--- title: "KQs vs 97s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kqs-vs-97s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kqs-vs-97s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "KQs is a big favorite over 97s before the flop: 63.42% to 36.58% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kqs-vs-87s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kqs-vs-86s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/66-vs-97s.md"] --- # KQs vs 97s: preflop equity KQs is a big favorite over 97s before the flop: 63.42% to 36.58% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Counting every board, the equity split is 63.42% for KQs and 36.58% for 97s, so KQs leads by 26.84 points. ## KQs against 97s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for KQs against 97s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | KQs | 63.080 | 0.681 | 36.239 | 63.420 | | 97s | 36.239 | 0.681 | 63.080 | 36.580 | KQs and 97s are both suited hands. Neither hand shares a rank with the other, so this is a contest of high cards, connection and suits. That is a modest edge, the kind that shows up over many hands and is easy to miss in one. Of every 100 boards, about 0.68 are split pots, and the equity figures already include them. KQs ranks number 16 of 169 starting hands, and 97s ranks number 94, 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | KQs | 17,282,000 | 187,000 | 9,928,000 | | 97s | 9,928,000 | 187,000 | 17,282,000 | The board total is exact, 16 deals at 1,712,304 boards each. Won, tied and lost counts are rounded to the nearest thousand from the five-decimal percentages. **KQs 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) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | KQs | 1.734 | 1.585 | 2.759 | 0.577 | | 97s | 0.577 | 2.759 | 1.585 | 1.734 | The final column gives the least the pot must offer for each unit called for a call to break even at this equity. ## Who is ahead on which flops The flop changes the picture. KQs does best on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better, at 70.10%, and worst on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower), at 39.44%. On low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) the numbers flip and 97s is the one ahead. **KQs against 97s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | KQs wins | Ties | 97s wins | KQs equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.595 | 69.955 | 0.293 | 29.752 | 70.102 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.314 | 39.128 | 0.633 | 60.239 | 39.444 | | Two-tone | 46.727 | 62.680 | 0.331 | 36.989 | 62.846 | | Monotone | 5.273 | 58.850 | 3.461 | 37.689 | 60.580 | | Paired | 17.091 | 64.429 | 1.358 | 34.213 | 65.108 | 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 Against one random hand instead, KQs holds 63.40% and 97s holds 49.12%. Facing each other changes that by +0.02 points for KQs and -12.54 points for 97s. **KQs 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | KQs, all flops | 63.420 | 63.400 | +0.020 | 1.00032 | | KQs, rainbow, ten or higher | 70.102 | 63.400 | +6.702 | 1.10571 | | KQs, rainbow, nine or lower | 39.444 | 63.400 | -23.956 | 0.62215 | | KQs, two-tone | 62.846 | 63.400 | -0.554 | 0.99126 | | KQs, monotone | 60.580 | 63.400 | -2.820 | 0.95552 | | KQs, paired | 65.108 | 63.400 | +1.708 | 1.02694 | | 97s, all flops | 36.580 | 49.118 | -12.538 | 0.74474 | | 97s, rainbow, ten or higher | 29.898 | 49.118 | -19.220 | 0.60870 | | 97s, rainbow, nine or lower | 60.556 | 49.118 | +11.438 | 1.23287 | | 97s, two-tone | 37.154 | 49.118 | -11.964 | 0.75642 | | 97s, monotone | 39.420 | 49.118 | -9.698 | 0.80256 | | 97s, paired | 34.892 | 49.118 | -14.226 | 0.71037 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Looking only at deals where the hands share a suit, KQs has 65.77%; looking only at deals where they do not, 62.64%. KQs does better with a shared suit, by 3.13 points. **KQs against 97s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | KQs wins | Ties | 97s wins | KQs equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 4 | 25.00 | 65.389 | 0.769 | 33.842 | 65.774 | | No shared suit | 12 | 75.00 | 62.310 | 0.652 | 37.038 | 62.636 | ## How often this matchup comes up Exactly 16 specific deals fit this matchup in one seat order, which is 0.0010% of 1,624,350; both orders together give 32, or 0.0020%. ## A worked example Worked example: both players commit $100, so $200 sits in the middle. Over every board, KQs' average share is $126.84 (a gain of $26.84) and 97s' is $73.16 (a loss of $26.84). In 1,000 deals of exactly this matchup, expect about 631 won outright by KQs, about 362 won outright by 97s and about 7 split. ## The same matchup from the other side One page covers both views. From 97s' side the equity is 36.58%, and from KQs' side it is 63.42%. ## Keep exploring Try KsQs against 9h7h in the calculator: the hands share no suit, and every card can be changed. The links after it are the closest matchups in the ranking. - [Open KsQs against 9h7h in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=KsQs&p2=9h7h) - [KQs combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/kqs.md) - [97s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/97s.md) - [KQs vs 87s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kqs-vs-87s.md) - [KQs vs 86s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kqs-vs-86s.md) - [66 vs 97s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/66-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 - [KQs vs 87s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kqs-vs-87s.md) - [KQs vs 86s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kqs-vs-86s.md) - [66 vs 97s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/66-vs-97s.md)