A5s
56.70%
Wins 56.45%, ties 0.50%
97s
43.30%
Wins 43.05%, ties 0.50%
A5s against 97s: the numbers
| Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A5s | 56.451 | 0.501 | 43.048 | 56.701 |
| 97s | 43.048 | 0.501 | 56.451 | 43.299 |
This is a contest between two suited hands, A5s and 97s. The two hands share no rank, which makes this a pure matchup of card strength, straight chances and flush chances.
A5s is ahead, but 97s is far from dead: it takes 430 of every 1,000 deals outright. Split pots make up 0.50% of the boards, and both equity figures count them as half a win each.
The hand ranking puts A5s at 30 and 97s at 94 out of 169 starting hands.
| Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| A5s | 15,466,000 | 137,000 | 11,794,000 |
| 97s | 11,794,000 | 137,000 | 15,466,000 |
16 specific deals times 1,712,304 boards gives the exact total. The won, tied and lost counts are approximations from the five-decimal percentages, 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A5s | 1.310 | 1.771 | 2.323 | 0.764 |
| 97s | 0.764 | 2.323 | 1.771 | 1.310 |
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. A5s does best on paired flops, at 62.01%, and worst on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower), at 41.07%. On low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) the numbers flip and 97s is the one ahead.
| Flop | Share of flops | A5s wins | Ties | 97s wins | A5s equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.220 | 59.197 | 0.221 | 40.582 | 59.307 |
| Rainbow, nine or lower | 5.689 | 40.792 | 0.547 | 58.661 | 41.066 |
| Two-tone | 46.727 | 55.398 | 0.258 | 44.344 | 55.527 |
| Monotone | 5.273 | 52.576 | 3.423 | 44.001 | 54.288 |
| Paired | 17.091 | 61.684 | 0.661 | 37.655 | 62.014 |
Flop types: rainbow means three different suits, two-tone means one suit twice, monotone means one suit three times, paired means a repeated rank.
Compared with a random hand
How much does the opponent matter? Compared with its random-hand 59.92%, A5s changes by -3.22 points, and 97s, from 49.12%, by -5.82.
| Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A5s, all flops | 56.701 | 59.923 | -3.222 | 0.94623 |
| A5s, rainbow, ten or higher | 59.307 | 59.923 | -0.616 | 0.98972 |
| A5s, rainbow, nine or lower | 41.066 | 59.923 | -18.857 | 0.68531 |
| A5s, two-tone | 55.527 | 59.923 | -4.396 | 0.92664 |
| A5s, monotone | 54.288 | 59.923 | -5.635 | 0.90596 |
| A5s, paired | 62.014 | 59.923 | +2.091 | 1.03489 |
| 97s, all flops | 43.299 | 49.118 | -5.819 | 0.88153 |
| 97s, rainbow, ten or higher | 40.693 | 49.118 | -8.425 | 0.82847 |
| 97s, rainbow, nine or lower | 58.934 | 49.118 | +9.816 | 1.19985 |
| 97s, two-tone | 44.473 | 49.118 | -4.645 | 0.90543 |
| 97s, monotone | 45.712 | 49.118 | -3.406 | 0.93066 |
| 97s, paired | 37.986 | 49.118 | -11.132 | 0.77336 |
Does a shared suit matter?
Suit overlap shows up in the numbers. With a suit in common A5s has 58.53% equity, and with none in common it has 56.09%. A5s does better with a shared suit, by 2.44 points.
| Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | A5s wins | Ties | 97s wins | A5s equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share a suit | 4 | 25.00 | 58.239 | 0.580 | 41.181 | 58.529 |
| No shared suit | 12 | 75.00 | 55.855 | 0.474 | 43.671 | 56.092 |
How often this matchup comes up
Out of 1,624,350 ways to deal two seats two cards each, 16 are A5s in one seat and 97s in the other (0.0010%); with the seats swapped too, 32 (0.0020%).
A worked example
Try it with money: two players each put in $100 and the whole board runs out every possible way. A5s averages $113.40 from the $200, up $13.40; 97s averages $86.60, down $13.40.
Per 1,000 deals: A5s wins about 565, 97s wins about 430, and about 5 end in a split pot.
The same matchup from the other side
97s against A5s adds nothing new: it is 43.30% for 97s and 56.70% for A5s, the same figures reversed.
Keep exploring
Try As5s against 9h7h 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 figures are counted, not estimated: 1,712,304 boards for every suit pattern of the 16 specific deals, with both seven-card hands compared each time. Equity gives half a win for a tie. For the flop rows, a board is counted once under each of the ten flops inside it.
Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used.
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