A8s vs A4s: preflop equity

If A8s and A4s get all the chips in before the flop, A8s owns 63.15% of the pot in the long run and A4s owns 36.85%.

A8s

63.15%

Wins 53.68%, ties 18.93%

A4s

36.85%

Wins 27.39%, ties 18.93%

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

A8s against A4s: the numbers

Exact preflop results for A8s against A4s, in percent
HandWinsTiesLosesEquity
A8s53.68418.93127.38563.149
A4s27.38518.93153.68436.851

Both hands are suited hands: A8s and A4s. 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.

A8s is ahead, but A4s is far from dead: it takes 274 of every 1,000 deals outright. Split pots make up 18.93% of the boards, and both equity figures count them as half a win each.

Among the 169 starting hands, A8s is number 21 and A4s is number 35 by strength against a random hand.

Boards behind the percentages: 20,547,648 counted in all
HandBoards won, aboutBoards tied, aboutBoards lost, about
A8s11,031,0003,890,0005,627,000
A4s5,627,0003,890,00011,031,000

The total is exact: 12 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.

A8s against A4s read as odds
HandEquity as odds (to 1)Wins one deal inLoses one deal inPot odds needed to call (to 1)
A8s1.7141.8633.6520.584
A4s0.5843.6521.8631.714

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

By flop texture, A8s' equity runs from 59.08% on paired flops up to 66.03% on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better. A8s stays ahead on all five textures.

A8s against A4s by flop texture, in percent
FlopShare of flopsA8s winsTiesA4s winsA8s equity
Rainbow, ten or higher24.52656.33119.39524.27466.029
Rainbow, nine or lower6.38360.6595.66133.68063.489
Two-tone46.54356.11314.75029.13763.488
Monotone5.21552.93213.53133.53759.698
Paired17.33341.07436.01022.91659.079

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

Start from the random-hand figures, 61.94% for A8s and 59.03% for A4s. This opponent changes them by +1.21 and -22.18 points.

A8s and A4s here compared with each against a random hand, in percent
CaseEquity hereAgainst a random handChange in pointsTimes the random-hand equity
A8s, all flops63.14961.944+1.2051.01945
A8s, rainbow, ten or higher66.02961.944+4.0851.06595
A8s, rainbow, nine or lower63.48961.944+1.5451.02494
A8s, two-tone63.48861.944+1.5441.02493
A8s, monotone59.69861.944-2.2460.96374
A8s, paired59.07961.944-2.8650.95375
A4s, all flops36.85159.034-22.1830.62423
A4s, rainbow, ten or higher33.97159.034-25.0630.57545
A4s, rainbow, nine or lower36.51159.034-22.5230.61847
A4s, two-tone36.51259.034-22.5220.61849
A4s, monotone40.30259.034-18.7320.68269
A4s, paired40.92159.034-18.1130.69318

Does a shared suit matter?

Every legal deal of A8s against A4s leaves the hands with no suit in common, so the suit split does not apply here.

A8s against A4s by suit overlap, in percent
DealsSpecific dealsShare of dealsA8s winsTiesA4s winsA8s equity
Share a suit00.00not possiblenot possiblenot possiblenot possible
No shared suit12100.0053.68418.93127.38563.149

How often this matchup comes up

You will meet this exact matchup 0.0015% of the time in a random heads-up deal: 24 of 1,624,350, counting either seat order.

A worked example

Worked example: both players commit $100, so $200 sits in the middle. Over every board, A8s' average share is $126.30 (a gain of $26.30) and A4s' is $73.70 (a loss of $26.30).

Run 1,000 deals and the tally comes out near 537 for A8s, 274 for A4s and 189 ties.

The same matchup from the other side

A4s versus A8s is this same page seen from the other hand: 36.85% for A4s, 63.15% for A8s.

Try As8s against Ah4h 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

We counted every case. Each suit pattern of the 12 specific A8s against A4s deals meets all 1,712,304 boards, and the better five-card hand wins; a split pot is half a win each. The flop table reads each board under all ten of its three-card flops.

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

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