55 vs 22: Preflop Equity & Odds

HandWinTieEquity
55 (Pocket Fives)80.2%2.8%81.6%
22 (Pocket Deuces)17.0%2.8%18.4%

How 55 vs 22 unfolds by street

Pocket Fives (55) is still ahead on 89% of flops against 22, and the lead survives to the turn on 86%. 22 takes the lead on the other 11% of flops, almost always by flopping a set. These figures come from full board enumeration, not a simulation.

Street55 still ahead22 flipped the lead
Flop89%11%
Turn86%14%

55 vs 22 is a pair-over-pair cooler — the kind of all-in nobody at the table can fold. 55 wins 80.2%, 22 wins 17.0%, and 2.8% of boards chop, a 4.7-to-1 edge for 55. The lower pair, 22, is drawing to the two cards left in the deck that make it a set; miss those and only a runner-runner straight or flush saves it, which is why it gets there just 1 time in 6.

At a final table the raw 81.6% / 18.4% split is only half the story — ICM bends it. As the 18.4% underdog, 22 pays an extra survival premium, so the chip-EV "close enough" call can be a clear ICM fold. The pure equity sets the floor; the payout ladder sets the real price.

As the bigger pair, 55, your whole job is to get the money in before a scare card — there's no fold here and slow-playing only lets 22 realize its set equity for free. As the smaller pair, the discipline is recognizing when stacks are deep enough that calling off 17.0% equity is a leak, even though folding pre feels impossible.

55 vs 22 FAQ

Who wins 55 vs 22 preflop?

55 (Pocket Fives) is the favorite, winning 80.2% of all runouts, while 22 (Pocket Deuces) wins 17.0%. The remaining 2.8% are split pots. Counting splits as half, 55's preflop equity is 81.6%.

How often does 22 beat 55?

22 wins 17.0% of the time all-in preflop against 55 — roughly 1 in 6 — so it needs good pot odds or fold equity to get the money in profitably.

Can you fold the smaller pair in 55 vs 22?

Almost never preflop all-in — but the 17.0% the smaller pair wins (about 1 in 6) means that when stacks are very deep and the action screams a bigger pair, laying it down is a real, if rare, fold. Set-mining the lower pair works only with the implied odds to win a full stack when you spike.

Does 55 hold up against 22 after the flop?

55 is still ahead on 89% of flops and stays ahead through the turn on 86% of boards; 22 takes the lead on the other 11% of flops. These are exact figures from full board enumeration.

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