--- title: "AKs vs 98s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-98s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-98s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "AKs is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 62.88% to 37.12% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-22.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-97s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/77-vs-98s.md"] --- # AKs vs 98s: preflop equity AKs is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 62.88% to 37.12% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Before any board card is dealt, AKs holds 62.88% equity against 98s, which leaves 98s with 37.12%. ## AKs against 98s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for AKs against 98s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKs | 62.642 | 0.481 | 36.877 | 62.882 | | 98s | 36.877 | 0.481 | 62.642 | 37.118 | Both hands are suited hands: AKs and 98s. The two hands share no rank, which makes this a pure matchup of card strength, straight chances and flush chances. That is a modest edge, the kind that shows up over many hands and is easy to miss in one. A split pot comes up on 0.48% of boards, so the wins and the equity differ by half of that. Place 8 of 169 belongs to AKs and place 83 belongs to 98s in the ranking 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 | 17,162,000 | 132,000 | 10,103,000 | | 98s | 10,103,000 | 132,000 | 17,162,000 | 16 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. **AKs 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) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKs | 1.694 | 1.596 | 2.712 | 0.590 | | 98s | 0.590 | 2.712 | 1.596 | 1.694 | 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 Across the five flop textures AKs' equity moves by 28.53 points, from 40.48% on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) to 69.01% on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better. 98s is ahead on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower), even though it trails AKs when every flop is counted. **AKs against 98s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | AKs wins | Ties | 98s wins | AKs equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.595 | 68.936 | 0.156 | 30.908 | 69.014 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.314 | 40.131 | 0.698 | 59.171 | 40.480 | | Two-tone | 46.727 | 62.128 | 0.241 | 37.631 | 62.248 | | Monotone | 5.273 | 58.381 | 3.405 | 38.214 | 60.084 | | Paired | 17.091 | 64.619 | 0.624 | 34.757 | 64.931 | Read the flop types this way: rainbow has three suits, two-tone has two cards of one suit, monotone has three, and paired repeats a rank. ## Compared with a random hand The table below sets each hand against its own random-hand baseline: a change of -4.17 points for AKs, from 67.05%, and -13.68 for 98s, from 50.80%. **AKs 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AKs, all flops | 62.882 | 67.045 | -4.163 | 0.93791 | | AKs, rainbow, ten or higher | 69.014 | 67.045 | +1.969 | 1.02937 | | AKs, rainbow, nine or lower | 40.480 | 67.045 | -26.565 | 0.60377 | | AKs, two-tone | 62.248 | 67.045 | -4.797 | 0.92845 | | AKs, monotone | 60.084 | 67.045 | -6.961 | 0.89617 | | AKs, paired | 64.931 | 67.045 | -2.114 | 0.96847 | | 98s, all flops | 37.118 | 50.801 | -13.683 | 0.73065 | | 98s, rainbow, ten or higher | 30.986 | 50.801 | -19.815 | 0.60995 | | 98s, rainbow, nine or lower | 59.520 | 50.801 | +8.719 | 1.17163 | | 98s, two-tone | 37.752 | 50.801 | -13.049 | 0.74313 | | 98s, monotone | 39.916 | 50.801 | -10.885 | 0.78573 | | 98s, paired | 35.069 | 50.801 | -15.732 | 0.69032 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Does suit overlap move the numbers? AKs has 65.18% when the hands share a suit and 62.12% when they do not. AKs does better with a shared suit, by 3.06 points. **AKs against 98s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | AKs wins | Ties | 98s wins | AKs equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 4 | 25.00 | 64.901 | 0.560 | 34.539 | 65.181 | | No shared suit | 12 | 75.00 | 61.889 | 0.455 | 37.656 | 62.116 | ## How often this matchup comes up How often does it happen? 16 of the 1,624,350 ordered deals (0.0010%) are AKs against 98s, and 32 (0.0020%) if either hand may sit in either seat. ## A worked example Take a $200 pot built from $100 each. AKs' equity of 62.88% is worth $125.76, a $25.76 edge, and 98s' 37.12% is worth $74.24, which is $25.76 under its stake. In 1,000 deals of exactly this matchup, expect about 626 won outright by AKs, about 369 won outright by 98s and about 5 split. ## The same matchup from the other side 98s against AKs adds nothing new: it is 37.12% for 98s and 62.88% for AKs, the same figures reversed. ## Keep exploring Open the calculator with AsKs against 9h8h already entered, a deal with no shared suit, and change any card to try your own hand. The matchups after it each swap one hand for a nearby one in the ranking. - [Open AsKs against 9h8h in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=AsKs&p2=9h8h) - [AKs combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/aks.md) - [98s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/98s.md) - [AKs vs 22](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-22.md) - [AKs vs 97s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-97s.md) - [77 vs 98s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/77-vs-98s.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## How this was computed Method: exact enumeration. The 16 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 - [AKs vs 22: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-22.md) - [AKs vs 97s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aks-vs-97s.md) - [77 vs 98s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/77-vs-98s.md)