--- title: "Q9s vs 33: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/q9s-vs-33.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/q9s-vs-33" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "Q9s vs 33 is close to a coin flip before the flop: 51.08% to 48.92% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/q9s-vs-t8s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/q9s-vs-t9o.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/jts-vs-33.md"] --- # Q9s vs 33: preflop equity Q9s vs 33 is close to a coin flip before the flop: 51.08% to 48.92% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Over all 1,712,304 boards that can follow this deal, Q9s finishes with 51.08% of the pot and 33 with 48.92%. ## Q9s against 33: the numbers **Exact preflop results for Q9s against 33, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Q9s | 50.592 | 0.983 | 48.425 | 51.083 | | 33 | 48.425 | 0.983 | 50.592 | 48.917 | The first hand is a suited hand; the second is a pocket pair. One hand holds a pair and the other holds two cards that both outrank it, which keeps the equity closer than most people expect. This is close to even money, with Q9s a little ahead. Ties are 0.98% of the outcomes here; each tied board gives both hands half the pot. In the ranking of all 169 starting hands, Q9s is number 43 and 33 is number 66. **Boards behind the percentages: 41,095,296 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Q9s | 20,791,000 | 404,000 | 19,900,000 | | 33 | 19,900,000 | 404,000 | 20,791,000 | 24 specific deals times 1,712,304 boards gives the exact total. The won, tied and lost counts are approximations from the five-decimal percentages, rounded to the nearest thousand. **Q9s against 33 read as odds** | Hand | Equity as odds (to 1) | Wins one deal in | Loses one deal in | Pot odds needed to call (to 1) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Q9s | 1.044 | 1.977 | 2.065 | 0.958 | | 33 | 0.958 | 2.065 | 1.977 | 1.044 | 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 The flop changes the picture. Q9s does best on two-tone flops, at 52.26%, and worst on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower), at 41.77%. 33 is ahead on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) and paired flops, even though it trails Q9s when every flop is counted. **Q9s against 33 by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | Q9s wins | Ties | 33 wins | Q9s equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 25.220 | 51.900 | 0.497 | 47.603 | 52.148 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 5.689 | 41.339 | 0.854 | 57.807 | 41.766 | | Two-tone | 46.545 | 51.992 | 0.532 | 47.476 | 52.258 | | Monotone | 5.212 | 49.145 | 3.342 | 47.513 | 50.816 | | Paired | 17.334 | 48.398 | 2.236 | 49.366 | 49.516 | 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 Each hand has a baseline against a random hand: 57.66% for Q9s, 53.69% for 33. Here the change is -6.58 and -4.77 points. **Q9s and 33 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Q9s, all flops | 51.083 | 57.664 | -6.581 | 0.88587 | | Q9s, rainbow, ten or higher | 52.148 | 57.664 | -5.516 | 0.90434 | | Q9s, rainbow, nine or lower | 41.766 | 57.664 | -15.898 | 0.72430 | | Q9s, two-tone | 52.258 | 57.664 | -5.406 | 0.90625 | | Q9s, monotone | 50.816 | 57.664 | -6.848 | 0.88124 | | Q9s, paired | 49.516 | 57.664 | -8.148 | 0.85870 | | 33, all flops | 48.917 | 53.693 | -4.776 | 0.91105 | | 33, rainbow, ten or higher | 47.852 | 53.693 | -5.841 | 0.89121 | | 33, rainbow, nine or lower | 58.234 | 53.693 | +4.541 | 1.08457 | | 33, two-tone | 47.742 | 53.693 | -5.951 | 0.88917 | | 33, monotone | 49.184 | 53.693 | -4.509 | 0.91602 | | 33, paired | 50.484 | 53.693 | -3.209 | 0.94023 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Two kinds of deal exist here. In 12 of them the hands share a suit and Q9s holds 50.91%. In 12 they do not, and it holds 51.25%. Q9s does better with no shared suit, by 0.34 points. **Q9s against 33 by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | Q9s wins | Ties | 33 wins | Q9s equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 12 | 50.00 | 50.406 | 1.014 | 48.580 | 50.913 | | No shared suit | 12 | 50.00 | 50.777 | 0.952 | 48.271 | 51.253 | ## How often this matchup comes up You will meet this exact matchup 0.0030% of the time in a random heads-up deal: 48 of 1,624,350, counting either seat order. ## A worked example Put $100 each into a $200 pot and deal every board once: Q9s averages $102.16 back, ahead of its $100 by $2.16, while 33 averages $97.84, short of its $100 by $2.16. In 1,000 deals of exactly this matchup, expect about 506 won outright by Q9s, about 484 won outright by 33 and about 10 split. ## The same matchup from the other side The reversed view, 33 against Q9s, shows 48.92% for 33 and 51.08% for Q9s. It is the same count, so it redirects here. ## Keep exploring Open the calculator with Qs9s against 3h3d 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 Qs9s against 3h3d in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=Qs9s&p2=3h3d) - [Q9s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/q9s.md) - [33 combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/33.md) - [Q9s vs T8s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/q9s-vs-t8s.md) - [Q9s vs T9o](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/q9s-vs-t9o.md) - [JTs vs 33](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/jts-vs-33.md) - [All hand matchups](https://georgelipoker.com/equity.md) ## How this was computed Nothing here is simulated. The 24 deals of Q9s against 33 fall into a few suit patterns, each dealt against all 1,712,304 boards, with both best five-card hands compared on every board. Ties give each hand half a win, and the flop rows count a board under each of its ten flops. Source: our own exact count from the GeorgeLiPoker poker math library. No outside data is used. ## Related - [Q9s vs T8s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/q9s-vs-t8s.md) - [Q9s vs T9o: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/q9s-vs-t9o.md) - [JTs vs 33: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/jts-vs-33.md)