Hands In Poker Ranked

The hands are in order from top to bottom, decreasing in value as you move down. An ace-high straight flush. It's just a straight flush really, but it's made with the 5 highest value cards. A royal flush is the absolute best possible hand in the game of Texas Hold'em. You will rarely (if ever) see this hand. Find all poker hands ranked from best to worst. Use the OFFICIAL poker hand rankings to know what beats what in poker. Download the PDF list of poker hands. Every Texas Hold’em Poker Hand by Winning Percentage. These charts show the average winning percentage (its equity) of every Hold’em hand at showdown. To find a specific hand’s ranking look it up by its largest card. Unless noted, unpaired cards are unsuited. Suited cards add an average winning percentage of 3-4%. Poker hands fall into one of ten categories. The highest is a royal flush, followed by a straight flush, then four of a kind, a full house, a flush, a straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair.

Below is the complete guide for determining how to rank various poker hands. This article covers all poker hands, from hands in standard games of poker, to lowball, to playing with a variety of wild cards. Scroll to the end to find an in-depth ranking of suits for several countries, including many European countries and North American continental standards.

Standard Poker Rankings

A standard deck of cards has 52 in a pack. Individually cards rank, high to low:

Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2

In standard poker (in North America) there is no suit ranking. A poker hand has 5 cards total. Higher ranked hands beat lower ones, and within the same kind of hand higher value cards beat lower value cards.

#1 Straight Flush

In games without wild cards, this is the highest ranking hand. It consists of five cards in sequence of the same suit. When comparing flushes, the hand with the highest value high card wins. Example: 5-6-7-8-9, all spades, is a straight flush. A-K-Q-J-10 is the highest ranking straight flush and is called a Royal Flush. Flushes are not permitted to turn the corner, for example, 3-2-A-K-Q is not a straight flush.

#2 Four of a Kind (Quads)

A four of a kind is four cards of equal rank, for example, four jacks. The kicker, the fifth card, may be any other card. When comparing two four of a kinds, the highest value set wins. For example, 5-5-5-5-J is beat by 10-10-10-10-2. If two players happen to have a four of a kind of equal value, the player with the highest ranking kicker wins.

#3 Full House (Boat)

A full house consists of 3 cards of one rank and 2 cards of another. The three cards value determines rank within Full Houses, the player with the highest rank 3 cards wins. If the three cards are equal rank the pairs decide. Example: Q-Q-Q-3-3 beats 10-10-10-A-A BUT 10-10-10-A-A would beat 10-10-10-J-J.

#4 Flush

Any five cards of the same suit. The highest card in a flush determines its rank between other flushes. If those are equal, continue comparing the next highest cards until a winner can be determined.

#5 Straight

Five cards in sequence from different suits. The hand with the highest ranking top card wins within straights. Ace can either be a high card or low card, but not both. The wheel, or the lowest straight, is 5-4-3-2-A, where the top card is five.

#6 Three of a Kind (Triplets/Trips)

A three of a kind is three card of equal rank and two other cards (not of equal rank). The three of a kind with the highest rank wins, in the event they are equal, the high card of the two remaining cards determines the winner.

#7 Two Pairs

A pair is two cards that are equal in rank. A hand with two pairs consists of two separate pairs of different ranks. For example, K-K-3-3-6, where 6 is the odd card. The hand with the highest pair wins if there are multiple two pairs regardless of the other cards in hand. To demonstrate, K-K-5-5-2 beats Q-Q-10-10-9 because K > Q, despite 10 > 5.

#8 Pair

A hand with a single pair has two cards of equal rank and three other cards of any rank (as long as none are the same.) When comparing pairs, the one with highest value cards wins. If they are equal, compare the highest value oddball cards, if those are equal continue comparing until a win can be determined. An example hand would be: 10-10-6-3-2

#9 High Card (Nothing/No Pair)

If your hand does not conform to any of the criterion mentioned above, does not form any sort of sequence, and are at least two different suits, this hand is called high card. The highest value card, when comparing these hands, determines the winning hand.

Low Poker Hand Ranking

In Lowball or high-low games, or other poker games which lowest ranking hand wins, they are ranked accordingly.

A low hand with no combination is named by it’s highest ranking card. For example, a hand with 10-6-5-3-2 is described as “10-down” or “10-low.”

Ace to Five

The most common system for ranking low hands. Aces are always low card and straights and flushes do not count. Under Ace-to-5, 5-4-3-2-A is the best hand. As with standard poker, hands compared by the high card. So, 6-4-3-2-A beats 6-5-3-2-A AND beats 7-4-3-2-A. This is because 4 < 5 and 6 < 7.

The best hand with a pair is A-A-4-3-2, this is often referred to as California Lowball. In high-low games of poker, there is often a conditioned employed called “eight or better” which qualifies players to win part of the pot. Their hand must have an 8 or lower to be considered. The worst hand under this condition would be 8-7-6-5-4.

