--- title: "QQ vs 98s: preflop equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qq-vs-98s.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qq-vs-98s" last_updated: "2026-10-23" type: "reference" summary: "QQ is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 79.00% to 21.01% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qq-vs-22.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qq-vs-97s.md", "https://georgelipoker.com/equity/jj-vs-98s.md"] --- # QQ vs 98s: preflop equity QQ is a big favorite over 98s before the flop: 79.00% to 21.01% equity, counted exactly over every board, with the split by flop type and suit. Averaged over every possible board, QQ is ahead of 98s by 58.00 points of equity, 79.00% to 21.00%. ## QQ against 98s: the numbers **Exact preflop results for QQ against 98s, in percent** | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | QQ | 78.807 | 0.376 | 20.817 | 78.995 | | 98s | 20.817 | 0.376 | 78.807 | 21.005 | We compare a pocket pair with a suited hand. Here a pair faces two cards that are both smaller, so the other hand needs to pair up and still be behind. QQ is the clear favorite, though 98s gets there on roughly one board in 5. About 0.38% of boards chop the pot, which is why equity sits slightly above the win figure for both hands. Among the 169 starting hands, QQ is number 3 and 98s is number 83 by strength against a random hand. **Boards behind the percentages: 41,095,296 counted in all** | Hand | Boards won, about | Boards tied, about | Boards lost, about | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | QQ | 32,386,000 | 155,000 | 8,555,000 | | 98s | 8,555,000 | 155,000 | 32,386,000 | The total is exact: 24 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. **QQ 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) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | QQ | 3.761 | 1.269 | 4.804 | 0.266 | | 98s | 0.266 | 4.804 | 1.269 | 3.761 | The last column is the smallest pot odds, written as a pot-to-call ratio, at which a call breaks even with this equity. ## Who is ahead on which flops By flop texture, QQ's equity runs from 72.82% on low rainbow flops (nine high or lower) up to 83.17% on paired flops. QQ stays ahead on all five textures. **QQ against 98s by flop texture, in percent** | Flop | Share of flops | QQ wins | Ties | 98s wins | QQ equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rainbow, ten or higher | 24.595 | 82.373 | 0.184 | 17.443 | 82.465 | | Rainbow, nine or lower | 6.314 | 72.448 | 0.740 | 26.812 | 72.818 | | Two-tone | 46.545 | 76.910 | 0.277 | 22.813 | 77.048 | | Monotone | 5.212 | 72.430 | 2.383 | 25.187 | 73.622 | | Paired | 17.334 | 83.076 | 0.177 | 16.747 | 83.165 | 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 A random hand would give QQ 79.93% and 98s 50.80%. Against each other the change is -0.93 points for QQ and -29.80 for 98s. **QQ 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | QQ, all flops | 78.995 | 79.925 | -0.930 | 0.98836 | | QQ, rainbow, ten or higher | 82.465 | 79.925 | +2.540 | 1.03178 | | QQ, rainbow, nine or lower | 72.818 | 79.925 | -7.107 | 0.91108 | | QQ, two-tone | 77.048 | 79.925 | -2.877 | 0.96400 | | QQ, monotone | 73.622 | 79.925 | -6.303 | 0.92114 | | QQ, paired | 83.165 | 79.925 | +3.240 | 1.04054 | | 98s, all flops | 21.005 | 50.801 | -29.796 | 0.41348 | | 98s, rainbow, ten or higher | 17.535 | 50.801 | -33.266 | 0.34517 | | 98s, rainbow, nine or lower | 27.182 | 50.801 | -23.619 | 0.53507 | | 98s, two-tone | 22.952 | 50.801 | -27.849 | 0.45180 | | 98s, monotone | 26.378 | 50.801 | -24.423 | 0.51924 | | 98s, paired | 16.835 | 50.801 | -33.966 | 0.33139 | ## Does a shared suit matter? Suit overlap shows up in the numbers. With a suit in common QQ has 79.55% equity, and with none in common it has 78.44%. QQ does better with a shared suit, by 1.11 points. **QQ against 98s by suit overlap, in percent** | Deals | Specific deals | Share of deals | QQ wins | Ties | 98s wins | QQ equity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Share a suit | 12 | 50.00 | 79.346 | 0.417 | 20.237 | 79.554 | | No shared suit | 12 | 50.00 | 78.269 | 0.334 | 21.397 | 78.436 | ## How often this matchup comes up How often does it happen? 24 of the 1,624,350 ordered deals (0.0015%) are QQ against 98s, and 48 (0.0030%) if either hand may sit in either seat. ## A worked example Take a $200 pot built from $100 each. QQ's equity of 79.00% is worth $158.00, a $58.00 edge, and 98s' 21.00% is worth $42.00, which is $58.00 under its stake. Out of 1,000 deals you should see around 788 outright wins for QQ, 208 for 98s, and 4 split pots. ## The same matchup from the other side Read it from the other side: 98s against QQ is the same matchup with the numbers swapped, so 98s holds 21.00% and QQ holds 79.00%. That address sends you back to this page. ## Keep exploring Try QsQh against 9d8d 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 QsQh against 9d8d in the equity calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/equity-calculator.md#p1=QsQh&p2=9d8d) - [QQ combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/qq.md) - [98s combos](https://georgelipoker.com/combos/98s.md) - [QQ vs 22](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qq-vs-22.md) - [QQ vs 97s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qq-vs-97s.md) - [JJ vs 98s](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/jj-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 24 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 - [QQ vs 22: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qq-vs-22.md) - [QQ vs 97s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/qq-vs-97s.md) - [JJ vs 98s: preflop equity](https://georgelipoker.com/equity/jj-vs-98s.md)