--- title: "AQs vs 98s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-98s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-98s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "AQs is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 61.85% to 38.15% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-22.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-97s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ajs-vs-98s.md"] --- # AQs vs 98s: preflop equity AQs is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 61.85% to 38.15% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. The exact count puts AQs at 61.85% and 98s at 38.15% when the two hands see all five board cards. ## AQs against 98s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for AQs against 98s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AQs | 61.616 | 0.476 | 37.908 | 61.854 | | 98s | 37.908 | 0.476 | 61.616 | 38.146 | Two suited hands meet here: AQs against 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. Ties are 0.48% of the outcomes here; each tied board gives both hands half the pot. AQs ranks number 10 of 169 starting hands, and 98s ranks number 83, by equity 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 | 16,881,000 | 130,000 | 10,386,000 | | 98s | 10,386,000 | 130,000 | 16,881,000 | 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 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) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AQs | 1.622 | 1.623 | 2.638 | 0.617 | | 98s | 0.617 | 2.638 | 1.623 | 1.622 | 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 Break the boards down by their first three cards and AQs is strongest on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better (67.48%) and weakest on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) (40.57%). On low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) the numbers flip and 98s is the one ahead. **AQs against 98s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | AQs wins | Ties | 98s wins | AQs equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.595 | 67.407 | 0.149 | 32.444 | 67.481 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.314 | 40.230 | 0.681 | 59.089 | 40.571 | | Two-tone | 46.727 | 61.048 | 0.234 | 38.718 | 61.165 | | Monotone | 5.273 | 57.523 | 3.400 | 39.077 | 59.223 | | Paired | 17.091 | 63.996 | 0.628 | 35.376 | 64.310 | 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 How much does the opponent matter? Compared with its random-hand 66.21%, AQs changes by -4.36 points, and 98s, from 50.80%, by -12.65. **AQs 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AQs, all flops | 61.854 | 66.209 | -4.355 | 0.93422 | | AQs, rainbow, ten or higher | 67.481 | 66.209 | +1.272 | 1.01921 | | AQs, rainbow, nine or lower | 40.571 | 66.209 | -25.638 | 0.61277 | | AQs, two-tone | 61.165 | 66.209 | -5.044 | 0.92382 | | AQs, monotone | 59.223 | 66.209 | -6.986 | 0.89449 | | AQs, paired | 64.310 | 66.209 | -1.899 | 0.97132 | | 98s, all flops | 38.146 | 50.801 | -12.655 | 0.75089 | | 98s, rainbow, ten or higher | 32.519 | 50.801 | -18.282 | 0.64013 | | 98s, rainbow, nine or lower | 59.429 | 50.801 | +8.628 | 1.16984 | | 98s, two-tone | 38.835 | 50.801 | -11.966 | 0.76445 | | 98s, monotone | 40.777 | 50.801 | -10.024 | 0.80268 | | 98s, paired | 35.690 | 50.801 | -15.111 | 0.70255 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Split by suits, the deals give AQs 64.06% when the hands overlap in a suit and 61.12% when they do not. AQs does better with a shared suit, by 2.94 points. **AQs against 98s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | AQs wins | Ties | 98s wins | AQs equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 4 | 25.00 | 63.781 | 0.553 | 35.666 | 64.058 | | No shared suit | 12 | 75.00 | 60.894 | 0.450 | 38.656 | 61.119 | ## How often this matchup comes up This page stands for 16 specific-card matchups (0.0010% of 1,624,350 ordered deals), or 32 once you count the seats both ways (0.0020%). ## A worked example Say each player puts $100 in before the flop, making a $200 pot. On average AQs takes back $123.70 of it, which is $23.70 more than it put in, and 98s takes back $76.30, $23.70 less than it put in. Run 1,000 deals and the tally comes out near 616 for AQs, 379 for 98s and 5 ties. ## The same matchup from the other side One page covers both views. From 98s' side the equity is 38.15%, and from AQs' side it is 61.85%. ## Keep exploring AsQs against 9h8h 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 AsQs against 9h8h in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=AsQs&p2=9h8h) - [AQs combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/aqs.md) - [98s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/98s.md) - [AQs vs 22](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-22.md) - [AQs vs 97s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-97s.md) - [AJs vs 98s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ajs-vs-98s.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 - [AQs vs 22: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-22.md) - [AQs vs 97s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/aqs-vs-97s.md) - [AJs vs 98s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/ajs-vs-98s.md)