Duece to Seven

The hands under this system rank almost the same as in standard poker. It includes straights and flushes, lowest hand wins. However, this system always considers aces as high cards (A-2-3-4-5 is not a straight.) Under this system, the best hand is 7-5-4-3-2 (in mixed suits), a reference to its namesake. As always, highest card is compared first. In duece-to-7, the best hand with a pair is 2-2-5-4-3, although is beat by A-K-Q-J-9, the worst hand with high cards. This is sometimes referred to as “Kansas City Lowball.”

Ace to Six

This is the system often used in home poker games, straights and flushes count, and aces are low cards. Under Ace-to-6, 5-4-3-2-A is a bad hand because it is a straight. The best low hand is 6-4-3-2-A. Since aces are low, A-K-Q-J-10 is not a straight and is considered king-down (or king-low). Ace is low card so K-Q-J-10-A is lower than K-Q-J-10-2. A pair of aces also beats a pair of twos.

In games with more than five cards, players can choose to not use their highest value cards in order to assemble the lowest hand possible.

Hand Rankings with Wild Cards

Wild cards may be used to substitute any card a player may need to make a particular hand. Jokers are often used as wild cards and are added to the deck (making the game played with 54 as opposed to 52 cards). If players choose to stick with a standard deck, 1+ cards may be determined at the start as wild cards. For example, all the twos in the deck (deuces wild) or the “one-eyed jacks” (the jacks of hearts and spades).

Wild cards can be used to:

• substitute any card not in a player’s hand OR
• make a special “five of a kind”

Five of a Kind

Five of a Kind is the highest hand of all and beats a Royal Flush. When comparing five of a kinds, the highest value five cards win. Aces are the highest card of all.

The Bug

Some poker games, most notably five card draw, are played with the bug. The bug is an added joker which functions as a limited wild card. It may only be used as an ace or a card needed to complete a straight or a flush. Under this system, the highest hand is a five of a kind of aces, but no other five of a kind is legal. In a hand, with any other four of a kind the joker counts as an ace kicker.

Wild Cards – Low Poker

During a low poker game, the wild card is a “fitter,” a card used to complete a hand which is of lowest value in the low hand ranking system used. In standard poker, 6-5-3-2-joker would be considered 6-6-5-3-2. In ace-to-five, the wild card would be an ace, and deuce-to-seven the wild card would be a 7.

Lowest Card Wild

Home poker games may play with player’s lowest, or lowest concealed card, as a wild card. This applies to the card of lowest value during the showdown. Aces are considered high and two low under this variant.

Winning Hands In Poker Ranked

Double Ace Flush

This variant allows the wild card to be ANY card, including one already held by a player. This allows for the opportunity to have a double ace flush.

Natural Hand v. Wild Hand

There is a house rule which says a “natural hand” beats a hand that is equal to it with wild cards. Hands with more wild cards may be considered “more wild” and therefore beat by a less wild hand with only one wild card. This rule must be agreed upon before the deal begins.

Incomplete Hands

If you are comparing hands in a variant of poker which there are less than five cards, there are no straights, flushes, or full houses. There is only four of a kind, three of a kind, pairs (2 pairs and single pairs), and high card. If the hand has an even number of cards there may not be a kicker.

Examples of scoring incomplete hands:

10-10-K beats 10-10-6-2 because K > 6. However, 10-10-6 is beat by 10-10-6-2 because of the fourth card. Also, a 10 alone will beat 9-6. But, 9-6 beats 9-5-3, and that beats 9-5, which beats 9.

Ranking Suits

In standard poker, suits are NOT ranked. If there are equal hands the pot is split. However, depending on the variant of poker, there are situations when cards must be ranked by suits. For example:

• Drawing cards to pick player’s seats
• Determining the first better in stud poker
• In the event an uneven pot is to be split, determining who gets the odd chip.

Typically in North America (or for English speakers), suits are ranked in reverse alphabetical order.

• Spades (highest suit), Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs (lowest suit)

Suits are ranked differently in other countries/ parts of the world:

• Spades (high suit), Diamonds, Clubs, Hearts (low suit)
• Hearts (high suit), Spades, Diamonds, Clubs (low suit) – Greece and Turkey
• Hearts (high suit), Diamonds, Spades, Clubs (low suit) – Austria and Sweden
• Hearts (high suit), Diamonds, Clubs, Spades (low suit) – Italy
• Diamonds (high suit), Spades, Hearts, Clubs (low suit) – Brazil
• Clubs (high suit), Spades, Hearts, Diamonds (low suit) – Germany

REFERENCES:

http://www.cardplayer.com/rules-of-poker/hand-rankings

https://www.pagat.com/poker/rules/ranking.html

https://www.partypoker.com/how-to-play/hand-rankings.html

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.

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

Hands In Poker Ranking

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

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

Best Starting Hands In Poker Ranked

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.

Poker Hands Ranked In Order

Probability of a High Card = 1 in 5.74