88
67.36%
Wins 67.17%, ties 0.37%
A7s
32.64%
Wins 32.46%, ties 0.37%
88 against A7s: the numbers
| Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | 67.172 | 0.371 | 32.457 | 67.358 |
| A7s | 32.457 | 0.371 | 67.172 | 32.642 |
We compare a pocket pair with a suited hand. The pair sits between the other hand's two cards: one is higher and one is lower, so the pair is exposed to the higher card.
88 is the clear favorite, though A7s gets there on roughly one board in 3. Ties are part of the picture: 0.37% of boards end in a split pot, and each side counts that as half a win.
Ranked by equity against a random hand, 88 is number 7 of the 169 starting hands and A7s is number 24.
| Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | 27,605,000 | 152,000 | 13,338,000 |
| A7s | 13,338,000 | 152,000 | 27,605,000 |
The total is exact: 24 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.
| Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | 2.064 | 1.489 | 3.081 | 0.485 |
| A7s | 0.485 | 3.081 | 1.489 | 2.064 |
The last column is the smallest pot odds, written as a pot-to-call ratio, at which a call breaks even with this equity.
Who is ahead on which flops
88 prefers low rainbow flops (nine high or lower), where it holds 80.07%, and likes monotone flops least, where it holds 63.14%. 88 stays ahead on all five textures, but the swing between them is large, so how the flop looks matters a great deal.
| Flop | Share of flops | 88 wins | Ties | A7s wins | 88 equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.220 | 66.620 | 0.195 | 33.185 | 66.718 |
| Rainbow, nine or lower | 5.689 | 79.830 | 0.478 | 19.692 | 80.069 |
| Two-tone | 46.545 | 65.787 | 0.231 | 33.982 | 65.903 |
| Monotone | 5.212 | 61.964 | 2.355 | 35.681 | 63.141 |
| Paired | 17.334 | 69.106 | 0.374 | 30.520 | 69.293 |
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, 69.16% for 88 and 60.98% for A7s. This opponent changes them by -1.80 and -28.34 points.
| Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88, all flops | 67.358 | 69.163 | -1.805 | 0.97390 |
| 88, rainbow, ten or higher | 66.718 | 69.163 | -2.445 | 0.96465 |
| 88, rainbow, nine or lower | 80.069 | 69.163 | +10.906 | 1.15769 |
| 88, two-tone | 65.903 | 69.163 | -3.260 | 0.95286 |
| 88, monotone | 63.141 | 69.163 | -6.022 | 0.91293 |
| 88, paired | 69.293 | 69.163 | +0.130 | 1.00188 |
| A7s, all flops | 32.642 | 60.984 | -28.342 | 0.53526 |
| A7s, rainbow, ten or higher | 33.282 | 60.984 | -27.702 | 0.54575 |
| A7s, rainbow, nine or lower | 19.931 | 60.984 | -41.053 | 0.32682 |
| A7s, two-tone | 34.097 | 60.984 | -26.887 | 0.55911 |
| A7s, monotone | 36.859 | 60.984 | -24.125 | 0.60440 |
| A7s, paired | 30.707 | 60.984 | -30.277 | 0.50353 |
Does a shared suit matter?
The suit split reads 67.64% for 88 with a shared suit and 67.08% without one. 88 does better with a shared suit, by 0.56 points.
| Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | 88 wins | Ties | A7s wins | 88 equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share a suit | 12 | 50.00 | 67.428 | 0.414 | 32.158 | 67.635 |
| No shared suit | 12 | 50.00 | 66.917 | 0.328 | 32.755 | 67.081 |
How often this matchup comes up
How often does it happen? 24 of the 1,624,350 ordered deals (0.0015%) are 88 against A7s, and 48 (0.0030%) if either hand may sit in either seat.
A worked example
With $100 from each side, the $200 pot is split on average as $134.72 for 88 and $65.28 for A7s; the first side gains $34.72 per all-in and the second gives up $34.72.
Per 1,000 deals: 88 wins about 672, A7s wins about 324, and about 4 end in a split pot.
The same matchup from the other side
Read it from the other side: A7s against 88 is the same matchup with the numbers swapped, so A7s holds 32.64% and 88 holds 67.36%. That address sends you back to this page.
Keep exploring
The calculator link fills in 8s8h against Ad7d, 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.
How this was computed
All 1,712,304 five-card boards are dealt for every suit pattern among the 24 specific deals of 88 against A7s, and both hands are scored on each. That is a full count, so the percentages are exact. Ties are half a win each, and each board appears once per flop it contains.
Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used.
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