A9s
67.59%
Wins 66.58%, ties 2.03%
98s
32.41%
Wins 31.39%, ties 2.03%
A9s against 98s: the numbers
| Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A9s | 66.578 | 2.027 | 31.395 | 67.591 |
| 98s | 31.395 | 2.027 | 66.578 | 32.409 |
Both hands are suited hands: A9s and 98s. Sharing a rank is the signature of a dominated hand, since the weaker hand is usually out-kicked when the shared rank shows up.
A lead of 35.18 points is large but not decisive: 98s still takes about 314 of every 1,000 deals. Ties are part of the picture: 2.03% of boards end in a split pot, and each side counts that as half a win.
By strength against a random hand, A9s holds place 18 of 169 and 98s holds place 83.
| Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| A9s | 13,680,000 | 417,000 | 6,451,000 |
| 98s | 6,451,000 | 417,000 | 13,680,000 |
Exact total: 12 deals times 1,712,304 boards. The other three counts come from the five-decimal percentages and are rounded to the nearest thousand, so read them as approximate.
| Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A9s | 2.086 | 1.502 | 3.185 | 0.479 |
| 98s | 0.479 | 3.185 | 1.502 | 2.086 |
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
If you know the kind of flop that came, the numbers shift: A9s holds 72.35% on paired flops and 55.65% on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower). A9s stays ahead on all five textures, but the swing between them is large, so how the flop looks matters a great deal.
| Flop | Share of flops | A9s wins | Ties | 98s wins | A9s equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.254 | 70.198 | 1.689 | 28.113 | 71.043 |
| Rainbow, nine or lower | 5.654 | 54.077 | 3.140 | 42.783 | 55.647 |
| Two-tone | 46.543 | 65.206 | 1.715 | 33.079 | 66.063 |
| Monotone | 5.215 | 59.587 | 4.166 | 36.247 | 61.670 |
| Paired | 17.334 | 71.170 | 2.349 | 26.481 | 72.345 |
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
How much does the opponent matter? Compared with its random-hand 62.78%, A9s changes by +4.81 points, and 98s, from 50.80%, by -18.39.
| Case | Equity here | Against a random hand | Change in points | Times the random-hand equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A9s, all flops | 67.591 | 62.781 | +4.810 | 1.07662 |
| A9s, rainbow, ten or higher | 71.043 | 62.781 | +8.262 | 1.13160 |
| A9s, rainbow, nine or lower | 55.647 | 62.781 | -7.134 | 0.88637 |
| A9s, two-tone | 66.063 | 62.781 | +3.282 | 1.05228 |
| A9s, monotone | 61.670 | 62.781 | -1.111 | 0.98230 |
| A9s, paired | 72.345 | 62.781 | +9.564 | 1.15234 |
| 98s, all flops | 32.409 | 50.801 | -18.392 | 0.63796 |
| 98s, rainbow, ten or higher | 28.957 | 50.801 | -21.844 | 0.57001 |
| 98s, rainbow, nine or lower | 44.353 | 50.801 | -6.448 | 0.87307 |
| 98s, two-tone | 33.937 | 50.801 | -16.864 | 0.66804 |
| 98s, monotone | 38.330 | 50.801 | -12.471 | 0.75451 |
| 98s, paired | 27.655 | 50.801 | -23.146 | 0.54438 |
Does a shared suit matter?
For this pair the shared-suit row is empty: the two hands cannot both own a card of one suit without reusing a card.
| Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | A9s wins | Ties | 98s wins | A9s equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share a suit | 0 | 0.00 | not possible | not possible | not possible | not possible |
| No shared suit | 12 | 100.00 | 66.578 | 2.027 | 31.395 | 67.591 |
How often this matchup comes up
The class pair covers 12 combinations of specific cards in a fixed seat order, 0.0007% of 1,624,350, and 24 (0.0015%) in either order.
A worked example
Worked example: both players commit $100, so $200 sits in the middle. Over every board, A9s' average share is $135.18 (a gain of $35.18) and 98s' is $64.82 (a loss of $35.18).
Run 1,000 deals and the tally comes out near 666 for A9s, 314 for 98s and 20 ties.
The same matchup from the other side
Swap the hands and you get 98s with 32.41% against A9s with 67.59%. We keep one page per matchup, with the better-ranked hand first.
Keep exploring
Try As9s against 9h8h 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
This is an exact count with no sampling. For the 12 ways to deal one A9s and one 98s without reusing a card, grouped by suit pattern, every one of the 1,712,304 possible boards is dealt and both seven-card hands are compared. A tie counts as half a win in the equity column, and each board is counted once under each of its ten three-card flops.
Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used.
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