99 vs ATo: preflop equity

Averaged over every possible board, 99 is ahead of ATo by 11.06 points of equity, 55.53% to 44.47%.

99

55.53%

Wins 55.34%, ties 0.37%

ATo

44.47%

Wins 44.29%, ties 0.37%

Equity counts a tie as half a win. Exact over every board.

99 against ATo: the numbers

Exact preflop results for 99 against ATo, in percent
HandWinsTiesLosesEquity
9955.3440.37244.28455.530
ATo44.2840.37255.34444.470

The matchup pits a pocket pair against an offsuit hand. A pair against two higher cards is the classic race: the pair is usually a small favorite or close to even, and each overcard that pairs is a way to take the lead.

That is a modest edge, the kind that shows up over many hands and is easy to miss in one. Split pots make up 0.37% of the boards, and both equity figures count them as half a win each.

Ranked by equity against a random hand, 99 is number 6 of the 169 starting hands and ATo is number 19.

Boards behind the percentages: 123,285,888 counted in all
HandBoards won, aboutBoards tied, aboutBoards lost, about
9968,231,000459,00054,596,000
ATo54,596,000459,00068,231,000

The total is exact: 72 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.

99 against ATo read as odds
HandEquity as odds (to 1)Wins one deal inLoses one deal inPot odds needed to call (to 1)
991.2491.8072.2580.801
ATo0.8012.2581.8071.249

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

The flop changes the picture. 99 does best on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower), at 78.97%, and worst on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better, at 48.54%. ATo takes over on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better, so the favorite before the flop is the underdog on those boards.

99 against ATo by flop texture, in percent
FlopShare of flops99 winsTiesATo wins99 equity
Rainbow, ten or higher24.71748.4470.17851.37548.536
Rainbow, nine or lower6.31478.5280.88420.58878.970
Two-tone46.48554.2310.30845.46154.385
Monotone5.15150.9071.69647.39751.755
Paired17.33361.0410.24138.71861.161

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

Compared with a random opponent, this matchup shifts 99 from 72.06% by -16.53 points and ATo from 62.72% by -18.25 points.

99 and ATo here compared with each against a random hand, in percent
CaseEquity hereAgainst a random handChange in pointsTimes the random-hand equity
99, all flops55.53072.057-16.5270.77064
99, rainbow, ten or higher48.53672.057-23.5210.67358
99, rainbow, nine or lower78.97072.057+6.9131.09594
99, two-tone54.38572.057-17.6720.75475
99, monotone51.75572.057-20.3020.71825
99, paired61.16172.057-10.8960.84879
ATo, all flops44.47062.722-18.2520.70900
ATo, rainbow, ten or higher51.46462.722-11.2580.82051
ATo, rainbow, nine or lower21.03062.722-41.6920.33529
ATo, two-tone45.61562.722-17.1070.72726
ATo, monotone48.24562.722-14.4770.76919
ATo, paired38.83962.722-23.8830.61922

Does a shared suit matter?

The suit split reads 55.45% for 99 with a shared suit and 55.94% without one. 99 does better with no shared suit, by 0.49 points.

99 against ATo by suit overlap, in percent
DealsSpecific dealsShare of deals99 winsTiesATo wins99 equity
Share a suit6083.3355.2540.38844.35855.448
No shared suit1216.6755.7970.29243.91155.943

How often this matchup comes up

You will meet this exact matchup 0.0089% of the time in a random heads-up deal: 144 of 1,624,350, counting either seat order.

A worked example

Put $100 each into a $200 pot and deal every board once: 99 averages $111.06 back, ahead of its $100 by $11.06, while ATo averages $88.94, short of its $100 by $11.06.

A thousand deals look like this: 99 takes 553, ATo takes 443, 4 are ties.

The same matchup from the other side

If you came looking for ATo against 99, the numbers are the same with the hands swapped: 44.47% and 55.53%.

Open the calculator with 9s9h against AdTc 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

Nothing here is simulated. The 72 deals of 99 against ATo fall into a few suit patterns, each dealt against all 1,712,304 boards, with both best five-card hands compared on every board. Ties give each hand half a win, and the flop rows count a board under each of its ten flops.

Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used.

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