98s
9-8 suited
- Rank
- 83of 169
- Equity vs random
- 50.5%
- Combinations
- 4
- Better than
- 53.9%
98s ranks 83 out of the 169 starting hands in Hold'em. Against a random hand it wins 50.5% of the time, which puts it ahead of 53.9% of all possible deals once the deck is sorted by that equity. It comes with 4 of the 1,326 possible combinations — 0.3% of the hands you will be dealt.
How to play it before the flop
The fundamentals charts open it from the cutoff for 2.5bb, and from the button as well. If the button opens and you are in the big blind, the chart says call.
Suited connectors almost never win with their high card; they win with the straights and flushes they make now and then. Their 40.8% against the button range understates them, because a hand like this collects its equity in a few very large pots. They need position and deep stacks: without implied odds they are worth less than they look.
What this hand makes
You pair one of your two cards on 32.4% of flops. You flop a flush draw 10.9% of the time and a made flush 0.84%; seeing all five cards, you end up with a flush 6.4% of the time. An open-ended straight draw shows up on 9.7% of flops. Going to the river every time, the hand ends up as pair 40.6% of the time and stays high card 15.9%.
Where it ends up if you see all five cards
Exact enumeration, no sampling: the flop events run through all 19,600 possible flops and the final distribution through all 2,118,760 five-card boards. The distribution assumes you always reach the river, so it describes the hand’s potential rather than a real session, where most hands are folded earlier. Open-ended includes double gutshots (two distinct ranks complete it).
Against the reference ranges
| Range | Notation | Your equity |
|---|---|---|
| UTG opening range | 77+, ATs+, KQs, AJo+, KQo | 34.6% |
| MP opening range | 66+, A9s+, KTs+, QJs, ATo+, KQo | 35.8% |
| Cutoff opening range | 22+, A4s+, K9s+, Q9s+, J9s+, T9s, 98s, A9o+, KTo+, QTo+, JTo | 38.2% |
| Button opening range | 22+, A2s+, K5s+, Q7s+, J8s+, T8s+, 97s+, 86s+, 75s+, 65s, 54s, A2o+, K9o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T9o | 40.8% |
| Big blind 3-bet range | TT+, AQs+, A5s-A4s, AKo | 30.4% |
| Big blind calling range | 22-99, A2s-AJs, KTs+, QTs+, J9s+, T8s+, 97s+, 86s+, 76s, 65s, ATo+, KJo+, QJo | 43.4% |
Equity if the hand goes to the river against an opponent holding exactly that range. 120,000-hand Monte Carlo with a fixed seed, computed by our engine.
Hand versus hand
These are not estimates: they are the exact enumeration of all 1,712,304 possible boards for each matchup. Suited hands are matched up in different suits.