--- title: "A8s vs A4s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-a4s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-a4s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "A8s is a big favorite over A4s before the flop: 63.15% to 36.85% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-a3s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-qjo.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-a4s.md"] --- # A8s vs A4s: preflop equity A8s is a big favorite over A4s before the flop: 63.15% to 36.85% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. 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 against A4s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for A8s against A4s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A8s | 53.684 | 18.931 | 27.385 | 63.149 | | A4s | 27.385 | 18.931 | 53.684 | 36.851 | 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** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A8s | 11,031,000 | 3,890,000 | 5,627,000 | | A4s | 5,627,000 | 3,890,000 | 11,031,000 | 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** | Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A8s | 1.714 | 1.863 | 3.652 | 0.584 | | A4s | 0.584 | 3.652 | 1.863 | 1.714 | 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** | Flop | Share of flops | A8s wins | Ties | A4s wins | A8s equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.526 | 56.331 | 19.395 | 24.274 | 66.029 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.383 | 60.659 | 5.661 | 33.680 | 63.489 | | Two-tone | 46.543 | 56.113 | 14.750 | 29.137 | 63.488 | | Monotone | 5.215 | 52.932 | 13.531 | 33.537 | 59.698 | | Paired | 17.333 | 41.074 | 36.010 | 22.916 | 59.079 | 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** | Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A8s, all flops | 63.149 | 61.944 | +1.205 | 1.01945 | | A8s, rainbow, ten or higher | 66.029 | 61.944 | +4.085 | 1.06595 | | A8s, rainbow, nine or lower | 63.489 | 61.944 | +1.545 | 1.02494 | | A8s, two-tone | 63.488 | 61.944 | +1.544 | 1.02493 | | A8s, monotone | 59.698 | 61.944 | -2.246 | 0.96374 | | A8s, paired | 59.079 | 61.944 | -2.865 | 0.95375 | | A4s, all flops | 36.851 | 59.034 | -22.183 | 0.62423 | | A4s, rainbow, ten or higher | 33.971 | 59.034 | -25.063 | 0.57545 | | A4s, rainbow, nine or lower | 36.511 | 59.034 | -22.523 | 0.61847 | | A4s, two-tone | 36.512 | 59.034 | -22.522 | 0.61849 | | A4s, monotone | 40.302 | 59.034 | -18.732 | 0.68269 | | A4s, paired | 40.921 | 59.034 | -18.113 | 0.69318 | ## 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** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | A8s wins | Ties | A4s wins | A8s equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 0 | 0.00 | not possible | not possible | not possible | not possible | | No shared suit | 12 | 100.00 | 53.684 | 18.931 | 27.385 | 63.149 | ## 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. ## Keep exploring 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. - [Open As8s against Ah4h in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=As8s&p2=Ah4h) - [A8s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/a8s.md) - [A4s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/a4s.md) - [A8s vs A3s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-a3s.md) - [A8s vs QJo](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-qjo.md) - [KTs vs A4s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-a4s.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## 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. ## Related - [A8s vs A3s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-a3s.md) - [A8s vs QJo: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-qjo.md) - [KTs vs A4s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-a4s.md)