98s
68.29%
Wins 63.76%, ties 9.06%
86s
31.71%
Wins 27.18%, ties 9.06%
98s against 86s: the numbers
| Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98s | 63.764 | 9.057 | 27.179 | 68.292 |
| 86s | 27.179 | 9.057 | 63.764 | 31.708 |
Two suited hands meet here: 98s against 86s. Because the hands share one rank, the one with the higher kicker is ahead when that rank pairs and the other hand is mostly drawing.
A lead of 36.58 points is large but not decisive: 86s still takes about 272 of every 1,000 deals. Ties are 9.06% of the outcomes here; each tied board gives both hands half the pot.
By strength against a random hand, 98s holds place 83 of 169 and 86s holds place 110.
| Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 98s | 13,102,000 | 1,861,000 | 5,585,000 |
| 86s | 5,585,000 | 1,861,000 | 13,102,000 |
The total is exact: 12 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98s | 2.154 | 1.568 | 3.679 | 0.464 |
| 86s | 0.464 | 3.679 | 1.568 | 2.154 |
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, 98s peaks at 71.60% on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better and bottoms out at 62.23% on monotone flops. 98s stays ahead on all five textures.
| Flop | Share of flops | 98s wins | Ties | 86s wins | 98s equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.844 | 67.221 | 8.758 | 24.021 | 71.600 |
| Rainbow, nine or lower | 5.065 | 60.691 | 4.226 | 35.083 | 62.804 |
| Two-tone | 46.543 | 63.820 | 7.352 | 28.828 | 67.496 |
| Monotone | 5.215 | 57.812 | 8.830 | 33.358 | 62.227 |
| Paired | 17.333 | 61.147 | 15.561 | 23.292 | 68.927 |
Rainbow flops have three suits, two-tone flops repeat one suit, monotone flops are all one suit, and paired flops repeat a rank.
Compared with a random hand
A random hand would give 98s 50.80% and 86s 46.24%. Against each other the change is +17.49 points for 98s and -14.53 for 86s.
| Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98s, all flops | 68.292 | 50.801 | +17.491 | 1.34430 |
| 98s, rainbow, ten or higher | 71.600 | 50.801 | +20.799 | 1.40942 |
| 98s, rainbow, nine or lower | 62.804 | 50.801 | +12.003 | 1.23627 |
| 98s, two-tone | 67.496 | 50.801 | +16.695 | 1.32864 |
| 98s, monotone | 62.227 | 50.801 | +11.426 | 1.22492 |
| 98s, paired | 68.927 | 50.801 | +18.126 | 1.35680 |
| 86s, all flops | 31.708 | 46.243 | -14.535 | 0.68568 |
| 86s, rainbow, ten or higher | 28.400 | 46.243 | -17.843 | 0.61415 |
| 86s, rainbow, nine or lower | 37.196 | 46.243 | -9.047 | 0.80436 |
| 86s, two-tone | 32.504 | 46.243 | -13.739 | 0.70290 |
| 86s, monotone | 37.773 | 46.243 | -8.470 | 0.81684 |
| 86s, paired | 31.073 | 46.243 | -15.170 | 0.67195 |
Does a shared suit matter?
A shared suit is impossible for this matchup, so 98s' 68.29% is the answer for every suit pattern.
| Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | 98s wins | Ties | 86s wins | 98s equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share a suit | 0 | 0.00 | not possible | not possible | not possible | not possible |
| No shared suit | 12 | 100.00 | 63.764 | 9.057 | 27.179 | 68.292 |
How often this matchup comes up
Out of 1,624,350 ways to deal two seats two cards each, 12 are 98s in one seat and 86s in the other (0.0007%); with the seats swapped too, 24 (0.0015%).
A worked example
With $100 from each side, the $200 pot is split on average as $136.58 for 98s and $63.42 for 86s; the first side gains $36.58 per all-in and the second gives up $36.58.
A thousand deals look like this: 98s takes 638, 86s takes 272, 90 are ties.
The same matchup from the other side
One page covers both views. From 86s' side the equity is 31.71%, and from 98s' side it is 68.29%.
Keep exploring
Try 9s8s against 8h6h 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
The page is built from a full enumeration: 1,712,304 boards, every suit pattern of the 12 specific deals, both seven-card hands evaluated. A tie is worth half a win to each hand, and a board is tallied under each of its ten possible flops for the texture rows.
Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used.
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