163.24 for 88 and $36.76 for 33; the first side gains $63.24 per all-in and the second gives up $63.24. Per 1,000 deals: 88 wins about 811, 33 wins about 179, and about 10 end in a split pot. ## The same matchup from the other side One page covers both views. From 33's side the equity is 18.38%, and from 88's side it is 81.62%. ## Keep exploring 8s8h against 3d3c 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 8s8h against 3d3c in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=8s8h&p2=3d3c) - [88 combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/88.md) - [33 combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/33.md) - [88 vs T8s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-t8s.md) - [88 vs T9o](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-t9o.md) - [AKs vs 33](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-33.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## How this was computed Nothing here is simulated. The 36 deals of 88 against 33 fall into a few suit patterns, each dealt against all 1,712,304 boards, with both best five-card hands compared on every board. Ties give each hand half a win, and the flop rows count a board under each of its ten flops. Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used. ## Related - [88 vs T8s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-t8s.md) - [88 vs T9o: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-t9o.md) - [AKs vs 33: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-33.md)