--- title: "88 vs KJo: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-kjo.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-kjo" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "Who is ahead, 88 or KJo? 88 leads 53.99% to 46.02% before the flop, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-55.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-qjs.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-kjo.md"] --- # 88 vs KJo: preflop equity Who is ahead, 88 or KJo? 88 leads 53.99% to 46.02% before the flop, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Before any board card is dealt, 88 holds 53.99% equity against KJo, which leaves KJo with 46.01%. ## 88 against KJo: the numbers **Exact preflop results for 88 against KJo, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 88 | 53.782 | 0.407 | 45.811 | 53.985 | | KJo | 45.811 | 0.407 | 53.782 | 46.015 | The matchup pits a pocket pair against an offsuit hand. A pair against two higher cards is the classic race: the pair is usually a small favorite or close to even, and each overcard that pairs is a way to take the lead. With only 7.98 points between them, the board decides this matchup far more than the cards in hand. 0.41% of boards are ties, so the equity of each hand is its win rate plus half of that. The hand ranking puts 88 at 7 and KJo at 26 out of 169 starting hands. **Boards behind the percentages: 123,285,888 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 88 | 66,306,000 | 502,000 | 56,478,000 | | KJo | 56,478,000 | 502,000 | 66,306,000 | The total is exact: 72 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 KJo 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 | 1.173 | 1.859 | 2.183 | 0.852 | | KJo | 0.852 | 2.183 | 1.859 | 1.173 | 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 Break the boards down by their first three cards and 88 is strongest on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) (80.71%) and weakest on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better (46.11%). 88 is the favorite overall but falls behind on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better. **88 against KJo by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | 88 wins | Ties | KJo wins | 88 equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.717 | 46.009 | 0.198 | 53.793 | 46.108 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.314 | 80.280 | 0.866 | 18.854 | 80.713 | | Two-tone | 46.485 | 52.702 | 0.321 | 46.977 | 52.863 | | Monotone | 5.151 | 49.793 | 1.710 | 48.497 | 50.648 | | Paired | 17.333 | 59.293 | 0.384 | 40.323 | 59.485 | Read the flop types this way: rainbow has three suits, two-tone has two cards of one suit, monotone has three, and paired repeats a rank. ## Compared with a random hand Start from the random-hand figures, 69.16% for 88 and 60.57% for KJo. This opponent changes them by -15.17 and -14.56 points. **88 and KJo 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 | 53.985 | 69.163 | -15.178 | 0.78055 | | 88, rainbow, ten or higher | 46.108 | 69.163 | -23.055 | 0.66666 | | 88, rainbow, nine or lower | 80.713 | 69.163 | +11.550 | 1.16700 | | 88, two-tone | 52.863 | 69.163 | -16.300 | 0.76432 | | 88, monotone | 50.648 | 69.163 | -18.515 | 0.73230 | | 88, paired | 59.485 | 69.163 | -9.678 | 0.86007 | | KJo, all flops | 46.015 | 60.569 | -14.554 | 0.75971 | | KJo, rainbow, ten or higher | 53.892 | 60.569 | -6.677 | 0.88976 | | KJo, rainbow, nine or lower | 19.287 | 60.569 | -41.282 | 0.31843 | | KJo, two-tone | 47.137 | 60.569 | -13.432 | 0.77824 | | KJo, monotone | 49.352 | 60.569 | -11.217 | 0.81481 | | KJo, paired | 40.515 | 60.569 | -20.054 | 0.66891 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Suit overlap shows up in the numbers. With a suit in common 88 has 53.90% equity, and with none in common it has 54.41%. 88 does better with no shared suit, by 0.51 points. **88 against KJo by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | 88 wins | Ties | KJo wins | 88 equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 60 | 83.33 | 53.688 | 0.423 | 45.889 | 53.900 | | No shared suit | 12 | 16.67 | 54.249 | 0.327 | 45.424 | 54.413 | ## How often this matchup comes up Counting specific cards, 88 against KJo appears in 72 of the 1,624,350 ordered heads-up deals (0.0044%), and in 144 when the seats are swapped too (0.0089%). ## A worked example Worked example: both players commit $100, so $200 sits in the middle. Over every board, 88's average share is $107.98 (a gain of $7.98) and KJo's is $92.02 (a loss of $7.98). In 1,000 deals of exactly this matchup, expect about 538 won outright by 88, about 458 won outright by KJo and about 4 split. ## The same matchup from the other side The reversed view, KJo against 88, shows 46.01% for KJo and 53.99% for 88. It is the same count, so it redirects here. ## Keep exploring The calculator link fills in 8s8h against KdJc, 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. - [Open 8s8h against KdJc in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=8s8h&p2=KdJc) - [88 combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/88.md) - [KJo combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/kjo.md) - [88 vs 55](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-55.md) - [88 vs QJs](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-qjs.md) - [AKs vs KJo](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-kjo.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## How this was computed Nothing here is simulated. The 72 deals of 88 against KJo 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 55: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-55.md) - [88 vs QJs: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-qjs.md) - [AKs vs KJo: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-kjo.md)