--- title: "A8s vs A3s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-a3s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-a3s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "A8s is a big favorite over A3s before the flop: 63.60% to 36.40% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-qjo.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-k9o.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-a3s.md"] --- # A8s vs A3s: preflop equity A8s is a big favorite over A3s before the flop: 63.60% to 36.40% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Over all 1,712,304 boards that can follow this deal, A8s finishes with 63.60% of the pot and A3s with 36.40%. ## A8s against A3s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for A8s against A3s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A8s | 54.083 | 19.027 | 26.890 | 63.596 | | A3s | 26.890 | 19.027 | 54.083 | 36.404 | A8s meets A3s, and both are suited hands. Because the hands share one rank, the one with the higher kicker is ahead when that rank pairs and the other hand is mostly drawing. A 27.20 point lead is real, and A3s still takes about 269 of every 1,000 deals outright. About 19.03% of boards chop the pot, which is why equity sits slightly above the win figure for both hands. For context, A8s sits at number 21 of 169 starting hands and A3s at number 38 when each is run against a random hand. **Boards behind the percentages: 20,547,648 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A8s | 11,113,000 | 3,910,000 | 5,525,000 | | A3s | 5,525,000 | 3,910,000 | 11,113,000 | 12 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. **A8s against A3s read as odds** | Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A8s | 1.747 | 1.849 | 3.719 | 0.572 | | A3s | 0.572 | 3.719 | 1.849 | 1.747 | 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 If you know the kind of flop that came, the numbers shift: A8s holds 66.30% on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better and 59.38% on paired flops. A8s stays ahead on all five textures. **A8s against A3s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | A8s wins | Ties | A3s wins | A8s equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.526 | 56.579 | 19.449 | 23.972 | 66.304 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.383 | 62.127 | 5.782 | 32.091 | 65.018 | | Two-tone | 46.543 | 56.537 | 14.816 | 28.647 | 63.945 | | Monotone | 5.215 | 53.221 | 13.589 | 33.190 | 60.015 | | Paired | 17.333 | 41.258 | 36.248 | 22.494 | 59.382 | 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 The table below sets each hand against its own random-hand baseline: a change of +1.66 points for A8s, from 61.94%, and -21.82 for A3s, from 58.22%. **A8s and A3s 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A8s, all flops | 63.596 | 61.944 | +1.652 | 1.02667 | | A8s, rainbow, ten or higher | 66.304 | 61.944 | +4.360 | 1.07039 | | A8s, rainbow, nine or lower | 65.018 | 61.944 | +3.074 | 1.04963 | | A8s, two-tone | 63.945 | 61.944 | +2.001 | 1.03230 | | A8s, monotone | 60.015 | 61.944 | -1.929 | 0.96886 | | A8s, paired | 59.382 | 61.944 | -2.562 | 0.95864 | | A3s, all flops | 36.404 | 58.220 | -21.816 | 0.62528 | | A3s, rainbow, ten or higher | 33.696 | 58.220 | -24.524 | 0.57877 | | A3s, rainbow, nine or lower | 34.982 | 58.220 | -23.238 | 0.60086 | | A3s, two-tone | 36.055 | 58.220 | -22.165 | 0.61929 | | A3s, monotone | 39.985 | 58.220 | -18.235 | 0.68679 | | A3s, paired | 40.618 | 58.220 | -17.602 | 0.69766 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Every legal deal of A8s against A3s leaves the hands with no suit in common, so the suit split does not apply here. **A8s against A3s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | A8s wins | Ties | A3s wins | A8s equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 0 | 0.00 | not possible | not possible | not possible | not possible | | No shared suit | 12 | 100.00 | 54.083 | 19.027 | 26.890 | 63.596 | ## How often this matchup comes up Out of 1,624,350 ways to deal two seats two cards each, 12 are A8s in one seat and A3s in the other (0.0007%); with the seats swapped too, 24 (0.0015%). ## A worked example Put $100 each into a $200 pot and deal every board once: A8s averages $127.20 back, ahead of its $100 by $27.20, while A3s averages $72.80, short of its $100 by $27.20. Over a long run, 1,000 deals split into about 541 for A8s, 269 for A3s and 190 tied. ## The same matchup from the other side If you came looking for A3s against A8s, the numbers are the same with the hands swapped: 36.40% and 63.60%. ## Keep exploring Try As8s against Ah3h 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 As8s against Ah3h in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=As8s&p2=Ah3h) - [A8s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/a8s.md) - [A3s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/a3s.md) - [A8s vs QJo](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-qjo.md) - [A8s vs K9o](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-k9o.md) - [KTs vs A3s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-a3s.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## 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. ## Related - [A8s vs QJo: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-qjo.md) - [A8s vs K9o: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-k9o.md) - [KTs vs A3s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-a3s.md)