How does 7-2 offsuit do against a real hand?

Against two higher cards, about a third: 7♣2♦ has 32.5% against K♥J♠. Against a pair, almost nothing: 12.4% against T♥T♠.

Is 3-2 better than 7-2?

Against the hands in our table, yes: 3♣2♦ can make a straight using both its cards and has 34.2% against K♥J♠, where 7♣2♦ has 32.5%. Against a random hand it is the other way round, because the 7 is a higher card than the 3.

What price does a big blind need to call?

Heads-up, facing an open to 2bb it needs 25% equity, to 2.5bb 30% and to 3bb 33.3%, because its big blind is already in the pot.

Worst Poker Hands: 7‑2, 3‑2 and the Price of a Call

By the Poker Puzzle Trainer team · Published October 21, 2026

The worst poker hands are the ones that fall short of the price of a call and play badly after the flop. Even 7♣2♦, often called the worst hand, has 32.5% against K♥J♠, but 12.4% against T♥T♠. Heads-up, facing an open to 2.5bb, the big blind pays 1.5bb for a final pot of 5bb: it needs 30%. Against an open to 2bb, it needs 25%.

Q♣5♦ in the big blind facing a 3bb open

Heads-up with 100bb, the button opens to 3bb and you hold Q♣5♦ in the big blind. Fold, call or 3‑bet to 11bb?

This puzzle on its own page →

See the answer

Your big blind is already in the pot: you pay 2bb for a final pot of 6bb, so you need 33.3% equity. Against hands the button opens, before the flop:

Button's hand	Q♣5♦'s equity
6♥4♥	56.9%
9♠7♦	56.4%
J♥9♦	55.8%
2♥2♠	46.8%
A♦3♣	39.3%
K♥8♠	37.2%
A♥K♠	32.9%
Q♥T♠	28.4%

Q♣5♦ is above 33.3% against the first six hands in the table. The call defends the big blind at the price set; a 3‑bet to 11bb mostly folds out the hands Q♣5♦ beats. The expected answer is the call.

Hands often folded, against four hands

Hand	Against K♥J♠	Against A♥9♠	Against 8♥7♥	Against T♥T♠
7♣2♦	32.5%	32.6%	26.4%	12.4%
8♣2♦	32.6%	32.7%	33%	12.5%
6♣2♦	33.4%	34.1%	30.1%	13.9%
3♣2♦	34.2%	34.8%	30.8%	15.1%
9♣3♦	32.5%	24.2%	50%	12.7%
J♣3♦	24.3%	36.6%	50.6%	27.5%
Q♣5♦	35.1%	37%	52.5%	28%

Against T♥T♠, the five hands with no card above the ten stay between 12.4% and 15.1%. Against a hand that shares one of their cards with a better kicker, they drop further: J♣3♦ has 24.3% against K♥J♠, 9♣3♦ has 24.2% against A♥9♠. Suited, 7♣2♣ has 36.7% against K♥J♠.

The price of a big blind call by open size

Heads-up, the button's open already includes its small blind, and the big blind has put in 1bb.

Button's open	What the big blind pays	Final pot	Equity needed
2bb	1bb	4bb	25%
2.5bb	1.5bb	5bb	30%
3bb	2bb	6bb	33.3%

The price is only a threshold: a hand above it still has to realize its equity after the flop.

Keep going

The price of a call in detail: pot odds.
How much the big blind must defend: minimum defense frequency.
Preflop with two players: heads-up preflop.
Aces people hesitate to fold: weak aces.
Preflop decisions to practice: the preflop quiz.
One spot every day: the daily poker puzzle.
How much of the deck a range really holds: poker combinatorics.

Today's spot →

Sources

Every equity is computed by exact enumeration with the app's equity module, checked on October 11, 2026; the thresholds are call / final pot ratios.
The answer to the spot follows rules written by the app's author; it does not come from a solver.