Poker Hand Rankings
As shown in the poker hand rankings chart, the order of poker rankings (from the highest to the lowest) is: Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight. The following general rules apply to evaluating poker hands, whatever set of hand values are used. Individual cards are ranked A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A. Aces only appear low when part of an A-2-3-4-5straight or straight flush.
When you first start playing poker it’s important that you are quickly able to recall hand rankings and the strength of the hand you’ve been dealt. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to do so, as highlighted in this complete guide to the 10 strongest poker hands, with their rankings listed in order from highest to lowest. Furthermore, the rankings are standard for all the most popular types of poker games including No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha and Seven-Card Stud.
In addition to a poker hand rankings chart, also provided are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions regarding poker hand rankings, as well as the game of poker in general.
1. Royal Flush
A ‘Royal Flush’, otherwise known as a ‘Royal Straight Flush’ or ‘A Royal’, is the best possible hand in poker. It consists of ace, king, queen, jack and ten, with all five cards of the same suit, such as As-Ks-Qs-Js-10s.
This unbeatable hand is rare, though, with the odds of making a royal flush just 1 in 30,939 or 0.0032 percent using 7 cards. These odds apply to the game of Texas Hold’em where you build your hand using 5 cards, but still have 7 cards to choose from, namely 2 pocket cards and 5 on the board.
2. Straight Flush
A ‘Straight Flush’ consists of five cards in a row that are all in the same suit. It essentially combines a straight with a flush, with an example being Jc-10c-9c-8c-7c. This powerful hand rarely gets beaten, but in the eventuality of a showdown between straight flushes the player with the highest top card wins. Bear in mind that suits are irrelevant in poker and that only kickers are used to separate same ranked hands.
The odds of making a straight flush is 1 in 3,589, or 0.0279 percent.
3. Four of a Kind
A Four of a Kind, otherwise known as ‘Quads’, consists of any four of the same value cards in each of the four suits. For example Ks-Kh-Kc-Kd-2s is a four of a kind hand. In Texas Hold’em, if the community cards dealt complete four of a kind on the board, such as 10c-10s-10h-10d-7c, the player with the highest hole card wins. In the example provided, however, if none of the players have a card higher than a 7 the hand is drawn.
Four of a kind hands are strong and rarely beaten, with the odds of making such a hand 1 in 594, or 0.168 percent.
4. Full House
A ‘Full House’ is any three of a kind hand combined with a pair. An example of such a hand would be Ah-Ac-Ad-Kc-Kd, or “aces full of kings,” which is the best possible full house hand and would in turn beat a lesser-ranked full house, as well as a flush, a straight, or any other hand ranked lower on this list.
Also referred to as a ‘Full Boat’, the odds of making a full house is 1 in 37.5 or 2.60 percent.
5. Flush
A ‘Flush’ is fifth highest on the poker hand rankings list, and consists of five cards of the same suit, but not in consecutive order. An example would be Ac-Jc-9c-7c-5c or Qd-10d-7d-5d-2d. Between two flushes, the one with the highest-ranked card wins the hand, with an ace-high flush the best possible flush. Therefore, an ace-high flush beats a king-high flush, a king-high flush beats a queen-high flush, and so on. This is a hand that even a super tight poker player would play.
The odds of making a flush is 1 in 32.1, or 3.03 percent.
6. Straight
A ‘Straight’ consists of five consecutive cards in numerical order, but not of the same suit. In this hand, aces can count both as a high or low card. For example, the lowest possible straight, also known as the ‘Wheel’ or ‘Bicycle’, is five-high as in 5h-4d-3s-2c-Ad, while the highest referred to as ‘Broadway’ is ace-high as in Ad-Ks-Qh-Jc-10s.
The odds of making a straight is 1 in 20.6 or 4.62 percent.
7. Three of a Kind
A ‘Three of a Kind’ hand consists of any three cards of the same face value, and two non-paired cards. An example would be Ah-As-Ad, with a King and a Queen as side cards, which is also the best possible three of a kind hand. The term ‘Set’ and ‘Trips’ both refer to types of three-of-a-kind hands, but in a set you must hold a pair in your hand. By contrast, trips are when there is a pair on the board and you hold a third matching card in your starting hand, such as a 6c-6s-Kh-10h-5d board and you hold a 6d in your hand.
The chances of making a three-of-a-kind hand is 1 in 19.7, or 4.83 percent.
8. Two Pair
Any ‘Two Pair’ hand consists of two cards of the same face value together with another two cards of the same value. For example Jc-Jd-6c-6h-Kc. If two players both hold two pair then the player with the biggest pair wins. At the top of the two pair ranking order is aces and kings with a queen kicker.
