--- title: "88 vs QJo: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-qjo.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-qjo" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "Who is ahead, 88 or QJo? 88 leads 53.50% to 46.50% before the flop, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-k9o.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-q9s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-qjo.md"] --- # 88 vs QJo: preflop equity Who is ahead, 88 or QJo? 88 leads 53.50% to 46.50% before the flop, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. The exact count puts 88 at 53.50% and QJo at 46.50% when the two hands see all five board cards. ## 88 against QJo: the numbers **Exact preflop results for 88 against QJo, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 88 | 53.292 | 0.419 | 46.289 | 53.502 | | QJo | 46.289 | 0.419 | 53.292 | 46.498 | The matchup pits a pocket pair against an offsuit 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. That is a slim edge: neither hand is far ahead. Ties are part of the picture: 0.42% of boards end in a split pot, and each side counts that as half a win. Place 7 of 169 belongs to 88 and place 39 belongs to QJo in the ranking against a random hand. **Boards behind the percentages: 123,285,888 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 88 | 65,702,000 | 517,000 | 57,068,000 | | QJo | 57,068,000 | 517,000 | 65,702,000 | Exact total: 72 deals times 1,712,304 boards. The other three counts come from the five-decimal percentages and are rounded to the nearest thousand, so read them as approximate. **88 against QJo 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 | 1.151 | 1.876 | 2.160 | 0.869 | | QJo | 0.869 | 2.160 | 1.876 | 1.151 | 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 34.20 points, from 45.57% on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better to 79.77% on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower). Rainbow flops topped by a ten or better favor QJo, the hand that is behind overall. **88 against QJo by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | 88 wins | Ties | QJo wins | 88 equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.717 | 45.469 | 0.203 | 54.328 | 45.570 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.314 | 79.347 | 0.853 | 19.800 | 79.774 | | Two-tone | 46.485 | 52.099 | 0.321 | 47.580 | 52.259 | | Monotone | 5.151 | 49.323 | 1.712 | 48.965 | 50.179 | | Paired | 17.333 | 59.336 | 0.451 | 40.213 | 59.562 | 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 Against one random hand instead, 88 holds 69.16% and QJo holds 58.14%. Facing each other changes that by -15.66 points for 88 and -11.64 points for QJo. **88 and QJo 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 | 53.502 | 69.163 | -15.661 | 0.77356 | | 88, rainbow, ten or higher | 45.570 | 69.163 | -23.593 | 0.65888 | | 88, rainbow, nine or lower | 79.774 | 69.163 | +10.611 | 1.15342 | | 88, two-tone | 52.259 | 69.163 | -16.904 | 0.75559 | | 88, monotone | 50.179 | 69.163 | -18.984 | 0.72552 | | 88, paired | 59.562 | 69.163 | -9.601 | 0.86118 | | QJo, all flops | 46.498 | 58.135 | -11.637 | 0.79983 | | QJo, rainbow, ten or higher | 54.430 | 58.135 | -3.705 | 0.93627 | | QJo, rainbow, nine or lower | 20.226 | 58.135 | -37.909 | 0.34791 | | QJo, two-tone | 47.741 | 58.135 | -10.394 | 0.82121 | | QJo, monotone | 49.821 | 58.135 | -8.314 | 0.85699 | | QJo, paired | 40.438 | 58.135 | -17.697 | 0.69559 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Does suit overlap move the numbers? 88 has 53.41% when the hands share a suit and 53.94% when they do not. 88 does better with no shared suit, by 0.53 points. **88 against QJo by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | 88 wins | Ties | QJo wins | 88 equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 60 | 83.33 | 53.196 | 0.435 | 46.369 | 53.414 | | No shared suit | 12 | 16.67 | 53.772 | 0.340 | 45.888 | 53.942 | ## How often this matchup comes up Out of 1,624,350 ways to deal two seats two cards each, 72 are 88 in one seat and QJo in the other (0.0044%); with the seats swapped too, 144 (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 $107.00 (a gain of $7.00) and QJo's is $93.00 (a loss of $7.00). In 1,000 deals of exactly this matchup, expect about 533 won outright by 88, about 463 won outright by QJo and about 4 split. ## The same matchup from the other side The mirror image, QJo against 88, is 46.50% to 53.50%, and its address redirects to this page. ## Keep exploring Try 8s8h against QdJc in the calculator: the hands share no suit, and every card can be changed. The links after it are the closest matchups in the ranking. - [Open 8s8h against QdJc in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=8s8h&p2=QdJc) - [88 combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/88.md) - [QJo combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/qjo.md) - [88 vs K9o](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-k9o.md) - [88 vs Q9s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-q9s.md) - [AKs vs QJo](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-qjo.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## How this was computed We counted every case. Each suit pattern of the 72 specific 88 against QJo deals meets all 1,712,304 boards, and the better five-card hand wins; a split pot is half a win each. The flop table reads each board under all ten of its three-card flops. Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used. ## Related - [88 vs K9o: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-k9o.md) - [88 vs Q9s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/88-vs-q9s.md) - [AKs vs QJo: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-qjo.md)