--- title: "88 vs JTs: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-jts.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-jts" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "88 vs JTs is close to a coin flip before the flop: 50.31% to 49.69% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-a2s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-qto.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-jts.md"] --- # 88 vs JTs: preflop equity 88 vs JTs is close to a coin flip before the flop: 50.31% to 49.69% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Dealt all in against each other, 88 takes 50.31% of the pot on average and JTs takes the other 49.69%. ## 88 against JTs: the numbers **Exact preflop results for 88 against JTs, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 88 | 50.081 | 0.454 | 49.465 | 50.308 | | JTs | 49.465 | 0.454 | 50.081 | 49.692 | One side is a pocket pair, the other is a suited hand. One hand holds a pair and the other holds two cards that both outrank it, which keeps the equity closer than most people expect. This is close to even money, with 88 a little ahead. Ties are part of the picture: 0.45% of boards end in a split pot, and each side counts that as half a win. In the ranking of all 169 starting hands, 88 is number 7 and JTs is number 45. **Boards behind the percentages: 41,095,296 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 88 | 20,581,000 | 187,000 | 20,328,000 | | JTs | 20,328,000 | 187,000 | 20,581,000 | 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. **88 against JTs 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 | 1.012 | 1.997 | 2.022 | 0.988 | | JTs | 0.988 | 2.022 | 1.997 | 1.012 | 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 Split by what the flop looks like, 88 peaks at 74.59% on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) and bottoms out at 43.75% on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better. On rainbow flops topped by a ten or better, two-tone flops and monotone flops the numbers flip and JTs is the one ahead. **88 against JTs by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | 88 wins | Ties | JTs wins | 88 equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.595 | 43.633 | 0.229 | 56.138 | 43.747 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.314 | 74.264 | 0.653 | 25.083 | 74.591 | | Two-tone | 46.545 | 47.898 | 0.296 | 51.806 | 48.046 | | Monotone | 5.212 | 48.476 | 2.404 | 49.120 | 49.678 | | Paired | 17.334 | 56.769 | 0.536 | 42.695 | 57.037 | 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 A random hand would give 88 69.16% and JTs 57.53%. Against each other the change is -18.85 points for 88 and -7.84 for JTs. **88 and JTs 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 | 50.308 | 69.163 | -18.855 | 0.72738 | | 88, rainbow, ten or higher | 43.747 | 69.163 | -25.416 | 0.63252 | | 88, rainbow, nine or lower | 74.591 | 69.163 | +5.428 | 1.07848 | | 88, two-tone | 48.046 | 69.163 | -21.117 | 0.69468 | | 88, monotone | 49.678 | 69.163 | -19.485 | 0.71827 | | 88, paired | 57.037 | 69.163 | -12.126 | 0.82468 | | JTs, all flops | 49.692 | 57.528 | -7.836 | 0.86379 | | JTs, rainbow, ten or higher | 56.253 | 57.528 | -1.275 | 0.97784 | | JTs, rainbow, nine or lower | 25.409 | 57.528 | -32.119 | 0.44168 | | JTs, two-tone | 51.954 | 57.528 | -5.574 | 0.90311 | | JTs, monotone | 50.322 | 57.528 | -7.206 | 0.87474 | | JTs, paired | 42.963 | 57.528 | -14.565 | 0.74682 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Of the deals of this matchup, 12 share a suit (88 at 50.42%) and 12 do not (50.20%). The two rows differ by only 0.22 points, so suits barely change this matchup. **88 against JTs by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | 88 wins | Ties | JTs wins | 88 equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 12 | 50.00 | 50.168 | 0.495 | 49.337 | 50.415 | | No shared suit | 12 | 50.00 | 49.995 | 0.412 | 49.593 | 50.201 | ## How often this matchup comes up Out of 1,624,350 ways to deal two seats two cards each, 24 are 88 in one seat and JTs in the other (0.0015%); with the seats swapped too, 48 (0.0030%). ## A worked example Put $100 each into a $200 pot and deal every board once: 88 averages $100.62 back, ahead of its $100 by $0.62, while JTs averages $99.38, short of its $100 by $0.62. Per 1,000 deals: 88 wins about 501, JTs wins about 495, and about 4 end in a split pot. ## The same matchup from the other side Read it from the other side: JTs against 88 is the same matchup with the numbers swapped, so JTs holds 49.69% and 88 holds 50.31%. That address sends you back to this page. ## Keep exploring Open the calculator with 8s8h against JdTd already entered, a deal with no shared suit, and change any card to try your own hand. The matchups after it each swap one hand for a nearby one in the ranking. - [Open 8s8h against JdTd in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=8s8h&p2=JdTd) - [88 combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/88.md) - [JTs combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/jts.md) - [88 vs A2s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-a2s.md) - [88 vs QTo](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-qto.md) - [AKs vs JTs](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-jts.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## How this was computed This is an exact count with no sampling. For the 24 ways to deal one 88 and one JTs without reusing a card, grouped by suit pattern, every one of the 1,712,304 possible boards is dealt and both seven-card hands are compared. A tie counts as half a win in the equity column, and each board is counted once under each of its ten three-card flops. Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used. ## Related - [88 vs A2s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-a2s.md) - [88 vs QTo: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-qto.md) - [AKs vs JTs: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-jts.md)