--- title: "A8s vs T9s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-t9s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-t9s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "Who is ahead, A8s or T9s? A8s leads 55.95% to 44.05% before the flop, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-33.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-t8s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-t9s.md"] --- # A8s vs T9s: preflop equity Who is ahead, A8s or T9s? A8s leads 55.95% to 44.05% before the flop, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Before any board card is dealt, A8s holds 55.95% equity against T9s, which leaves T9s with 44.05%. ## A8s against T9s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for A8s against T9s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A8s | 55.721 | 0.465 | 43.814 | 55.953 | | T9s | 43.814 | 0.465 | 55.721 | 44.047 | 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** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A8s | 15,266,000 | 127,000 | 12,004,000 | | T9s | 12,004,000 | 127,000 | 15,266,000 | 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** | Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A8s | 1.270 | 1.795 | 2.282 | 0.787 | | T9s | 0.787 | 2.282 | 1.795 | 1.270 | 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** | Flop | Share of flops | A8s wins | Ties | T9s wins | A8s equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.543 | 55.615 | 0.176 | 44.209 | 55.703 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.366 | 52.598 | 0.496 | 46.906 | 52.846 | | Two-tone | 46.727 | 54.651 | 0.220 | 45.129 | 54.761 | | Monotone | 5.273 | 51.958 | 3.390 | 44.652 | 53.653 | | Paired | 17.091 | 61.122 | 0.636 | 38.242 | 61.440 | 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** | Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A8s, all flops | 55.953 | 61.944 | -5.991 | 0.90328 | | A8s, rainbow, ten or higher | 55.703 | 61.944 | -6.241 | 0.89925 | | A8s, rainbow, nine or lower | 52.846 | 61.944 | -9.098 | 0.85313 | | A8s, two-tone | 54.761 | 61.944 | -7.183 | 0.88404 | | A8s, monotone | 53.653 | 61.944 | -8.291 | 0.86615 | | A8s, paired | 61.440 | 61.944 | -0.504 | 0.99186 | | T9s, all flops | 44.047 | 54.028 | -9.981 | 0.81526 | | T9s, rainbow, ten or higher | 44.297 | 54.028 | -9.731 | 0.81989 | | T9s, rainbow, nine or lower | 47.154 | 54.028 | -6.874 | 0.87277 | | T9s, two-tone | 45.239 | 54.028 | -8.789 | 0.83733 | | T9s, monotone | 46.347 | 54.028 | -7.681 | 0.85783 | | T9s, paired | 38.560 | 54.028 | -15.468 | 0.71370 | ## 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** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | A8s wins | Ties | T9s wins | A8s equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 4 | 25.00 | 57.473 | 0.538 | 41.989 | 57.742 | | No shared suit | 12 | 75.00 | 55.136 | 0.441 | 44.423 | 55.357 | ## 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. ## Keep exploring 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. - [Open As8s against Th9h in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=As8s&p2=Th9h) - [A8s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/a8s.md) - [T9s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/t9s.md) - [A8s vs 33](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-33.md) - [A8s vs T8s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-t8s.md) - [KTs vs T9s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-t9s.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## 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. ## Related - [A8s vs 33: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-33.md) - [A8s vs T8s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/a8s-vs-t8s.md) - [KTs vs T9s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-t9s.md)