88
51.12%
Wins 50.86%, ties 0.52%
T9s
48.88%
Wins 48.62%, ties 0.52%
88 against T9s: the numbers
| Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | 50.864 | 0.515 | 48.621 | 51.122 |
| T9s | 48.621 | 0.515 | 50.864 | 48.878 |
88 and T9s are a pocket pair and a suited hand, in that order. One hand holds a pair and the other holds two cards that both outrank it, which keeps the equity closer than most people expect.
88 leads by less than 3 points of equity, so the result of any one deal is close to a toss-up. Ties are 0.52% of the outcomes here; each tied board gives both hands half the pot.
The hand ranking puts 88 at 7 and T9s at 64 out of 169 starting hands.
| Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | 20,903,000 | 212,000 | 19,981,000 |
| T9s | 19,981,000 | 212,000 | 20,903,000 |
24 specific deals times 1,712,304 boards gives the exact total. The won, tied and lost counts are approximations from the five-decimal percentages, 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 | 1.046 | 1.966 | 2.057 | 0.956 |
| T9s | 0.956 | 2.057 | 1.966 | 1.046 |
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
Low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) are the best for 88 (58.33%); two-tone flops are the worst (48.81%). Watch for rainbow flops topped by a ten or better and two-tone flops: on those flops T9s holds the better equity.
| Flop | Share of flops | 88 wins | Ties | T9s wins | 88 equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.220 | 49.084 | 0.289 | 50.627 | 49.228 |
| Rainbow, nine or lower | 5.689 | 58.038 | 0.581 | 41.381 | 58.329 |
| Two-tone | 46.545 | 48.651 | 0.323 | 51.026 | 48.812 |
| Monotone | 5.212 | 48.899 | 2.426 | 48.675 | 50.112 |
| Paired | 17.334 | 57.638 | 0.759 | 41.603 | 58.017 |
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 54.03% for T9s. This opponent changes them by -18.04 and -5.15 points.
| Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88, all flops | 51.122 | 69.163 | -18.041 | 0.73915 |
| 88, rainbow, ten or higher | 49.228 | 69.163 | -19.935 | 0.71177 |
| 88, rainbow, nine or lower | 58.329 | 69.163 | -10.834 | 0.84336 |
| 88, two-tone | 48.812 | 69.163 | -20.351 | 0.70575 |
| 88, monotone | 50.112 | 69.163 | -19.051 | 0.72455 |
| 88, paired | 58.017 | 69.163 | -11.146 | 0.83884 |
| T9s, all flops | 48.878 | 54.028 | -5.150 | 0.90468 |
| T9s, rainbow, ten or higher | 50.772 | 54.028 | -3.256 | 0.93973 |
| T9s, rainbow, nine or lower | 41.671 | 54.028 | -12.357 | 0.77129 |
| T9s, two-tone | 51.188 | 54.028 | -2.840 | 0.94743 |
| T9s, monotone | 49.888 | 54.028 | -4.140 | 0.92337 |
| T9s, paired | 41.983 | 54.028 | -12.045 | 0.77706 |
Does a shared suit matter?
Of the deals of this matchup, 12 share a suit (88 at 51.22%) and 12 do not (51.03%). The two rows differ by only 0.19 points, so suits barely change this matchup.
| Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | 88 wins | Ties | T9s wins | 88 equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share a suit | 12 | 50.00 | 50.937 | 0.555 | 48.508 | 51.215 |
| No shared suit | 12 | 50.00 | 50.792 | 0.475 | 48.733 | 51.029 |
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 T9s in the other (0.0015%); with the seats swapped too, 48 (0.0030%).
A worked example
A $100 all-in from each player makes a $200 pot, and the exact equity says 88 gets $102.24 of it on average and T9s gets $97.76.
Over a long run, 1,000 deals split into about 509 for 88, 486 for T9s and 5 tied.
The same matchup from the other side
If you came looking for T9s against 88, the numbers are the same with the hands swapped: 48.88% and 51.12%.
Keep exploring
Try 8s8h against Td9d 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.
How this was computed
We counted every case. Each suit pattern of the 24 specific 88 against T9s 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.
Bring your own hands to a session
Review the spots you actually play against these numbers in a Game Assessment, and leave with a one-page written plan.
Book a session