Suited vs Offsuit: How Much Being Suited Is Really Worth
Being suited adds about 3 to 4 points of equity heads-up before the flop: A♠K♠ has 46.2% against Q♥Q♣, A♠K♦ has 42.8%. A suited hand makes a flush only 6.4% of the time by the river, but those flushes win pots the offsuit hand would lose; in real play, the flush draws along the way also give it more ways to continue. That is enough to make suited hands playable in more spots, not to make weak hands good.
Compute a matchup
The same hand, suited or not
Equity before the flop, against the same opponent:
| Hand | Suited | Offsuit | Gain | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A‑K | 46.2% | 42.8% | 3.4 | Q♥Q♣ |
| A‑K | 50.1% | 47% | 3.1 | 2♥2♣ |
| K‑Q | 44.2% | 40.3% | 3.9 | A♥J♣ |
| J‑T | 41.2% | 37.4% | 3.8 | A♥K♣ |
| 8‑7 | 41.9% | 38.1% | 3.8 | A♥K♣ |
Each comparison uses the same ranks with the suited hand in spades (A♠K♠) and the offsuit one with a diamond (A♠K♦). In these five matchups the gain stays between 3.1 and 3.9 points. The opponents hold only hearts and clubs, so no suit is shared with either version of the hand.
How often a suited hand makes a flush
| On the board | Probability |
|---|---|
| a flush on the flop | 0.84% |
| a flush draw on the flop | 10.9% |
| a flush by the river | 6.4% |
| a flush that needs both hole cards | 5.8% |
The 6.4% includes boards with four or five cards of the suit, where the offsuit hand often has a flush too; the flushes only the suited hand makes come 5.8% of the time. The flush comes rarely, which is why suitedness is a bonus and not a reason to play a hand on its own. Its value is that the flush often wins when it comes, and that the flush draws give the hand ways to continue: see flush draw vs top pair.
Where suitedness matters most
- Hands that win by drawing. Connectors and small aces win mostly when they make a strong hand; a flush is one more way to do it: see suited connectors and suited aces.
- The highest flush. A suited ace makes the nut flush; a suited low card can make a flush that loses to a bigger one.
- Not a reason on its own. A weak offsuit hand made suited is still weak: the offsuit broadways and suited broadways pages show the line between them.
Keep going
- What equity means: poker equity.
- All the odds on one page: poker odds chart.
- Five cards of one suit, and which flush wins: the flush in poker.
Sources
- Equities enumerated exactly over every board; flush counts over the 2,118,760 possible boards for a suited hand.