--- title: "A3s vs 98s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a3s-vs-98s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a3s-vs-98s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "Who is ahead, A3s or 98s? A3s leads 54.73% to 45.27% before the flop, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a3s-vs-22.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a3s-vs-97s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qjo-vs-98s.md"] --- # A3s vs 98s: preflop equity Who is ahead, A3s or 98s? A3s leads 54.73% to 45.27% before the flop, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Before any board card is dealt, A3s holds 54.73% equity against 98s, which leaves 98s with 45.27%. ## A3s against 98s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for A3s against 98s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A3s | 54.480 | 0.507 | 45.013 | 54.734 | | 98s | 45.013 | 0.507 | 54.480 | 45.266 | A3s meets 98s, and both are suited hands. Neither hand shares a rank with the other, so this is a contest of high cards, connection and suits. That is a slim edge: neither hand is far ahead. About 0.51% of boards chop the pot, which is why equity sits slightly above the win figure for both hands. For context, A3s sits at number 38 of 169 starting hands and 98s at number 83 when each is run against a random hand. **Boards behind the percentages: 27,396,864 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A3s | 14,926,000 | 139,000 | 12,332,000 | | 98s | 12,332,000 | 139,000 | 14,926,000 | Exact total: 16 deals times 1,712,304 boards. The other three counts come from the five-decimal percentages and are rounded to the nearest thousand, so read them as approximate. **A3s against 98s read as odds** | Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A3s | 1.209 | 1.836 | 2.222 | 0.827 | | 98s | 0.827 | 2.222 | 1.836 | 1.209 | The final column gives the least the pot must offer for each unit called for a call to break even at this equity. ## Who is ahead on which flops The flop changes the picture. A3s does best on paired flops, at 60.61%, and worst on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower), at 38.03%. The overall edge for A3s hides low rainbow flops (nine high or lower), where 98s comes out in front. **A3s against 98s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | A3s wins | Ties | 98s wins | A3s equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.220 | 57.071 | 0.204 | 42.725 | 57.173 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 5.689 | 37.700 | 0.660 | 61.640 | 38.030 | | Two-tone | 46.727 | 53.385 | 0.265 | 46.350 | 53.518 | | Monotone | 5.273 | 51.122 | 3.429 | 45.449 | 52.837 | | Paired | 17.091 | 60.274 | 0.665 | 39.061 | 60.606 | 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 Compared with a random opponent, this matchup shifts A3s from 58.22% by -3.49 points and 98s from 50.80% by -5.53 points. **A3s and 98s here compared with each against a random hand, in percent** | Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A3s, all flops | 54.734 | 58.220 | -3.486 | 0.94012 | | A3s, rainbow, ten or higher | 57.173 | 58.220 | -1.047 | 0.98202 | | A3s, rainbow, nine or lower | 38.030 | 58.220 | -20.190 | 0.65321 | | A3s, two-tone | 53.518 | 58.220 | -4.702 | 0.91924 | | A3s, monotone | 52.837 | 58.220 | -5.383 | 0.90754 | | A3s, paired | 60.606 | 58.220 | +2.386 | 1.04098 | | 98s, all flops | 45.266 | 50.801 | -5.535 | 0.89105 | | 98s, rainbow, ten or higher | 42.827 | 50.801 | -7.974 | 0.84303 | | 98s, rainbow, nine or lower | 61.970 | 50.801 | +11.169 | 1.21986 | | 98s, two-tone | 46.482 | 50.801 | -4.319 | 0.91498 | | 98s, monotone | 47.163 | 50.801 | -3.638 | 0.92839 | | 98s, paired | 39.394 | 50.801 | -11.407 | 0.77546 | ## Does a shared suit matter? The suit split reads 56.31% for A3s with a shared suit and 54.21% without one. A3s does better with a shared suit, by 2.10 points. **A3s against 98s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | A3s wins | Ties | 98s wins | A3s equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 4 | 25.00 | 56.014 | 0.589 | 43.397 | 56.308 | | No shared suit | 12 | 75.00 | 53.969 | 0.480 | 45.551 | 54.209 | ## How often this matchup comes up How often does it happen? 16 of the 1,624,350 ordered deals (0.0010%) are A3s against 98s, and 32 (0.0020%) if either hand may sit in either seat. ## A worked example To see what the equity is worth, imagine $100 each in a $200 pot. A3s is worth $109.46 on average (+$9.46); 98s is worth $90.54 (-$9.46). Per 1,000 deals: A3s wins about 545, 98s wins about 450, and about 5 end in a split pot. ## The same matchup from the other side The reversed view, 98s against A3s, shows 45.27% for 98s and 54.73% for A3s. It is the same count, so it redirects here. ## Keep exploring Try As3s against 9h8h 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. - [Open As3s against 9h8h in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=As3s&p2=9h8h) - [A3s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/a3s.md) - [98s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/98s.md) - [A3s vs 22](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a3s-vs-22.md) - [A3s vs 97s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a3s-vs-97s.md) - [QJo vs 98s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qjo-vs-98s.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## How this was computed This is an exact count with no sampling. For the 16 ways to deal one A3s and one 98s 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. ## Related - [A3s vs 22: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a3s-vs-22.md) - [A3s vs 97s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a3s-vs-97s.md) - [QJo vs 98s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qjo-vs-98s.md)