Poker Equity Chart: Preflop Hand Matchups

Hand equity is your percentage chance to win a pot if all the remaining cards were dealt out. Preflop, most all-in confrontations fall into a handful of matchup types — pair vs pair, pair vs overcards, dominated aces, and races — and their equities barely change from hand to hand. Memorize this chart and you’ll know your odds the instant chips go in.

The master equity chart

All figures are all-in preflop, hold’em, heads-up, rounded. Suits assumed offsuit unless noted; a suited hand gains roughly 2–4 points.

Matchup	Type	Equity
AA vs KK	Pair over pair	82% / 18%
AA vs AKs	Pair vs dominated + suited	88% / 12%
KK vs AKo	Pair vs overcard	70% / 30%
QQ vs AKo	Pair vs two overcards (race)	57% / 43%
88 vs A7o	Pair vs one over, one under	71% / 29%
TT vs 65s	Pair vs two undercards	79% / 21%
AKo vs AQo	Dominated ace	73% / 25%
AKo vs KQo	Dominated king	74% / 24%
AKo vs QJs	Two over vs two under	58% / 42%
AKs vs 22	Two overs vs small pair	50% / 50%
A5s vs KQo	Live vs live	61% / 39%

Ties account for the missing fraction of a percent in the pair-over-pair rows.

Pair vs pair: the ~80/20 rule

A higher pocket pair over a lower one is about a 4.5-to-1 favorite — AA beats KK 82% of the time. The underdog’s only realistic path is flopping a set, which happens about 11.8% of the time; the rest of its equity is running cards and backdoor flushes. The gap holds whether it’s AA vs KK or 77 vs 44: the bigger pair is roughly 80–82% every time.

Pair vs two overcards: the race

QQ vs AKo is the coin-flip everyone knows, but it isn’t quite 50/50 — the pair is a favorite at about 57% because it’s already a made hand. Note the suit effect: AKs against a pair narrows the gap to nearly dead even (AKs vs 22 is about 50/50) because the flush adds live equity. The takeaway: when your pair races two overcards, you’re the favorite, but only barely.

Dominated hands: the 73/25 trap

Domination is the most expensive preflop mistake. AQ against AK isn’t a race — it’s a rout at roughly 73/25, because the AQ must pair its queen (and dodge an ace pairing the opponent) to win. The shared ace is nearly dead. This is why calling an aggressive raiser with a dominated ace or king is so costly: you’re not flipping, you’re drawing thin. The kings vs ace-king matchup shows the flip side, where a pair dominates the two-card hand.

Live vs live: two overcards vs two undercards

When no cards are shared, both hands are “live.” AK vs QJ is about 60/40 for the bigger cards — better than a coinflip but far from domination, because the smaller hand can pair either of its two clean cards or make its own straight or flush. Suited connectors like QJs claw back a few points, landing closer to 58/42. These spots are why calling raises with suited connectors is defensible: you’re rarely dominated and often only a modest underdog.

Equity shrinks in multiway pots

Every matchup above is heads-up. Add a third all-in hand and each player’s equity drops sharply, because the pot is now split three ways in expectation. AA that’s 82% heads-up against one hand falls to roughly 65–68% against two random hands, and to around 56% against three. Your absolute favorite status survives, but the cushion shrinks fast.

The practical lesson: a hand that’s a comfortable call against one all-in can become a marginal one against two, because the field’s combined equity climbs. Small pairs and suited connectors actually gain relative value multiway — they don’t need to be favorites, only to hit big and get paid by several stacks. Sort out those multiway dynamics in the preflop all-in odds guide.

Reading the chart at the table

You won’t compute equity live, so pattern-match instead:

1. Same rank in both hands? It’s domination — expect ~73/25.
2. One pair, two overcards? It’s a race — the pair is ~55%.
3. Pair over pair? ~80/20 for the bigger pair.
4. No shared cards, no pair? ~60/40 for the higher hand.

Those four buckets cover the vast majority of preflop all-ins. Drill them until you recognize the equity before the chips settle, then extend into multiway spots and specific hands with the preflop all-in odds breakdown and the full poker odds & math hub.