Dominated Hands: How Much Equity the Weaker Kicker Keeps
Dominated hands share a card with a stronger hand and lose the kicker battle: AQ against AK keeps only 26% of the equity before the flop. The kicker size barely changes it, and the worst moment comes when the shared card pairs: on an ace-high flop, AQ falls to 12.7%. A dominated hand mostly wins by pairing its other card.
A hand that dominates part of the 3‑bet range
On the button with A♣K♦ at 100 big blinds, you open to 2.5 and the big blind 3‑bets to 11. Fold, call, 4‑bet to 26 or jam?
See the answer
Who is dominated. The big blind's AQ and AJ keep about 26% against your AK: when they pay you off, they usually lose.
The decision. The expected answer is the 4‑bet: it isolates the hands you dominate and takes the pot from the 3‑bets that fold, while AK holds an ace that removes some of the big blind's strongest hands.
Dominated hands before the flop
| Weaker hand | Against | Equity of the weaker hand |
|---|---|---|
| A♥Q♦ | A♠K♣ | 26% |
| A♥J♦ | A♠K♣ | 26.3% |
| A♥5♦ | A♠K♣ | 27.8% |
| A♥5♥, suited | A♠K♣ | 31.9% |
| K♥Q♦ | A♠K♣ | 25.8% |
| A♥J♦ | A♠Q♣ | 26.5% |
| K♥J♦ | K♠Q♣ | 26.4% |
When the shared card pairs
| Weaker hand | Board | Equity of the weaker hand |
|---|---|---|
| A♥Q♦ vs A♠K♣ | flop A♦ 8♣ 4♠ | 12.7% |
| A♥Q♦ vs A♠K♣ | turn 2♥ | 6.8% |
| K♥Q♦ vs A♠K♣ | flop K♦ 8♣ 4♠ | 12.7% |
What the tables show
| Effect | Example | Equity |
|---|---|---|
| any dominated kicker sits near a quarter | AQ, AJ, A5 vs AK | 26% to 27.8% |
| a suited hand adds about four points | A5 offsuit vs suited | 27.8% → 31.9% |
| pairing the shared card halves it | AQ on an ace-high flop | 26% → 12.7% |
| one card left after that | AQ on the turn | 6.8% |
Check any matchup yourself, with or without a board:
Keep going
- Another classic matchup: pair vs overcards.
- Draws against a made hand: flush draw vs top pair.
- Why a weak kicker costs chips later: reverse implied odds.
- Preflop decisions to practice: the preflop quiz.
- One spot every day: the daily poker puzzle.
- Exact equities on an ace-high dry board: the ace-high dry flop.
- 3‑bets and 4‑bets one on one: heads-up preflop.
- The strongest starting hand, before and after the flop: how to play pocket aces.
- The strongest unpaired hand: how to play ace-king.
- The hand ace-king dominates: how to play ace-queen.
- An ace with a weaker kicker: how to play ace-jack.
- The broadway hand that hates aces: how to play king-queen.
- What the suit adds to an ace: suited aces.
- KJs against AK and AJ: suited broadway hands.
- KQo against AK and AQ: offsuit broadway hands.
- Small aces against AK: weak aces.
- A king with a small kicker against a better king: suited kings.
- Folding a favorite in a tournament: bubble strategy.
- The 3‑bets that AQ dominates: facing a 3‑bet out of position.
- Dominating hands that 4‑bet for value: the 4‑bet value range.
- K♣9♦ in the big blind against aces and kings: big blind defense vs button.
- A dominated ace facing an all‑in: calling all‑ins in tournaments.
- What equity is, with exact classic matchups: poker equity.
- A pocket pair against a bigger pair: pocket pair vs pocket pair.
- When two hands tie, and who gets the odd chip: split pot.
- The side card that breaks ties: the kicker in poker.
To go from one opposing hand to a whole range, see how to calculate equity vs range.
Sources
- Every equity is computed by exact enumeration of all remaining boards with the app's equity module, checked on October 10, 2026.
- The answer to the spot follows rules written by the app's author; it does not come from a solver.