Poker Hand Rankings - Poker Hands Ranked In Order
One of the first steps towards learning how to play poker is to learn the poker hand rankings. If you want to know what beats what in poker, you can use our OFFICIAL poker hands rankings chart and see all poker hands ranked from best to worst!
While this may seem obvious, it's easy to get your flushes mixed up with your straights, and not remember that a straight flush beats four-of-a-kind. In particular, poker hand rankings is not something that new players to the game are going to instantly know. However, it's such an important aspect of the game and is vital to learn.
So, here is our full, definitive guide to poker hand rankings.
Poker Hand Rankings - Download our FREE printable PDF guide
Download our FREE printable Poker Hand Rankings Guide as a PDF. We've collated all the information above in an easy-to-read poker cheat sheet of hand rankings, so you can quickly get to terms with what hands beat what in poker.
This is an essential resource for any new or beginner-level poker player. It will help you to quickly learn the basics of poker so you can evolve your game and start improving your strategy.
Download our free Poker Hands PDF now
Understanding the Deck
How many cards are there in a deck? The answer is that there are 52 cards in a standard deck of playing cards. These are all used in a game of poker and, in contrast to games like Blackjack where multiple decks are used, just one deck of cards is used in poker.
Jokers are not used in poker, and all suits of cards are equal. That's not to say that suits are irrelevant, as they can be used to form straights and straight flushes, but no one suit is better or worse than any other. Alternatively, the value of the cards themselves are relevant. Aces are 'high' and 'low' in poker and as such are the greatest value card. They can be used, though, to form the lower end of a wheel straight - A,2,3,4,5. Here, they effectively have a value of 1.
Poker Hands Ranked in Order Best To Worst
Royal Flush
A Royal Flush is the best hand in poker and is made up of an ace, king, queen, jack and ten of all the same suit. An example of a Royal Flush is A♦K♦Q♦J♦10♦, but it can be any suit, as long as all five cards are the same suit and the hand is made up of these value cards. Most people have heard of the pinnacle of poker hands - a Royal Flush. In movies, it's been popularised for its glamour and its prestige is justified. You CANNOT beat a Royal Flush in poker, it is the best hand. As such, it's extremely rare and most recreational players only ever get a handful of Royal Flushes in their lifetime (playing Texas Hold'em).
Straight Flush
Not quite as prestigious and nowhere near as rare as a Royal, a Straight Flush is the next best hand in poker. A Straight Flush involves five of the same-suited cards but they don't have to be the ace, king, queen, jack and ten. For this reason, they are far more common than Royals, but are still rare. A Straight Flush is the second best hand in poker and can only be beaten by a Royal Flush (or a higher Straight Flush).
Four-of-a-Kind
Four-of-a-kind, also known as 'Quads' is the third best hand in poker. It consists of four of the same value card, for instance four aces. It is a very strong hand and can only be beaten by Royal or Straight Flushes (or a higher four-of-a-kind).
Full House
A Full House is a strong hand in poker, and consists of three-of-a-kind and a pair. It doesn't matter which way round it is (E.g. you could have two aces and three kings or three aces and two kings), either is a Full House. However, if two players both have a Full House, the one with the highest 3-of-a-kind wins. For example, A♥A♦A♠K♥K♦ is a stronger Full House than A♣A♠K♠K♣K♥ because the 3-of-a-kind is higher. If both 3-of-a-kinds within the Full House are equal, the winning hand will then be decided by the pair in the hand.
Flush
A Flush in poker is five cards that all have the same suit. It doesn't matter which suit it is as all suits are equal, but if you have five cards that are all the same suit, for instance five diamonds, then you have a Flush. The strength of the Flush is determined by its highest card, followed by its second highest and so on. This comes into play if two or more players have a Flush.
Straight
A Straight in poker is five cards that have consecutive numeric values - for instance 2♣3♠4♥5♠6♦. Suit is irrelevant (unless all five cards are the same suit, in which case the hand becomes a Straight Flush), as long as five cards are in consecutive order. If the are two Straights in a hand, then the one with the highest cards wins.
3-of-a-Kind
In poker, 3-of-a-kind is three cards of the same value with two other random cards, for instance three kings, a two and a five. Three-of-a-kind is a decent poker hand in poker. If two hands have 3-of-a-kind, the highest numeric value of the 3-of-a-kind wins.
Two Pair
Two Pair in poker is two different numeric pairs and one other unpaired card. If two hands have Two Pair, then the winner is determined by the higher pair. If those are equal, it goes to the highest value of the second pair. If those are also equal, the tiebreaker is the kicker (the fifth, unpaired card).
