--- title: "AA vs 98s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aa-vs-98s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aa-vs-98s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "AA is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 77.94% to 22.06% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aa-vs-22.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aa-vs-97s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kk-vs-98s.md"] --- # AA vs 98s: preflop equity AA is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 77.94% to 22.06% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Before any board card is dealt, AA holds 77.94% equity against 98s, which leaves 98s with 22.06%. ## AA against 98s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for AA against 98s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AA | 77.767 | 0.347 | 21.886 | 77.940 | | 98s | 21.886 | 0.347 | 77.767 | 22.060 | The first hand is a pocket pair; the second is a suited hand. The pair outranks both of the other hand's cards, which is why the pair is a strong favorite. AA is the clear favorite, though 98s gets there on roughly one board in 5. The tie share is 0.35%: on those boards the pot is chopped and neither hand wins outright. The hand ranking puts AA at 1 and 98s at 83 out of 169 starting hands. **Boards behind the percentages: 41,095,296 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AA | 31,959,000 | 143,000 | 8,994,000 | | 98s | 8,994,000 | 143,000 | 31,959,000 | 24 specific deals times 1,712,304 boards gives the exact total. The won, tied and lost counts are approximations from the five-decimal percentages, rounded to the nearest thousand. **AA against 98s read as odds** | Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AA | 3.533 | 1.286 | 4.569 | 0.283 | | 98s | 0.283 | 4.569 | 1.286 | 3.533 | 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 The flop changes the picture. AA does best on paired flops, at 82.29%, and worst on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower), at 72.76%. AA stays ahead on all five textures. **AA against 98s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | AA wins | Ties | 98s wins | AA equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.595 | 80.915 | 0.194 | 18.891 | 81.012 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.314 | 72.413 | 0.689 | 26.898 | 72.758 | | Two-tone | 46.545 | 75.827 | 0.280 | 23.893 | 75.967 | | Monotone | 5.212 | 71.680 | 2.390 | 25.930 | 72.875 | | Paired | 17.334 | 82.289 | 0.007 | 17.704 | 82.292 | A rainbow flop shows three suits, a two-tone flop repeats one suit, a monotone flop is a single suit, and a paired flop repeats a rank. ## Compared with a random hand Start from the random-hand figures, 85.20% for AA and 50.80% for 98s. This opponent changes them by -7.26 and -28.74 points. **AA and 98s 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AA, all flops | 77.940 | 85.204 | -7.264 | 0.91475 | | AA, rainbow, ten or higher | 81.012 | 85.204 | -4.192 | 0.95080 | | AA, rainbow, nine or lower | 72.758 | 85.204 | -12.446 | 0.85393 | | AA, two-tone | 75.967 | 85.204 | -9.237 | 0.89159 | | AA, monotone | 72.875 | 85.204 | -12.329 | 0.85530 | | AA, paired | 82.292 | 85.204 | -2.912 | 0.96582 | | 98s, all flops | 22.060 | 50.801 | -28.741 | 0.43424 | | 98s, rainbow, ten or higher | 18.988 | 50.801 | -31.813 | 0.37377 | | 98s, rainbow, nine or lower | 27.242 | 50.801 | -23.559 | 0.53625 | | 98s, two-tone | 24.033 | 50.801 | -26.768 | 0.47308 | | 98s, monotone | 27.125 | 50.801 | -23.676 | 0.53395 | | 98s, paired | 17.708 | 50.801 | -33.093 | 0.34858 | ## Does a shared suit matter? The suit split reads 78.50% for AA with a shared suit and 77.38% without one. AA does better with a shared suit, by 1.12 points. **AA against 98s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | AA wins | Ties | 98s wins | AA equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 12 | 50.00 | 78.309 | 0.389 | 21.302 | 78.504 | | No shared suit | 12 | 50.00 | 77.225 | 0.304 | 22.471 | 77.377 | ## How often this matchup comes up AA against 98s is made up of 24 specific-card matchups in one seat order, 0.0015% of the 1,624,350 ordered deals, and 48 counting both seat orders, 0.0030%. ## A worked example With $100 from each side, the $200 pot is split on average as $155.88 for AA and $44.12 for 98s; the first side gains $55.88 per all-in and the second gives up $55.88. Per 1,000 deals: AA wins about 778, 98s wins about 219, and about 3 end in a split pot. ## The same matchup from the other side If you came looking for 98s against AA, the numbers are the same with the hands swapped: 22.06% and 77.94%. ## Keep exploring AsAh against 9d8d is a ready-made deal for the calculator, with no suit in common between the hands. The neighboring matchups below replace one hand with another of similar strength. - [Open AsAh against 9d8d in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=AsAh&p2=9d8d) - [AA combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/aa.md) - [98s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/98s.md) - [AA vs 22](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aa-vs-22.md) - [AA vs 97s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aa-vs-97s.md) - [KK vs 98s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kk-vs-98s.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## How this was computed We counted every case. Each suit pattern of the 24 specific AA against 98s 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 - [AA vs 22: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aa-vs-22.md) - [AA vs 97s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aa-vs-97s.md) - [KK vs 98s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kk-vs-98s.md)