--- title: "AKo vs 97s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-97s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-97s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "AKo is a big favorite over 97s before the flop: 60.03% to 39.97% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-87s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-86s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ats-vs-97s.md"] --- # AKo vs 97s: preflop equity AKo is a big favorite over 97s before the flop: 60.03% to 39.97% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. The exact count puts AKo at 60.03% and 97s at 39.97% when the two hands see all five board cards. ## AKo against 97s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for AKo against 97s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKo | 59.818 | 0.426 | 39.756 | 60.031 | | 97s | 39.756 | 0.426 | 59.818 | 39.969 | We compare an offsuit hand with a suited hand. The two hands share no rank, which makes this a pure matchup of card strength, straight chances and flush chances. AKo is ahead, but 97s is far from dead: it takes 398 of every 1,000 deals outright. 0.43% of boards are ties, so the equity of each hand is its win rate plus half of that. AKo ranks number 12 of 169 starting hands, and 97s ranks number 94, by equity against a random hand. **Boards behind the percentages: 82,190,592 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKo | 49,165,000 | 350,000 | 32,676,000 | | 97s | 32,676,000 | 350,000 | 49,165,000 | The board total is exact, 48 deals at 1,712,304 boards each. Won, tied and lost counts are rounded to the nearest thousand from the five-decimal percentages. **AKo against 97s read as odds** | Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKo | 1.502 | 1.672 | 2.515 | 0.666 | | 97s | 0.666 | 2.515 | 1.672 | 1.502 | 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 AKo prefers rainbow flops topped by a ten or better, where it holds 67.47%, and likes low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) least, where it holds 37.03%. The overall edge for AKo hides low rainbow flops (nine high or lower), where 97s comes out in front. **AKo against 97s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | AKo wins | Ties | 97s wins | AKo equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.717 | 67.386 | 0.163 | 32.451 | 67.467 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.313 | 36.709 | 0.644 | 62.647 | 37.031 | | Two-tone | 46.667 | 58.320 | 0.247 | 41.433 | 58.443 | | Monotone | 5.212 | 57.109 | 2.363 | 40.528 | 58.291 | | Paired | 17.091 | 62.326 | 0.628 | 37.046 | 62.640 | 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 Compared with a random opponent, this matchup shifts AKo from 65.32% by -5.29 points and 97s from 49.12% by -9.15 points. **AKo and 97s 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKo, all flops | 60.031 | 65.320 | -5.289 | 0.91903 | | AKo, rainbow, ten or higher | 67.467 | 65.320 | +2.147 | 1.03287 | | AKo, rainbow, nine or lower | 37.031 | 65.320 | -28.289 | 0.56692 | | AKo, two-tone | 58.443 | 65.320 | -6.877 | 0.89472 | | AKo, monotone | 58.291 | 65.320 | -7.029 | 0.89239 | | AKo, paired | 62.640 | 65.320 | -2.680 | 0.95897 | | 97s, all flops | 39.969 | 49.118 | -9.149 | 0.81373 | | 97s, rainbow, ten or higher | 32.533 | 49.118 | -16.585 | 0.66234 | | 97s, rainbow, nine or lower | 62.969 | 49.118 | +13.851 | 1.28199 | | 97s, two-tone | 41.557 | 49.118 | -7.561 | 0.84606 | | 97s, monotone | 41.709 | 49.118 | -7.409 | 0.84916 | | 97s, paired | 37.360 | 49.118 | -11.758 | 0.76062 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Does suit overlap move the numbers? AKo has 60.74% when the hands share a suit and 59.32% when they do not. AKo does better with a shared suit, by 1.42 points. **AKo against 97s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | AKo wins | Ties | 97s wins | AKo equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 24 | 50.00 | 60.510 | 0.468 | 39.022 | 60.744 | | No shared suit | 24 | 50.00 | 59.126 | 0.385 | 40.489 | 59.318 | ## How often this matchup comes up Exactly 48 specific deals fit this matchup in one seat order, which is 0.0030% of 1,624,350; both orders together give 96, or 0.0059%. ## A worked example Take a $200 pot built from $100 each. AKo's equity of 60.03% is worth $120.06, a $20.06 edge, and 97s' 39.97% is worth $79.94, which is $20.06 under its stake. Over a long run, 1,000 deals split into about 598 for AKo, 398 for 97s and 4 tied. ## The same matchup from the other side One page covers both views. From 97s' side the equity is 39.97%, and from AKo's side it is 60.03%. ## Keep exploring AsKh against 9d7d 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 AsKh against 9d7d in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=AsKh&p2=9d7d) - [AKo combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/ako.md) - [97s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/97s.md) - [AKo vs 87s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-87s.md) - [AKo vs 86s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-86s.md) - [ATs vs 97s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ats-vs-97s.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## How this was computed Method: exact enumeration. The 48 specific deals are grouped by suit pattern, each is run against all 1,712,304 boards, and both seven-card hands are scored. Equity adds half of every tie, and flop textures are tallied over the ten flops inside each board. Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used. ## Related - [AKo vs 87s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-87s.md) - [AKo vs 86s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-86s.md) - [ATs vs 97s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ats-vs-97s.md)