99
82.17%
Wins 80.68%, ties 2.99%
98s
17.83%
Wins 16.33%, ties 2.99%
99 against 98s: the numbers
| Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99 | 80.677 | 2.985 | 16.338 | 82.170 |
| 98s | 16.338 | 2.985 | 80.677 | 17.830 |
The first hand is a pocket pair; the second is a suited hand. One hand holds a card of the same rank as the pair, which removes a card the pair needs and makes the pair a bigger favorite.
This is one of the lopsided matchups: 98s wins only 16.33% of the boards outright. Split pots make up 2.99% of the boards, and both equity figures count them as half a win each.
For context, 99 sits at number 6 of 169 starting hands and 98s at number 83 when each is run against a random hand.
| Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99 | 16,577,000 | 613,000 | 3,357,000 |
| 98s | 3,357,000 | 613,000 | 16,577,000 |
The board total is exact, 12 deals at 1,712,304 boards each. Won, tied and lost counts are rounded to the nearest thousand from the five-decimal percentages.
| Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99 | 4.609 | 1.240 | 6.121 | 0.217 |
| 98s | 0.217 | 6.121 | 1.240 | 4.609 |
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
99 prefers rainbow flops topped by a ten or better, where it holds 85.31%, and likes monotone flops least, where it holds 73.84%. 99 stays ahead on all five textures.
| Flop | Share of flops | 99 wins | Ties | 98s wins | 99 equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.786 | 83.900 | 2.818 | 13.282 | 85.309 |
| Rainbow, nine or lower | 4.995 | 81.988 | 3.404 | 14.608 | 83.690 |
| Two-tone | 46.236 | 79.285 | 2.690 | 18.025 | 80.630 |
| Monotone | 5.152 | 72.167 | 3.341 | 24.492 | 73.838 |
| Paired | 17.831 | 81.718 | 3.773 | 14.509 | 83.605 |
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
Relative to a random opponent, 99 changes by +10.11 points (baseline 72.06%) and 98s by -32.97 points (baseline 50.80%).
| Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99, all flops | 82.170 | 72.057 | +10.113 | 1.14035 |
| 99, rainbow, ten or higher | 85.309 | 72.057 | +13.252 | 1.18391 |
| 99, rainbow, nine or lower | 83.690 | 72.057 | +11.633 | 1.16144 |
| 99, two-tone | 80.630 | 72.057 | +8.573 | 1.11898 |
| 99, monotone | 73.838 | 72.057 | +1.781 | 1.02472 |
| 99, paired | 83.605 | 72.057 | +11.548 | 1.16026 |
| 98s, all flops | 17.830 | 50.801 | -32.971 | 0.35098 |
| 98s, rainbow, ten or higher | 14.691 | 50.801 | -36.110 | 0.28919 |
| 98s, rainbow, nine or lower | 16.310 | 50.801 | -34.491 | 0.32106 |
| 98s, two-tone | 19.370 | 50.801 | -31.431 | 0.38129 |
| 98s, monotone | 26.162 | 50.801 | -24.639 | 0.51499 |
| 98s, paired | 16.395 | 50.801 | -34.406 | 0.32273 |
Does a shared suit matter?
A shared suit is impossible for this matchup, so 99's 82.17% is the answer for every suit pattern.
| Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | 99 wins | Ties | 98s wins | 99 equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share a suit | 0 | 0.00 | not possible | not possible | not possible | not possible |
| No shared suit | 12 | 100.00 | 80.677 | 2.985 | 16.338 | 82.170 |
How often this matchup comes up
Exactly 12 specific deals fit this matchup in one seat order, which is 0.0007% of 1,624,350; both orders together give 24, or 0.0015%.
A worked example
With $100 from each side, the $200 pot is split on average as $164.34 for 99 and $35.66 for 98s; the first side gains $64.34 per all-in and the second gives up $64.34.
Scaled to 1,000 deals, that is roughly 807 wins for 99, 163 for 98s and 30 chopped pots.
The same matchup from the other side
The reversed view, 98s against 99, shows 17.83% for 98s and 82.17% for 99. It is the same count, so it redirects here.
Keep exploring
9s9h against 9d8d is a ready-made deal for the calculator, with no suit in common between the hands. The neighboring matchups below replace one hand with another of similar strength.
How this was computed
Each figure is a complete count over boards. Take the 12 specific deals, group them by suit pattern, deal all 1,712,304 boards against each, and compare the two seven-card hands. Equity counts a tie as half a win; the flop rows use every one of a board's ten flops.
Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used.
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