A8s vs T9s: preflop equity

Before any board card is dealt, A8s holds 55.95% equity against T9s, which leaves T9s with 44.05%.

A8s

55.95%

Wins 55.72%, ties 0.47%

T9s

44.05%

Wins 43.81%, ties 0.47%

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

A8s against T9s: the numbers

Exact preflop results for A8s against T9s, in percent
HandWinsTiesLosesEquity
A8s55.7210.46543.81455.953
T9s43.8140.46555.72144.047

This is a contest between two suited hands, A8s and T9s. With no overlap in ranks, every card that pairs one hand is a card that does not pair the other.

That is a modest edge, the kind that shows up over many hands and is easy to miss in one. About 0.47% of boards chop the pot, which is why equity sits slightly above the win figure for both hands.

A8s ranks number 21 of 169 starting hands, and T9s ranks number 64, by equity against a random hand.

Boards behind the percentages: 27,396,864 counted in all
HandBoards won, aboutBoards tied, aboutBoards lost, about
A8s15,266,000127,00012,004,000
T9s12,004,000127,00015,266,000

The total is exact: 16 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 T9s read as odds
HandEquity as odds (to 1)Wins one deal inLoses one deal inPot odds needed to call (to 1)
A8s1.2701.7952.2820.787
T9s0.7872.2821.7951.270

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. A8s does best on paired flops, at 61.44%, and worst on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower), at 52.85%. A8s stays ahead on all five textures.

A8s against T9s by flop texture, in percent
FlopShare of flopsA8s winsTiesT9s winsA8s equity
Rainbow, ten or higher24.54355.6150.17644.20955.703
Rainbow, nine or lower6.36652.5980.49646.90652.846
Two-tone46.72754.6510.22045.12954.761
Monotone5.27351.9583.39044.65253.653
Paired17.09161.1220.63638.24261.440

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

A random hand would give A8s 61.94% and T9s 54.03%. Against each other the change is -5.99 points for A8s and -9.98 for T9s.

A8s and T9s here compared with each against a random hand, in percent
CaseEquity hereAgainst a random handChange in pointsTimes the random-hand equity
A8s, all flops55.95361.944-5.9910.90328
A8s, rainbow, ten or higher55.70361.944-6.2410.89925
A8s, rainbow, nine or lower52.84661.944-9.0980.85313
A8s, two-tone54.76161.944-7.1830.88404
A8s, monotone53.65361.944-8.2910.86615
A8s, paired61.44061.944-0.5040.99186
T9s, all flops44.04754.028-9.9810.81526
T9s, rainbow, ten or higher44.29754.028-9.7310.81989
T9s, rainbow, nine or lower47.15454.028-6.8740.87277
T9s, two-tone45.23954.028-8.7890.83733
T9s, monotone46.34754.028-7.6810.85783
T9s, paired38.56054.028-15.4680.71370

Does a shared suit matter?

The suit split reads 57.74% for A8s with a shared suit and 55.36% without one. A8s does better with a shared suit, by 2.38 points.

A8s against T9s by suit overlap, in percent
DealsSpecific dealsShare of dealsA8s winsTiesT9s winsA8s equity
Share a suit425.0057.4730.53841.98957.742
No shared suit1275.0055.1360.44144.42355.357

How often this matchup comes up

Counting specific cards, A8s against T9s appears in 16 of the 1,624,350 ordered heads-up deals (0.0010%), and in 32 when the seats are swapped too (0.0020%).

A worked example

Worked example: both players commit $100, so $200 sits in the middle. Over every board, A8s' average share is $111.90 (a gain of $11.90) and T9s' is $88.10 (a loss of $11.90).

Out of 1,000 deals you should see around 557 outright wins for A8s, 438 for T9s, and 5 split pots.

The same matchup from the other side

Read it from the other side: T9s against A8s is the same matchup with the numbers swapped, so T9s holds 44.05% and A8s holds 55.95%. That address sends you back to this page.

Try As8s against Th9h 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

Nothing here is simulated. The 16 deals of A8s against T9s fall into a few suit patterns, each dealt against all 1,712,304 boards, with both best five-card hands compared on every board. Ties give each hand half a win, and the flop rows count a board under each of its ten flops.

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

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