The matchup
Pocket kings are favorites against ace-king in a preflop all-in. The figures below apply to the exact hole cards shown in this comparison.
The setup: one player holds Ks Kd (pocket kings), the other holds Ah Kc (ace-king offsuit). No other players are in the hand, and both hands go all-in before the flop.
The result
The numbers below come from an exhaustive enumeration, not a simulation. With the four known hole cards removed from a standard 52-card deck, all C(48,5) = 1,712,304 possible five-card boards were dealt out and each one was evaluated with a standard best-five-card evaluator. Verified on 2026-11-01.
| Matchup | Pocket kings win | Ace-king wins | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ks Kd vs Ah Kc | 1,191,993 (69.613%) | 506,801 (29.598%) | 13,510 (0.789%) |
Equity includes tied pots: the ace-king’s equity is (506,801 + 13,510/2) / 1,712,304, which is about 30.0%. Pocket kings hold the remaining 70.0%.
So pocket kings win a bit more than two times out of three. That gap comes from the structure of the matchup.
Why the kings are favorites
With three kings already accounted for (Ks and Kd in the kings’ hand, Kc in the ace-king’s hand), only the Kh can still appear. On a board like Kh 7s 4d 9c 2h, pocket kings make three kings while the ace-king makes one pair of kings.
- The ace-king must catch an ace to make the better pair. After the Ah in its own hand, only three aces remain unseen.
- The ace-king can never make three kings in this matchup. Even if the Kh lands on the board, it only pairs with the Kc in the ace-king’s hand, giving one pair of kings.
In plain terms: the ace-king has one main road to victory (pairing the ace), while the kings improve on every king that lands and stay ahead whenever nothing improves.
Where the ace-king’s wins come from
The 29.6% is not one lucky route. The ace-king wins through several paths:
- Pairing an ace, making aces beat kings when neither hand improves further.
- Making a straight, most often when the board connects with A and K together.
- Rare boards where the ace or king completes a better five-card hand than anything the kings can build.
When the pot is split
Ties occur whenever both players have equal-ranked best five-card hands; they do not have to play the board. On As Qd Jh Th 5c, both players hold an ace-high straight: the kings use the Ks from the hole, while the ace-king uses both of its cards. Ties of this kind, where a hole card takes part in the best five, account for a large share of all tied boards.
In this specific matchup a five-card flush on the board can never split the pot, because the four hole cards cover all four suits: whoever holds the ace or king of that flush suit improves past the board and wins. Suits never break a tie.
How to use this number
Equity only becomes useful when you compare it with a price. Under a heads-up all-in model with no rake or further betting, compare the call price with AK’s equity of about 30.0%, including half of tied pots.
Two cautions apply. First, this is a preflop all-in number: if more betting is possible on later streets, the comparison must be redone with the new price, because calling one street is not the same decision as committing all chips. Second, the enumeration assumes exactly these two hands; against a range that contains other pairs, the ace-king’s overall equity is different, because it beats some of them and loses to others.
FAQ
Is ace-king a bad hand against pocket kings?
No. Losing roughly 70% to 30% still makes it a strong hand in general; it is simply an underdog in this specific matchup. Against most other starting hands, ace-king performs far better.
Does it matter if the ace-king is suited?
It helps a little. A suited ace-king holds an extra flush path of its own (two suited hole cards needing three matching board cards), while the offsuit version needs four cards of one suit to appear on the board. The overall gap narrows, but the kings remain clear favorites.
Can the ace-king make three kings here?
No. Three kings are already visible (Ks Kd in the kings’ hand and Kc in the ace-king’s hand), so only the Kh remains in the deck. Even if the Kh lands on the board, the ace-king has one pair of kings, not three of a kind.
When is the pot split?
When both hands end with equal-ranked best five-card hands, which does not require playing the board: on As Qd Jh Th 5c, both players hold an ace-high straight. A five-card flush on the board never splits here, because the four hole cards cover all four suits. The split is even, and suits never decide who wins.
Sources
- Known cards: Ks Kd (pocket kings) and Ah Kc (ace-king offsuit); four distinct cards, none repeated.
- Method: exact enumeration of all C(48,5) = 1,712,304 five-card boards from the 48 unseen cards of a standard 52-card deck, evaluated with a standard best-five-card hand evaluator; verified 2026-11-01.
- Results: pocket kings win 1,191,993 boards (69.613%); ace-king wins 506,801 (29.598%); ties 13,510 (0.789%).
- Equity definition: expected share of the pot at showdown, including half of tied pots; AK equity = (506,801 + 13,510/2) / 1,712,304 ≈ 30.0%.
This comparison is one of many in our vs series; each page states its model and premises. For a quick check of any other matchup, open the poker odds calculator or the hand rankings chart.