98s
64.65%
Wins 55.21%, ties 18.90%
97s
35.35%
Wins 25.89%, ties 18.90%
98s against 97s: the numbers
| Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98s | 55.206 | 18.897 | 25.897 | 64.654 |
| 97s | 25.897 | 18.897 | 55.206 | 35.346 |
The matchup is suited hands on both sides, 98s against 97s. The two hands share a rank, and the one with the better other card dominates: it wins most kicker battles when that shared rank hits.
The lead is steady rather than large, and the flop still has plenty of say in who wins. Of every 100 boards, about 18.90 are split pots, and the equity figures already include them.
Place 83 of 169 belongs to 98s and place 94 belongs to 97s in the ranking against a random hand.
| Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 98s | 11,344,000 | 3,883,000 | 5,321,000 |
| 97s | 5,321,000 | 3,883,000 | 11,344,000 |
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 | 1.829 | 1.811 | 3.861 | 0.547 |
| 97s | 0.547 | 3.861 | 1.811 | 1.829 |
The last column is the break-even price: the pot odds a call needs to offer, as a ratio of pot to call.
Who is ahead on which flops
The flop changes the picture. 98s does best on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better, at 67.51%, and worst on paired flops, at 60.00%. 98s stays ahead on all five textures.
| Flop | Share of flops | 98s wins | Ties | 97s wins | 98s equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.844 | 57.968 | 19.091 | 22.941 | 67.514 |
| Rainbow, nine or lower | 5.065 | 64.215 | 4.890 | 30.895 | 66.660 |
| Two-tone | 46.543 | 57.576 | 14.918 | 27.506 | 65.035 |
| Monotone | 5.215 | 53.786 | 13.667 | 32.547 | 60.619 |
| Paired | 17.333 | 42.516 | 34.958 | 22.526 | 59.995 |
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
Start from the random-hand figures, 50.80% for 98s and 49.12% for 97s. This opponent changes them by +13.85 and -13.77 points.
| Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98s, all flops | 64.654 | 50.801 | +13.853 | 1.27269 |
| 98s, rainbow, ten or higher | 67.514 | 50.801 | +16.713 | 1.32899 |
| 98s, rainbow, nine or lower | 66.660 | 50.801 | +15.859 | 1.31218 |
| 98s, two-tone | 65.035 | 50.801 | +14.234 | 1.28019 |
| 98s, monotone | 60.619 | 50.801 | +9.818 | 1.19326 |
| 98s, paired | 59.995 | 50.801 | +9.194 | 1.18098 |
| 97s, all flops | 35.346 | 49.118 | -13.772 | 0.71961 |
| 97s, rainbow, ten or higher | 32.486 | 49.118 | -16.632 | 0.66139 |
| 97s, rainbow, nine or lower | 33.340 | 49.118 | -15.778 | 0.67877 |
| 97s, two-tone | 34.965 | 49.118 | -14.153 | 0.71186 |
| 97s, monotone | 39.381 | 49.118 | -9.737 | 0.80176 |
| 97s, paired | 40.005 | 49.118 | -9.113 | 0.81447 |
Does a shared suit matter?
There is no shared-suit case for this pair, since the cards they would need are already in the other hand. Every deal is a no-shared-suit deal.
| Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | 98s wins | Ties | 97s wins | 98s equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share a suit | 0 | 0.00 | not possible | not possible | not possible | not possible |
| No shared suit | 12 | 100.00 | 55.206 | 18.897 | 25.897 | 64.654 |
How often this matchup comes up
Counting specific cards, 98s against 97s appears in 12 of the 1,624,350 ordered heads-up deals (0.0007%), and in 24 when the seats are swapped too (0.0015%).
A worked example
With $100 from each side, the $200 pot is split on average as $129.30 for 98s and $70.70 for 97s; the first side gains $29.30 per all-in and the second gives up $29.30.
Run 1,000 deals and the tally comes out near 552 for 98s, 259 for 97s and 189 ties.
The same matchup from the other side
97s versus 98s is this same page seen from the other hand: 35.35% for 97s, 64.65% for 98s.
Keep exploring
Open the calculator with 9s8s against 9h7h 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.
How this was computed
This is an exact count with no sampling. For the 12 ways to deal one 98s and one 97s 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.
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