TT vs AK: what are the odds?

Pocket tens beat ace-king about 56% of the time all-in preflop, the best edge any pair gets in this race.

56.2%

TT

vs

43.8%

AK

Favorite

TT · 56.2%

Underdog

AK · 43.8%

Odds

~1.3-to-1

Matchup type

Pair against big cards

By suits

TT vs AKs: 54.1%TT vs AKo: 56.9%

Tens quietly edge out queens and jacks in the same spot. All three pairs hold two of the cards ace-king needs for Broadway, but tens make straights of their own more often than the bigger pairs do. The gap over queens is only about a tenth of a point, an edge that is there on every shove but far too small to show up in your results. Everything else about the race is standard: six overcard outs twice for the ace-king, the pair ahead on every blank runout, and a result that feels random while favoring the tens every single time.

Quick tip: Middle pairs race better than they feel. The hands to fear preflop are bigger pairs, not big cards.

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.