What Is Equity in Poker? Hand vs Hand and Hand vs Range

Equity is the bridge between the cards and the money. Every decision about calling, folding or going all in comes down to how often you win compared to what it costs to keep playing.

What equity means

If the pot is 100 and you would win 40% of the time when all the cards are dealt, your equity is 40%, and your share of the pot is worth 40. Equity is a snapshot: it changes with every card, and it ignores any betting still to come.

Common preflop matchups

A few patterns are worth remembering: a bigger pair is a big favorite over a smaller one, a pair against two overcards is close to a coin flip, and a hand that shares a card with a better kicker is crushed. That last one is domination, and it is why weak offsuit aces are dangerous hands to call raises with.

Hand vs range equity

Your opponent never shows you their hand before you decide, so hand vs hand equity is only a learning tool. What matters is your equity against their whole range.

If the price of calling requires less than 40%, the call makes money, even though QQ is a big underdog to two of the four hands in that range. Equity calculators do this math for you, but the idea of weighting by combos is what lets you estimate it at the table.

Equity realization

Raw equity assumes you always see every card. In real hands, betting gets in the way: you fold before showdown, or get value from worse hands. Equity realization measures how much of your equity you actually turn into winnings.

• Position helps. In position you see more free cards and control the pot, so you realize more. See why position matters.
• Playability helps. Suited and connected hands make strong draws and strong hands, so they realize more than offsuit hands with the same raw equity.
• Being out of position hurts. Weak hands out of position often fold to a bet before they ever get to use their equity.

Using equity to make decisions

1. Estimate your opponent’s range from position and their actions.
2. Estimate your equity against that range.
3. Compare it with your pot odds. Facing a half-pot bet you need 25%; facing a pot-sized bet, 33%. Our pot odds calculator does this in one step.
4. Adjust for realization. In position with a playable hand, you can call a little lighter. Out of position with a weak hand, you need more.

Solvers combine all of this, equity, realization and future betting, into the expected value of each action. That is what GTO strategies are built from.

Frequently asked questions