A9s
61.37%
Wins 61.14%, ties 0.46%
87s
38.63%
Wins 38.40%, ties 0.46%
A9s against 87s: the numbers
| Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A9s | 61.142 | 0.457 | 38.401 | 61.371 |
| 87s | 38.401 | 0.457 | 61.142 | 38.629 |
Both hands are suited hands: A9s and 87s. The two hands share no rank, which makes this a pure matchup of card strength, straight chances and flush chances.
That is a modest edge, the kind that shows up over many hands and is easy to miss in one. Ties are part of the picture: 0.46% of boards end in a split pot, and each side counts that as half a win.
In the ranking of all 169 starting hands, A9s is number 18 and 87s is number 100.
| Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| A9s | 16,751,000 | 125,000 | 10,521,000 |
| 87s | 10,521,000 | 125,000 | 16,751,000 |
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.
| Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A9s | 1.589 | 1.636 | 2.604 | 0.629 |
| 87s | 0.629 | 2.604 | 1.636 | 1.589 |
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
By flop texture, A9s' equity runs from 47.24% on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) up to 64.66% on paired flops. A9s is the favorite overall but falls behind on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower).
| Flop | Share of flops | A9s wins | Ties | 87s wins | A9s equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.220 | 64.396 | 0.200 | 35.404 | 64.496 |
| Rainbow, nine or lower | 5.689 | 47.069 | 0.341 | 52.590 | 47.240 |
| Two-tone | 46.727 | 60.410 | 0.209 | 39.381 | 60.514 |
| Monotone | 5.273 | 56.891 | 3.388 | 39.721 | 58.585 |
| Paired | 17.091 | 64.339 | 0.649 | 35.012 | 64.663 |
Flop types: rainbow means three different suits, two-tone means one suit twice, monotone means one suit three times, paired means a repeated rank.
Compared with a random hand
Each hand has a baseline against a random hand: 62.78% for A9s, 47.94% for 87s. Here the change is -1.41 and -9.31 points.
| Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A9s, all flops | 61.371 | 62.781 | -1.410 | 0.97754 |
| A9s, rainbow, ten or higher | 64.496 | 62.781 | +1.715 | 1.02732 |
| A9s, rainbow, nine or lower | 47.240 | 62.781 | -15.541 | 0.75246 |
| A9s, two-tone | 60.514 | 62.781 | -2.267 | 0.96389 |
| A9s, monotone | 58.585 | 62.781 | -4.196 | 0.93316 |
| A9s, paired | 64.663 | 62.781 | +1.882 | 1.02998 |
| 87s, all flops | 38.629 | 47.936 | -9.307 | 0.80585 |
| 87s, rainbow, ten or higher | 35.504 | 47.936 | -12.432 | 0.74065 |
| 87s, rainbow, nine or lower | 52.760 | 47.936 | +4.824 | 1.10063 |
| 87s, two-tone | 39.486 | 47.936 | -8.450 | 0.82372 |
| 87s, monotone | 41.415 | 47.936 | -6.521 | 0.86396 |
| 87s, paired | 35.337 | 47.936 | -12.599 | 0.73717 |
Does a shared suit matter?
The suit split reads 63.60% for A9s with a shared suit and 60.63% without one. A9s does better with a shared suit, by 2.97 points.
| Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | A9s wins | Ties | 87s wins | A9s equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share a suit | 4 | 25.00 | 63.331 | 0.529 | 36.140 | 63.595 |
| No shared suit | 12 | 75.00 | 60.413 | 0.433 | 39.154 | 60.629 |
How often this matchup comes up
A9s against 87s is made up of 16 specific-card matchups in one seat order, 0.0010% of the 1,624,350 ordered deals, and 32 counting both seat orders, 0.0020%.
A worked example
Worked example: both players commit $100, so $200 sits in the middle. Over every board, A9s' average share is $122.74 (a gain of $22.74) and 87s' is $77.26 (a loss of $22.74).
Over a long run, 1,000 deals split into about 611 for A9s, 384 for 87s and 5 tied.
The same matchup from the other side
The mirror image, 87s against A9s, is 38.63% to 61.37%, and its address redirects to this page.
Keep exploring
Open the calculator with As9s against 8h7h already entered, a deal with no shared suit, and change any card to try your own hand. The matchups after it each swap one hand for a nearby one in the ranking.
How this was computed
Each figure is a complete count over boards. Take the 16 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.
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