Offsuit Broadway Hands: KQo, QJo and a Heads-Up Spot
Offsuit broadway hands like K♣Q♦ or Q♣J♦ win mostly with their high cards. Before the flop, K♣Q♦ has 58.5% against 7♠6♠ but 25.8% against A♠K♥, which dominates it; Q♣J♦, with no king, keeps 35.7% against A♠K♥. Without the suit, every row loses a little: K♥Q♥ has 28.6% against A♠K♠, K♣Q♦ only 24.3%.
K♣Q♦ on the button facing a heads-up 3‑bet
Heads-up, you open to 2bb on the button with K♣Q♦ and the big blind 3‑bets to 9bb. Fold, call or 4‑bet to 21bb?
See the answer
K♣Q♦ takes strong hands away from the big blind: it has 3 combinations of KK and 3 of QQ left instead of 6, and 12 of AK and 12 of AQ instead of 16. Against hands that 3‑bet heads-up, before the flop:
| Big blind's hand | K♣Q♦'s equity |
|---|---|
| K♠J♠ | 69.4% |
| Q♥J♥ | 69.4% |
| J♠T♠ | 60.3% |
| 7♠6♠ | 58.5% |
| 5♥5♠ | 46.5% |
| 9♥9♠ | 44.3% |
| A♠5♠ | 39.4% |
| Q♠Q♥ | 31.3% |
| A♠K♥ | 25.8% |
| A♥Q♠ | 25.8% |
| A♠A♥ | 13.7% |
| K♠K♥ | 9.3% |
A 4‑bet folds out the first four hands in the table, which K♣Q♦ dominates or is ahead of, and the hands that continue are mostly the ones at the bottom. A call keeps those four hands in and plays the pot in position.
Offsuit or suited: what the suit costs
| Opponent's hand | K♥Q♥ (suited) | K♣Q♦ (offsuit) |
|---|---|---|
| Q♠J♠ | 70.8% | 69.4% |
| J♠T♠ | 62.5% | 60.3% |
| 7♠6♠ | 61.1% | 58.5% |
| 9♠9♣ | 47.6% | 44.8% |
| A♠5♠ | 43.2% | 39.4% |
| A♠J♠ | 41.7% | 37.9% |
| A♠K♠ | 28.6% | 24.3% |
On every row the offsuit version has less equity. The gap is largest against A♠K♠, which dominates it.
Offsuit broadways against AK, 99, A5 and 76
| Hand | Against A♠K♥ | Against 9♠9♥ | Against A♠5♥ | Against 7♠6♠ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K♣Q♦ | 25.8% | 44.3% | 42% | 58.5% |
| K♣J♦ | 26.2% | 44.3% | 42.3% | 58.8% |
| K♣T♦ | 26.5% | 44.2% | 42.8% | 58.7% |
| Q♣J♦ | 35.7% | 45% | 43.6% | 60.5% |
| Q♣T♦ | 36% | 44.9% | 44% | 59.5% |
| J♣T♦ | 37.4% | 45.7% | 45.3% | 60.6% |
Against A♠K♥, the three king hands share its king with a smaller kicker and stay below Q♣J♦, Q♣T♦ and J♣T♦. Against 9♠9♥ and A♠5♥, all six are behind; against 7♠6♠, all six are ahead.
Keep going
- The same family with the suit: suited broadway hands.
- The strongest of them: how to play king-queen.
- Why A♠K♥ dominates K♣Q♦: dominated hands.
- Preflop with two players: heads-up preflop.
- The button against the big blind: button vs big blind.
- One spot every day: the daily poker puzzle.
- How much being suited really adds: suited vs offsuit.
Sources
- Every equity is computed by exact enumeration with the app's equity module, checked on October 11, 2026.
- The answer to the spot follows rules written by the app's author; it does not come from a solver.