One Pair
One Pair in poker is two cards of equal value combined with three unrelated cards. In matchups involving One Pair hands, the highest pair wins. If pairs match, the highest unpaired cards, or kickers, are compared.
High Card
When none of the above hands are formed, the hand is valued at its highest single card, making an Ace-high the strongest High Card hand. This is the most common hand and often the least likely to win in a showdown. The worst possible five-card hand in poker is 2♣3♠4♦5x7♣ (any suit). This hand is just seven high with the lowest possible kickers that don't make a better hand.
Poker Hands Probability - Odds Table
If you are into numbers (most poker players are), you might be wondering about the probability of poker hands.
We said that some players might go their entire life without ever getting the highest hand in poker but, looking at the numbers, what are the odds of a Royal Flush?
In this section of our complete analysis of the poker hand ranking and what beats what in poker, you get a clear overview of the probability of poker hands.
How to calculate the probability of poker hands?
When you know that there are 52 cards in play and 2,598,960 possible combinations, the calculation is easy.
You just need to divide the number of possibilities to build a specific poker hand by the number of total poker hands.
Poker Hands Odds Table
There are 2,598,960 possible combinations to make in poker. Below are the odds of making a poker hand in a game of five-card draw.
| Poker Hand | No. Ways | Probability | Odds against |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 4 | 0.000154% | 649,739 to 1 |
| Straight Flush | 40 | 0.00139% | 72,192 to 1 |
| Four-of-a-Kind | 624 | 0.02401% | 4,165 to 1 |
| Full House | 3,744 | 0.1441% | 694 to 1 |
| Flush | 5,108 | 0.1965% | 509 to 1 |
| Straight | 10,200 | 0.3925% | 255 to 1 |
| Three-of-a-Kind | 54,912 | 2.1128% | 46 to 1 |
| Two Pair | 123,552 | 4.7539% | 20 to 1 |
| One Pair | 1,098,240 | 42.2569% | 1.37 to 1 |
| No pair / High card | 1,302,540 | 50.1177% | roughly 1 to 1 |
Understanding Winning Poker Hands
Players new to the game of Texas hold'em often struggle, at least at first, with what the best poker hands are.
Once they have read this easy-to-digest guide that will no longer be the case.
The aim of Texas hold'em is to make the best five-card poker hand at showdown.
You can win without having to show your cards if you force someone to fold before the river. Nonetheless, for the purpose of this article, we'll pretend that we've gone to showdown and need to know what beats what in poker.
What Beats What in Poker?
Many consider poker less of a gambling game than other casino games. For that to be true, players need to improve their understanding of game play and the strategy required to be a winning player.
The first step toward learning how to play poker is to learn the poker hand rankings.
Most poker players have these rankings memorized, which allows them to think about other things at the table when deciding the best way to play their hands.
The good news is these hand rankings tend to be the same among a wide variety of poker variants, whether it is Texas Hold'em, Omaha, seven-card stud, or other games.
All of those games use the same traditional poker hand rankings that were first developed way back in the 19th century when five-card draw first started to be played.
On this page, you find a complete list of poker hand rankings going from the highest possible hand (the Royal Flush), down to the lowest hand in which there is no pair among the five cards.
Hand rankings in poker correspond to the likelihood of making such hands.
A royal flush, consisting of the cards ranked ace through ten all being the same suit, is extremely rare — in fact, some players go their entire lives without making a royal flush.
A regular straight flush with any five consecutive cards of the same suit is a little less rare, four of a kind occurs slightly more frequently, and so on.
Notice that a full house is ranked higher than a flush.
That's because a full house comes just a little less frequently than a flush, thereby making it the higher-ranked hand of the two.
Understand the Texas Holdem Poker Rules with the 1-page handout and join the other players and get involved in the game for your chance to win.
Royal Flush vs. Straight Flush – Which Poker Hand is Better?
A Royal Flush is the best hand possible in poker, therefore it beats any Straight Flush and is a better poker hand.
Full House or Flush - Which Poker Hand is Better?
A Full House beats a Flush in poker and is a better hand. While Flushes tend to look attractive and in themselves are strong hands, the rarity of making a Full House makes it the better hand of the two.
Four of a Kind v Four of a Kind – Who Wins?
Four-of-a-kind is rare in poker, but regular poker players will see this hand come up a few times in a week depending on how many times they play. It's even more rare to see two four-of-a-kinds in the same hand, but again, it does happen. In this instance, when four-of-a-kind is up against another four-of-a-kind, the highest value four-of-a-kind wins. If both are equal, it goes down to the unrelated fifth card (the kicker), with the hand with the highest-value kicker winning.
