AA vs 72o: the best hand against the worst

The most extreme matchup poker can build, and the underdog still wins 12% of the time. Seven-deuce gets there with two pair, trips, and the occasional straight the aces cannot see coming, because the aces play only their one pair on most boards. That 12% is the whole personality of no-limit poker in one number. No hand is dead preflop, which is why bad calls get rewarded just often enough to keep bad callers calling. If the game let favorites win every time, nobody would pay off the aces at all.

Quick tip: When a terrible hand cracks your aces, remember the 12% was always part of the deal. The aces are printing money on the other 88.

All numbers are all-in preflop equity vs one opponent, computed by the Poker Shark equity engine from the full 169 by 169 hand matrix, weighted across suited and offsuit combos.