--- title: "AKo vs 98s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-98s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-98s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "AKo is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 60.33% to 39.67% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-22.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-97s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ats-vs-98s.md"] --- # AKo vs 98s: preflop equity AKo is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 60.33% to 39.67% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. In equity, AKo against 98s stands at 60.33% to 39.67%, a gap of 20.66 points. ## AKo against 98s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for AKo against 98s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKo | 60.110 | 0.437 | 39.453 | 60.329 | | 98s | 39.453 | 0.437 | 60.110 | 39.671 | Here an offsuit hand (AKo) meets a suited hand (98s). Neither hand shares a rank with the other, so this is a contest of high cards, connection and suits. The lead is steady rather than large, and the flop still has plenty of say in who wins. Of every 100 boards, about 0.44 are split pots, and the equity figures already include them. Among the 169 starting hands, AKo is number 12 and 98s is number 83 by strength 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 | 49,405,000 | 359,000 | 32,427,000 | | 98s | 32,427,000 | 359,000 | 49,405,000 | 48 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. **AKo 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) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKo | 1.521 | 1.664 | 2.535 | 0.658 | | 98s | 0.658 | 2.535 | 1.664 | 1.521 | 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 Across the five flop textures AKo's equity moves by 29.65 points, from 38.04% on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) to 67.69% on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better. The lead reverses on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower): there 98s is the favorite even though AKo is ahead overall. **AKo against 98s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | AKo wins | Ties | 98s wins | AKo equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.717 | 67.608 | 0.163 | 32.229 | 67.690 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.313 | 37.678 | 0.723 | 61.599 | 38.039 | | Two-tone | 46.667 | 58.650 | 0.259 | 41.091 | 58.780 | | Monotone | 5.212 | 57.296 | 2.369 | 40.335 | 58.481 | | Paired | 17.091 | 62.399 | 0.624 | 36.977 | 62.711 | 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 The table below sets each hand against its own random-hand baseline: a change of -4.99 points for AKo, from 65.32%, and -11.13 for 98s, from 50.80%. **AKo 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKo, all flops | 60.329 | 65.320 | -4.991 | 0.92359 | | AKo, rainbow, ten or higher | 67.690 | 65.320 | +2.370 | 1.03628 | | AKo, rainbow, nine or lower | 38.039 | 65.320 | -27.281 | 0.58235 | | AKo, two-tone | 58.780 | 65.320 | -6.540 | 0.89988 | | AKo, monotone | 58.481 | 65.320 | -6.839 | 0.89530 | | AKo, paired | 62.711 | 65.320 | -2.609 | 0.96006 | | 98s, all flops | 39.671 | 50.801 | -11.130 | 0.78091 | | 98s, rainbow, ten or higher | 32.310 | 50.801 | -18.491 | 0.63601 | | 98s, rainbow, nine or lower | 61.961 | 50.801 | +11.160 | 1.21968 | | 98s, two-tone | 41.220 | 50.801 | -9.581 | 0.81140 | | 98s, monotone | 41.519 | 50.801 | -9.282 | 0.81729 | | 98s, paired | 37.289 | 50.801 | -13.512 | 0.73402 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Suit overlap shows up in the numbers. With a suit in common AKo has 61.04% equity, and with none in common it has 59.62%. AKo does better with a shared suit, by 1.42 points. **AKo against 98s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | AKo wins | Ties | 98s wins | AKo equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 24 | 50.00 | 60.802 | 0.478 | 38.720 | 61.041 | | No shared suit | 24 | 50.00 | 59.419 | 0.396 | 40.185 | 59.617 | ## 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 60.33% is worth $120.66, a $20.66 edge, and 98s' 39.67% is worth $79.34, which is $20.66 under its stake. Per 1,000 deals: AKo wins about 601, 98s wins about 395, and about 4 end in a split pot. ## The same matchup from the other side The mirror image, 98s against AKo, is 39.67% to 60.33%, and its address redirects to this page. ## Keep exploring Try AsKh against 9d8d 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 AsKh against 9d8d in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=AsKh&p2=9d8d) - [AKo combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/ako.md) - [98s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/98s.md) - [AKo vs 22](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-22.md) - [AKo vs 97s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-97s.md) - [ATs vs 98s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ats-vs-98s.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 22: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-22.md) - [AKo vs 97s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ako-vs-97s.md) - [ATs vs 98s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ats-vs-98s.md)