--- title: "KTs vs 98s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-98s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-98s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "KTs is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 62.86% to 37.14% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-22.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-97s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kqo-vs-98s.md"] --- # KTs vs 98s: preflop equity KTs is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 62.86% to 37.14% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Averaged over every possible board, KTs is ahead of 98s by 25.72 points of equity, 62.86% to 37.14%. ## KTs against 98s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for KTs against 98s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | KTs | 62.518 | 0.680 | 36.802 | 62.858 | | 98s | 36.802 | 0.680 | 62.518 | 37.142 | Both hands are suited hands: KTs and 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 0.68% of the outcomes here; each tied board gives both hands half the pot. Among the 169 starting hands, KTs is number 22 and 98s is number 83 by strength against a random hand. **Boards behind the percentages: 27,396,864 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | KTs | 17,128,000 | 186,000 | 10,083,000 | | 98s | 10,083,000 | 186,000 | 17,128,000 | The total is exact: 16 specific deals times 1,712,304 boards. The three counts are approximate, worked out from the percentages to five decimals and rounded to the nearest thousand. **KTs 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) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | KTs | 1.692 | 1.600 | 2.717 | 0.591 | | 98s | 0.591 | 2.717 | 1.600 | 1.692 | 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 If you know the kind of flop that came, the numbers shift: KTs holds 68.81% on rainbow flops topped by a ten or better and 41.28% on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower). Low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) favor 98s, the hand that is behind overall. **KTs against 98s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | KTs wins | Ties | 98s wins | KTs equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.595 | 68.647 | 0.318 | 31.035 | 68.806 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.314 | 41.019 | 0.525 | 58.456 | 41.281 | | Two-tone | 46.727 | 62.018 | 0.328 | 37.654 | 62.182 | | Monotone | 5.273 | 58.164 | 3.457 | 38.379 | 59.892 | | Paired | 17.091 | 64.354 | 1.362 | 34.284 | 65.035 | 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 61.79%, KTs changes by +1.07 points, and 98s, from 50.80%, by -13.66. **KTs 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | KTs, all flops | 62.858 | 61.789 | +1.069 | 1.01730 | | KTs, rainbow, ten or higher | 68.806 | 61.789 | +7.017 | 1.11356 | | KTs, rainbow, nine or lower | 41.281 | 61.789 | -20.508 | 0.66810 | | KTs, two-tone | 62.182 | 61.789 | +0.393 | 1.00636 | | KTs, monotone | 59.892 | 61.789 | -1.897 | 0.96930 | | KTs, paired | 65.035 | 61.789 | +3.246 | 1.05253 | | 98s, all flops | 37.142 | 50.801 | -13.659 | 0.73113 | | 98s, rainbow, ten or higher | 31.194 | 50.801 | -19.607 | 0.61404 | | 98s, rainbow, nine or lower | 58.719 | 50.801 | +7.918 | 1.15586 | | 98s, two-tone | 37.818 | 50.801 | -12.983 | 0.74443 | | 98s, monotone | 40.108 | 50.801 | -10.693 | 0.78951 | | 98s, paired | 34.965 | 50.801 | -15.836 | 0.68827 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Split by suits, the deals give KTs 65.23% when the hands overlap in a suit and 62.07% when they do not. KTs does better with a shared suit, by 3.16 points. **KTs against 98s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | KTs wins | Ties | 98s wins | KTs equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 4 | 25.00 | 64.849 | 0.765 | 34.386 | 65.232 | | No shared suit | 12 | 75.00 | 61.741 | 0.652 | 37.607 | 62.067 | ## How often this matchup comes up The class pair covers 16 combinations of specific cards in a fixed seat order, 0.0010% of 1,624,350, and 32 (0.0020%) in either order. ## A worked example Worked example: both players commit $100, so $200 sits in the middle. Over every board, KTs' average share is $125.72 (a gain of $25.72) and 98s' is $74.28 (a loss of $25.72). Out of 1,000 deals you should see around 625 outright wins for KTs, 368 for 98s, and 7 split pots. ## The same matchup from the other side The mirror image, 98s against KTs, is 37.14% to 62.86%, and its address redirects to this page. ## Keep exploring Open the calculator with KsTs 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 KsTs against 9h8h in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=KsTs&p2=9h8h) - [KTs combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/kts.md) - [98s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/98s.md) - [KTs vs 22](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-22.md) - [KTs vs 97s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-97s.md) - [KQo vs 98s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kqo-vs-98s.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## How this was computed All 1,712,304 five-card boards are dealt for every suit pattern among the 16 specific deals of KTs against 98s, and both hands are scored on each. That is a full count, so the percentages are exact. Ties are half a win each, and each board appears once per flop it contains. Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used. ## Related - [KTs vs 22: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-22.md) - [KTs vs 97s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kts-vs-97s.md) - [KQo vs 98s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/kqo-vs-98s.md)