--- title: "AQs vs 86s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-86s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-86s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "AQs is a big favorite over 86s before the flop: 62.22% to 37.78% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-76s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-75s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ajs-vs-86s.md"] --- # AQs vs 86s: preflop equity AQs is a big favorite over 86s before the flop: 62.22% to 37.78% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Before any board card is dealt, AQs holds 62.22% equity against 86s, which leaves 86s with 37.78%. ## AQs against 86s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for AQs against 86s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AQs | 61.991 | 0.465 | 37.544 | 62.223 | | 86s | 37.544 | 0.465 | 61.991 | 37.777 | Two suited hands meet here: AQs against 86s. 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. Ties are 0.47% of the outcomes here; each tied board gives both hands half the pot. Place 10 of 169 belongs to AQs and place 110 belongs to 86s 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AQs | 16,984,000 | 127,000 | 10,286,000 | | 86s | 10,286,000 | 127,000 | 16,984,000 | Exact total: 16 deals times 1,712,304 boards. The other three counts come from the five-decimal percentages and are rounded to the nearest thousand, so read them as approximate. **AQs against 86s read as odds** | Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AQs | 1.647 | 1.613 | 2.664 | 0.607 | | 86s | 0.607 | 2.664 | 1.613 | 1.647 | 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 AQs prefers rainbow flops topped by a ten or better, where it holds 69.01%, and likes low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) least, where it holds 36.22%. Watch for low rainbow flops (nine high or lower): on those flops 86s holds the better equity. **AQs against 86s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | AQs wins | Ties | 86s wins | AQs equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.595 | 68.948 | 0.124 | 30.928 | 69.010 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.314 | 35.874 | 0.685 | 63.441 | 36.217 | | Two-tone | 46.727 | 61.387 | 0.220 | 38.393 | 61.497 | | Monotone | 5.273 | 57.856 | 3.397 | 38.747 | 59.554 | | Paired | 17.091 | 64.554 | 0.641 | 34.805 | 64.874 | 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 Compared with a random opponent, this matchup shifts AQs from 66.21% by -3.99 points and 86s from 46.24% by -8.46 points. **AQs and 86s 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AQs, all flops | 62.223 | 66.209 | -3.986 | 0.93980 | | AQs, rainbow, ten or higher | 69.010 | 66.209 | +2.801 | 1.04231 | | AQs, rainbow, nine or lower | 36.217 | 66.209 | -29.992 | 0.54701 | | AQs, two-tone | 61.497 | 66.209 | -4.712 | 0.92883 | | AQs, monotone | 59.554 | 66.209 | -6.655 | 0.89948 | | AQs, paired | 64.874 | 66.209 | -1.335 | 0.97984 | | 86s, all flops | 37.777 | 46.243 | -8.466 | 0.81692 | | 86s, rainbow, ten or higher | 30.990 | 46.243 | -15.253 | 0.67016 | | 86s, rainbow, nine or lower | 63.783 | 46.243 | +17.540 | 1.37930 | | 86s, two-tone | 38.503 | 46.243 | -7.740 | 0.83262 | | 86s, monotone | 40.446 | 46.243 | -5.797 | 0.87464 | | 86s, paired | 35.126 | 46.243 | -11.117 | 0.75960 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Does suit overlap move the numbers? AQs has 64.46% when the hands share a suit and 61.48% when they do not. AQs does better with a shared suit, by 2.98 points. **AQs against 86s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | AQs wins | Ties | 86s wins | AQs equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 4 | 25.00 | 64.185 | 0.542 | 35.273 | 64.456 | | No shared suit | 12 | 75.00 | 61.259 | 0.440 | 38.301 | 61.479 | ## How often this matchup comes up AQs against 86s 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. AQs' equity of 62.22% is worth $124.44, a $24.44 edge, and 86s' 37.78% is worth $75.56, which is $24.44 under its stake. Per 1,000 deals: AQs wins about 620, 86s wins about 375, and about 5 end in a split pot. ## The same matchup from the other side One page covers both views. From 86s' side the equity is 37.78%, and from AQs' side it is 62.22%. ## Keep exploring Open the calculator with AsQs against 8h6h 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 AsQs against 8h6h in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=AsQs&p2=8h6h) - [AQs combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/aqs.md) - [86s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/86s.md) - [AQs vs 76s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-76s.md) - [AQs vs 75s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-75s.md) - [AJs vs 86s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ajs-vs-86s.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 - [AQs vs 76s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-76s.md) - [AQs vs 75s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-75s.md) - [AJs vs 86s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ajs-vs-86s.md)