Straight v Straight – Which Hand Wins in Poker?
Straights are far more common than four-of-a-kinds. We therefore see Straights versus Straights a lot more frequently, but which hand wins in this instance? The Straight with the highest-value card will win. So, for instance, if one player has A♣K♣Q♣J♠10♦, this is the highest possible Straight (also called 'Broadway'). If this Straight is up against K♦Q♥J♠10♣9♥, then the Ace-high Straight beats the King-high Straight.
Is One Suit Ranked Higher in Poker?
In most poker variants, all suits are equal. The game's outcome depends more on the card values and combinations rather than the suits themselves. However, suits can play a role in hands like a Flush, where the cards must be of the same suit. Badugi poker is a unique poker variant. Here, suits are still all equal but you must make the lowest four-carded hand possible with one card from each suit. While all suits in Badugi are still equal, this is one unique example where suits play a slightly different role than they do in conventional poker.
Poker Hand Absolute Value vs. Relative Value of Poker Hands
It should be noted also that while poker hand rankings never change, sometimes circumstances can make a good hand less valuable and a poor hand more valuable.
In other words, when it comes to poker hands there's a difference between absolute value (reflected in the list of poker hands above) and relative value.
For instance, in a game of Texas hold'em, if you have two pair that might seem like a good hand.
But if your opponent keeps betting into you and it's possible he could have a straight or flush, your two pair is no longer looking so good.
Meanwhile, if you have just one pair but your opponent keeps checking to give you a free play at the pot, you might well have the strongest hand and should bet your hand.
The "absolute" value of your hand may not be great, but in that case the "relative" value very well could be.
Also worth mentioning is the fact that in some games like razz, deuce-to-seven triple draw, Badugi, and others you might encounter when playing online poker, the hand rankings listed below do not apply.
These hand rankings are for regular or "high-card" games, not "lowball" games with alternate hand rankings.
Poker Hands - What Beats What in Poker
As discussed, it's really important to learn what beats what in poker, so here we outline some of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to poker hand rankings.
How many cards are in a deck?
A standard deck of playing cards contains 52 cards. It's divided into four suits: hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. Each suit has 13 ranks: the numbers 2 through 10, and the face cards – Jack, Queen, King – along with an Ace. In addition to these, some card games also use one or two Jokers, but they are not considered part of the standard 52-card deck.
What is the order of poker hands?
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, Three-of-a-Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, High Card.
What is the best hand in poker?
The Royal Flush is the best hand in poker. To have a Royal Flush, you need an Ace, a King, a Queen, a Jack, and a 10. All the cards that compose the hand need to be of the same suit.
What beats what in poker?
What beats what in poker?
As you can see in our poker hand rankings chart, the hands in poker follow a clear hierarchy.
In a game of poker, the hand rankings work as follows: a pair beats a high card; a two pair beats a one pair; a three-of-a-kind beats a two pair; a straight beats a three-of-a-kind; a flush beats a straight; a full house beats a flush; a four-of-a-kind beats a full house; a straight flush beats a four-of-a-kind; a Royal Flush beats a straight flush.
The Royal Flush is the best hand in poker, so no one other hands beat this one.
What is a straight in poker?
You have a straight when all the five cards that compose your poker hand are consecutive ones. E.g. 5-6-7-8-9.
If the cards are of the same suit, you have a straight flush, which is a considerably stronger hand compare d to the simple straight.
What beats a straight in poker?
The list of hands that beat a flush includes: a full house; a four-of-a-kind; a straight flush; a Royal Flush.
What beats a flush in poker?
The list of hands that beat a flush includes: a full house; a four-of-a-kind; a straight flush; a Royal Flush.
What beats a full house in poker?
The list of hands that beat a full house includes: four-of-a-kind; a straight flush; a Royal Flush.
Full House vs Flush - Does a Full House beat a Flush?
Yes, a Full House (a combination of three of a kind and a pair in the same hand) does beat a Flush (five cards of the same suit, in any order). This is because the odds of having a full house are slightly less than a flush, thereby making it the higher-ranked hand of the two.
What is the highest suit in poker?
All the suits in poker have the same value. In some games, different suits can be assigned different values.
When that happens, the value is as follows (from the lowest to the highest): clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. In that case, spades is the highest suit.
How many poker hands are there?
The total number of poker hands in a game of poker is 2,598,960. Since a game of poker uses a 52-card deck of French cards, there are 2,598,960 different possible combinations (aka. poker hands).
What hands should I play in poker??
