--- title: "KJo vs 98s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kjo-vs-98s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kjo-vs-98s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "KJo is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 60.24% to 39.76% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kjo-vs-22.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kjo-vs-97s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/55-vs-98s.md"] --- # KJo vs 98s: preflop equity KJo is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 60.24% to 39.76% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Before any board card is dealt, KJo holds 60.24% equity against 98s, which leaves 98s with 39.76%. ## KJo against 98s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for KJo against 98s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | KJo | 59.911 | 0.650 | 39.439 | 60.236 | | 98s | 39.439 | 0.650 | 59.911 | 39.764 | The matchup pits an offsuit hand against a suited hand. With no overlap in ranks, every card that pairs one hand is a card that does not pair the other. The lead is steady rather than large, and the flop still has plenty of say in who wins. About 0.65% of boards chop the pot, which is why equity sits slightly above the win figure for both hands. By strength against a random hand, KJo holds place 26 of 169 and 98s holds place 83. **Boards behind the percentages: 82,190,592 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | KJo | 49,241,000 | 534,000 | 32,415,000 | | 98s | 32,415,000 | 534,000 | 49,241,000 | Exact total: 48 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. **KJo 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) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | KJo | 1.515 | 1.669 | 2.536 | 0.660 | | 98s | 0.660 | 2.536 | 1.669 | 1.515 | 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 KJo (67.45%); low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) are the worst (38.27%). KJo is the favorite overall but falls behind on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower). **KJo against 98s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | KJo wins | Ties | 98s wins | KJo equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.717 | 67.298 | 0.306 | 32.396 | 67.451 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.313 | 37.930 | 0.678 | 61.392 | 38.269 | | Two-tone | 46.667 | 58.542 | 0.357 | 41.101 | 58.721 | | Monotone | 5.212 | 57.295 | 2.443 | 40.262 | 58.517 | | Paired | 17.091 | 61.881 | 1.395 | 36.724 | 62.578 | Flop types: rainbow means three different suits, two-tone means one suit twice, monotone means one suit three times, paired means a repeated rank. ## Compared with a random hand Relative to a random opponent, KJo changes by -0.33 points (baseline 60.57%) and 98s by -11.04 points (baseline 50.80%). **KJo 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | KJo, all flops | 60.236 | 60.569 | -0.333 | 0.99450 | | KJo, rainbow, ten or higher | 67.451 | 60.569 | +6.882 | 1.11362 | | KJo, rainbow, nine or lower | 38.269 | 60.569 | -22.300 | 0.63182 | | KJo, two-tone | 58.721 | 60.569 | -1.848 | 0.96949 | | KJo, monotone | 58.517 | 60.569 | -2.052 | 0.96612 | | KJo, paired | 62.578 | 60.569 | +2.009 | 1.03317 | | 98s, all flops | 39.764 | 50.801 | -11.037 | 0.78274 | | 98s, rainbow, ten or higher | 32.549 | 50.801 | -18.252 | 0.64072 | | 98s, rainbow, nine or lower | 61.731 | 50.801 | +10.930 | 1.21515 | | 98s, two-tone | 41.279 | 50.801 | -9.522 | 0.81256 | | 98s, monotone | 41.483 | 50.801 | -9.318 | 0.81658 | | 98s, paired | 37.422 | 50.801 | -13.379 | 0.73664 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Looking only at deals where the hands share a suit, KJo has 60.92%; looking only at deals where they do not, 59.56%. KJo does better with a shared suit, by 1.36 points. **KJo against 98s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | KJo wins | Ties | 98s wins | KJo equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 24 | 50.00 | 60.571 | 0.692 | 38.737 | 60.917 | | No shared suit | 24 | 50.00 | 59.251 | 0.609 | 40.140 | 59.555 | ## How often this matchup comes up How often does it happen? 48 of the 1,624,350 ordered deals (0.0030%) are KJo against 98s, and 96 (0.0059%) if either hand may sit in either seat. ## A worked example To see what the equity is worth, imagine $100 each in a $200 pot. KJo is worth $120.48 on average (+$20.48); 98s is worth $79.52 (-$20.48). Over a long run, 1,000 deals split into about 599 for KJo, 394 for 98s and 7 tied. ## The same matchup from the other side The mirror image, 98s against KJo, is 39.76% to 60.24%, and its address redirects to this page. ## Keep exploring KsJh against 9d8d 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 KsJh against 9d8d in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=KsJh&p2=9d8d) - [KJo combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/kjo.md) - [98s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/98s.md) - [KJo vs 22](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kjo-vs-22.md) - [KJo vs 97s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kjo-vs-97s.md) - [55 vs 98s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/55-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 48 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 - [KJo vs 22: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kjo-vs-22.md) - [KJo vs 97s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kjo-vs-97s.md) - [55 vs 98s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/55-vs-98s.md)