--- title: "AKs vs 97s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-97s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-97s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "AKs is a big favorite over 97s before the flop: 62.60% to 37.41% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-87s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-86s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/77-vs-97s.md"] --- # AKs vs 97s: preflop equity AKs is a big favorite over 97s before the flop: 62.60% to 37.41% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Over all 1,712,304 boards that can follow this deal, AKs finishes with 62.60% of the pot and 97s with 37.40%. ## AKs against 97s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for AKs against 97s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKs | 62.360 | 0.471 | 37.169 | 62.595 | | 97s | 37.169 | 0.471 | 62.360 | 37.405 | Each side holds one of the suited hands: AKs and 97s. The two hands share no rank, which makes this a pure matchup of card strength, straight chances and flush chances. A 25.20 point lead is real, and 97s still takes about 372 of every 1,000 deals outright. About 0.47% of boards chop the pot, which is why equity sits slightly above the win figure for both hands. Among the 169 starting hands, AKs is number 8 and 97s is number 94 by strength against a random hand. **Boards behind the percentages: 27,396,864 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKs | 17,085,000 | 129,000 | 10,183,000 | | 97s | 10,183,000 | 129,000 | 17,085,000 | 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. **AKs 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) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKs | 1.673 | 1.604 | 2.690 | 0.598 | | 97s | 0.598 | 2.690 | 1.604 | 1.673 | 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 Rainbow flops topped by a ten or better are the best for AKs (68.80%); low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) are the worst (39.50%). Low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) favor 97s, the hand that is behind overall. **AKs against 97s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | AKs wins | Ties | 97s wins | AKs equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.595 | 68.721 | 0.156 | 31.123 | 68.799 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.314 | 39.187 | 0.621 | 60.192 | 39.498 | | Two-tone | 46.727 | 61.815 | 0.230 | 37.955 | 61.930 | | Monotone | 5.273 | 58.162 | 3.399 | 38.439 | 59.862 | | Paired | 17.091 | 64.547 | 0.628 | 34.825 | 64.861 | Rainbow flops have three suits, two-tone flops repeat one suit, monotone flops are all one suit, and paired flops repeat a rank. ## Compared with a random hand Each hand has a baseline against a random hand: 67.05% for AKs, 49.12% for 97s. Here the change is -4.45 and -11.72 points. **AKs 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKs, all flops | 62.595 | 67.045 | -4.450 | 0.93363 | | AKs, rainbow, ten or higher | 68.799 | 67.045 | +1.754 | 1.02616 | | AKs, rainbow, nine or lower | 39.498 | 67.045 | -27.547 | 0.58913 | | AKs, two-tone | 61.930 | 67.045 | -5.115 | 0.92371 | | AKs, monotone | 59.862 | 67.045 | -7.183 | 0.89286 | | AKs, paired | 64.861 | 67.045 | -2.184 | 0.96742 | | 97s, all flops | 37.405 | 49.118 | -11.713 | 0.76153 | | 97s, rainbow, ten or higher | 31.201 | 49.118 | -17.917 | 0.63523 | | 97s, rainbow, nine or lower | 60.502 | 49.118 | +11.384 | 1.23177 | | 97s, two-tone | 38.070 | 49.118 | -11.048 | 0.77507 | | 97s, monotone | 40.138 | 49.118 | -8.980 | 0.81717 | | 97s, paired | 35.139 | 49.118 | -13.979 | 0.71540 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Of the deals of this matchup, 4 share a suit (AKs at 64.87%) and 12 do not (61.84%). AKs does better with a shared suit, by 3.03 points. **AKs against 97s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | AKs wins | Ties | 97s wins | AKs equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 4 | 25.00 | 64.590 | 0.549 | 34.861 | 64.865 | | No shared suit | 12 | 75.00 | 61.616 | 0.445 | 37.939 | 61.839 | ## How often this matchup comes up AKs against 97s 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 Take a $200 pot built from $100 each. AKs' equity of 62.60% is worth $125.20, a $25.20 edge, and 97s' 37.40% is worth $74.80, which is $25.20 under its stake. A thousand deals look like this: AKs takes 623, 97s takes 372, 5 are ties. ## The same matchup from the other side One page covers both views. From 97s' side the equity is 37.40%, and from AKs' side it is 62.60%. ## Keep exploring The calculator link fills in AsKs against 9h7h, a deal where the two hands share no suit. Change any card to test your own hand. The neighboring matchups below swap one of the two hands for one of similar strength. - [Open AsKs against 9h7h in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=AsKs&p2=9h7h) - [AKs combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/aks.md) - [97s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/97s.md) - [AKs vs 87s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-87s.md) - [AKs vs 86s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-86s.md) - [77 vs 97s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/77-vs-97s.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## 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. ## Related - [AKs vs 87s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-87s.md) - [AKs vs 86s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-86s.md) - [77 vs 97s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/77-vs-97s.md)