The type of hands to play in a poker game depends on the game you play and other factors like your position in the hand, your stack, and the action at the table. In a famous poker strategy article, professional player Jonathan Little shared which hands to play in poker and how to play marginal hands.
Can you make three pairs in poker?
Although it is possible to hold a pair in your hand and then have another two pair appear among the five community cards, you can only use a total of five cards to make your poker hand, so you don't win anything for three pairs.
Which is better, a set or trips?
They are both essentially the same hand because they are both three of a kind. The terminology "set" is used when you have a pair as your hole cards and then catch another one of those cards on the board. "Trips" is when there is a pair on the board and you have another of those cards as one of your hole cards. Sets are easier to disguise than trips so many consider them to be a better hand, although they both rank the same.
What is a chopped or split pot?
If you and an opponent have the same five-card poker hand, then the pot is divided equally between you. Say you have A♦J♣ and your opponent has A♠J♦, and the board comes A♣8♦2♣3♥10♥. You both would be playing the same five-card hands in terms of their value (A-J-T-8-3), and so would split the pot.
If there is four of a kind on the board, who wins?
Because the aim is to make a five-card poker hand, whoever has the highest fifth card in this case wins. If the board reads 7♣7♠7♦7♥3♣ and you have A♠Q♠ in your hand and your opponent has K♣Q♣, then you win because you hand is 7-7-7-7-A and your opponent's is 7-7-7-7-K. You would also win even if your opponent holding was K♣K♠ in this example.
Why did my 4-4-4-T-T lose to my opponent's 7-7-7-8-8?
It is the three-of-a-kind element of a full house that dictates the winner. If you're new to the game and want a reference of all of Texas hold'em hands, you can keep this page open or you could always download and print our poker hands ranking chart that you can find higher up this page and keep it next to you while you're playing poker.
How are ties broken in poker?
Ties in poker are settled by the 'kicker.' A kicker is any remaining card that is not part of a made hand. For instance, if a player has 4-of-a-kind with four kings and an ace, then the ace is the kicker. If they had 3-of-a-kind with three kings, and ace and a jack, then the kickers are both the ace and the jack. In the event of a tie in poker, the highest kicker wins. If all kickers are equal, the pot is split equally.
What does "having the nuts" mean?
Having the nuts in poker means a player has the best possible holding in that specific hand of poker. A Royal Flush will always be the nuts, as it cannot be beaten. However, you don't have to have a Royal Flush to have the nuts. Simply put, if the hand you hold cannot be beaten by any other hand, you have the nuts at that point.
What is a kicker in poker?
A kicker in poker is a card that is not used to make a hand. For example, if you have Two Pair, four out of the five cards you can use to make a hand are being used. The fifth is going to be your kicker. Kickers come into play when two or more players have the same hand.
Can a Straight wrap around (e.g., K-A-2-3-4)?
No, a Straight cannot wrap around. An Ace can be used as a one or an Ace, meaning you could use your Ace to form either a A♥2♣3♠4♥5♠ Straight or a A♥K♠Q♥J♦10♣ Straight, but you cannot 'wrap' your Straight around.
An intro to Texas Holdem, strategy, rules and styles of play, all combined for you to understand Texas Holdem with this ultimate guide.
Poker Hands From Best To Worst
| 1. Royal Flush | 10♠ J♠ Q♠ K♠ A♠ | The best possible hand in Texas hold'em is the combination of ten, jack, queen, king, ace, all of the same suit |
| 2. Straight Flush | 5♥ 6♥ 7♥ 8♥ 9♥ | Five cards of the same suit in sequential order |
| 3. Four of a kind | 3♣ 3♠ 3♦ 3♥ 4♦ | Any four numerically matching cards |
| 4. Full house | J♠ J♥ J♣ K♣ K♦ | Combination of three of a kind and a pair in the same hand |
| 5. Flush | 2♦ 4♦ 5♦ 9♦ K♦ | Five cards of the same suit, in any order |
| 6. Straight | A♦ 2♣ 3♦ 4♠ 5♣ | Five cards of any suit, in sequential order |
| 7. Three of a kind | 7♣ 7♦ 7♠ 4♣ 5♦ | Any three numerically matching cards |
| 8. Two pair | 9♦ 9♠ K♦ K♥ 4♣ | Two different pairs in the same hand |
| 9. One pair | 10♦ 10♠ 3♠ Q♦ K♣ | Any two numerically matching cards |
| 10. High card | K♣ 2♥ 4♦ 8♦ Q♠ | The highest ranked card in your hand with an ace being the highest and two being the lowest |
