[bigchips]

Yes I agree that multiplying the two is how my stats professor would suggest doing this. Logically if you pit 3 equivalent hands against each other, you should get a 33% split.

Pokerstove produces the following results:
9c8d 33.181%
9d8h 32.769%
9h8s 34.051%

So the common sense approach seems to be holding up in this instance. I'm trying to understand why this is the case and why multiplying .5 x .5 is not the right answer.