The odds of making two pair or ‘Top Two’ as it is also known is 1 in 3.26, or 23.5 percent.
9. One Pair
A ‘One Pair’ hand means you have two cards of the same face value and three other non-matching cards. For example Ac-Ad-Qc-9d-3h or 10d-10h-7c-5d-2h. In a pair versus pair situation, like the previous example, the higher pair always wins, with two aces the best possible one-pair hand. Where two players have the same pair the player with the next highest card wins.
Also known as a ‘Pocket Pair’, the odds of making such a hand is 1 in 1.28, or 43.8 percent.
10. High Card
When a player has five unpaired cards the highest-ranked card plays. The highest possible high card in poker is an ace, which would beat a king high hand, and so on. For example, an Ac-Qh-10d-7s-3h hand would beat a Kd-Jc-9h-7c-5s hand.
Poker Hand Rankings List
The odds of not making a pair is 1 in 4.74, or 117.4 percent.
Poker Hand Rankings FAQs
Do hand rankings vary between different poker games?
All the most popular “high-card” poker games use the standard poker hand rankings based on five cards only and listed in order from highest to lowest. These include Hold’em, Omaha, Seven-Card Stud, and Five Card Draw. On the other hand, “low-card” games, known as Lowball, use an alternate low hand ranking in which the lowest possible hand wins. Badugi, 2-7 Triple Draw, and Razz are examples of such Lowball games.
Do my extra cards matter in poker?
When playing Texas Hold’em, it’s important to remember that the best five card hand takes the pot. If you and your opponent have the same hand, however, then the highest kicker comes into play. For instance, if your holding is A-9 versus K-10 for your opponent and the board comes Q-Q-Q-Q-8, then your quads and ace high hand would beat your opponent’s quads and king high hand. If, however, the highest kicker is a community card then its a split pot. An example of this would be if you had 10-9 versus your opponent’s 10-7 on a 10-K-K-A-Q board, as you both have two pair each, tens and kings, with a communal ace high card.
Which suit is ranked the highest in poker?
Most poker games do not rank one suit more valuable than another, with all suits considered of equal value. A spade Royal Flush, for instance, is considered of equal value as one comprised of either diamonds, hearts or clubs.
What is a ‘draw’ in poker?
A ‘draw’ or ‘drawing hand’ in poker is when a player’s hand is incomplete and needs an additional card or cards in order to become valuable. There are many types of draws associated with the game of poker, such as flush draws, straight draws, open-ended straight draws, and inside straight draw, to name but a few. A flush draw, for example, is a hand with four matching suited cards that needs another card of the same suit to improve to a flush. Similarly, a straight draw is where a player needs to hit one card of a certain rank in order to complete a straight.
What are the 10 best starting hands in Hold’em?
It can be difficult to rank the best starting hands in Hold’em because you’re always going to have hands where pocket aces get cracked. In general, however, the following 10 hands are considered the best versus any two random cards:
- 1. Pocket Aces
- 2. Pocket Kings
- 3. Pocket Queens
- 4. Ace-King Suited
- 5. Pocket Jacks
- 6. Pocket Tens
- 7. Ace-Queen Suited
- 8. Ace-King Offsuit
- 9. Ace-Jack Suited
- 10. King-Queen Suited
This article will look at the entire hierarchy of poker hands, from the highest to lowest. Each hand will be accompanied by a probability outlook, advice on betting strategy if you are holding this hand, and how it compares to the rest of the possible hands you may be betting against.
These rules apply to a number of different types of games that can be found at online poker sites. However, some of them also apply to various casino poker games like Caribbean Stud Poker and Five Card Poker. This is also true of many video poker titles.
List of Poker Hands
The following hands apply to Texas Hold’em. There are nine differentiating categories that are the first consideration when it comes to ranking poker hands against one another. The superiority of hands is then further determined within the category that it sits by the individual card ranking – this is from highest to lowest: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. Overall dealing poker cards from a 52-card deck has 2,598,960 distinct hands, but since cards are not ranked by a difference in the suit, there are just 7,462 discrete hand ranks.
Royal Flush: Once in a Lifetime Hand
The Royal Flush is an ace-high straight flush, for example, Ace-King-Queen-Jack-10 all of the hearts (or any of the other three suits), it is the highest possible hand a player can hold in poker. There are clearly four possible combinations of this hand, one for each of the four suits; Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, Spades. Landing this hand requires a lot of composure as it is easy to let the excitement of the moment flicker across your face, alerting opponents that you’re holding something strong. Assuming that you don’t hold the Royal Flush out the Flop, it’s advisable to make your first bet small to keep as many parties interested as possible – and then gradually increasing to a maximum amount on the Turn and River.
Probability of a Royal Flush = 1 in 649,739
Straight Flush
The Straight Flush hand is similar in essence to the Royal Flush but the high card doesn’t matter. You’ll need 5 consecutive cards all of the same suits to land this hand. There are 36 combinations of straight flush to be made, and that’s 9 from each suit. Betting on this hand is again a question of concealing the poker face – you’re almost certainly holding the strongest hand at the table, so extracting the most amount of bets from the opposition before going big on the River is the game plan here.
Probability of a Straight Flush = 1 in 3,217
Four of a Kind
When it comes to Four of a Kind it holds a certain unique place in all the poker hand ranked list. Consisting of four of the same card in each of the four suits it can present itself in many different ways. This powerful combination of cards clearly becomes more valuable if the player is holding a pocket pair and able to match it with two on the table, in this scenario it would be impossible for another player to trump your hand unless they have managed to build a Royal or Straight Flush. Again, bet big if you’re lucky enough to land this combination.
Poker Hand Rankings Pdf
Probability of a Four of a Kind = 1 in 594
Full House
The Full House is a very strong hand that has won its holders a considerable amount of cash in the past. It consists of a pair and a three of a kind in the same hand. Clearly the minimum requirement here is that a pair is dealt on the table by the dealer. From this, a player could possibly construct a full house if they can build out a three of a kind and match one other card. A Full House is first ranked by the three matching cards and then the pair, in a case where two players have matching three of a kind the pair is then used to determine the winner.
Probability of a Full House = 1 in 39
Flush
A Flush is a mid-strength hand that can be used to win the holder a considerable pot if they play their wagering strategy correctly. The cards needed to form a Flush are simply 5 of the same suit. The higher the face value of the highest card in the Flush is used to determine who wins if two players are holding this hand. If two or more players are both holding the highest card in the Flush, the second card is then consulted, and so on.
Probability of a Flush = 1 in 33
Straight
To land the Straight, a player must form a sequence of 5 consecutive cards by face value, for example, 7-8-9-10-Jack. A powerful hand that will most likely give the holder a lot of confidence to bet big depending on what else has been laid down. The top-ranking Straight also known as “The Broadway” consists of the top ranking cards in the deck in a row, the same as a Royal Flush but without matching suit. The lowest ranking Straight is known in the business as “the Wheel”, holding this should invoke a cautious betting strategy as there is a chance an opponent is holding a higher Straight.
Probability of a Straight = 1 in 22
Poker Hand Rankings Poster
Three of a Kind
The Three of a Kind is a hand in the bottom half of the poker hand rankings, but it is not without merit. It can be an incredibly powerful hand in the right circumstances. If the Three of a Kind is assembled from a pocket pair and one community card, it is known as a “set”. However, if the Three of a Kind is assembled from a pair of community cards and one hole card, it is known as “trips”. Betting on a set and trips are very different things, and players are advised caution if betting on trips as their position can be easily be trumped by a player with strong hole cards, possibly holding a Full-House.
Probability of a Three of a Kind = 1 in 21
Two Pair
The Two Pair is statistically the most frequent winning hand on average across all poker hands. It is strong enough to win in many cases and comes around often enough to make it occur more than any other winning hands presented on this list. If you’re holding a Two Pair that doesn’t mean you should bet the house though, there are plenty of other stronger combinations out there as we have shown. Tread with caution and always adopt a smart approach to betting strategy when engaging in live poker sessions.
Probability of a Two Pair = 1 in 4.25
Poker Hand Rankings Texas
One Pair
One Pair accounts for almost half of all poker hands and is by that number the most common of all poker hands to be dealt. To achieve One Pair is fairly easy, simply match two cards together either with the community cards or by holding one hole card matching a community card. This hand is not very strong at all, and therefore should not be bet on too heavily. Approximately 40% of players are able to achieve at least One Pair on any given hand.
Probability of a One Pair = 1 in 2.28
High Card
The High Card is the weakest of all the possible combinations of poker hands. It is determined by the highest card out of the 5. The odds of getting a High Card as your best hand are actually lower than the One Pair and Two Pair, this is because it is more likely you will match something rather than missing with everything with the seven cards available. The only bets you should be making with these are desperate bluffs, and even then it is better to fold early if this one is looking likely. Make sure to educate yourself properly before playing for real money, read our guide to best poker training courses to improve your knowledge.
Probability of a High Card = 1 in 5.74