- Poker hand rankings: Flush You need to have five cards under the same suit to create a flush. If there is a tie then the player with the highest ranked card takes the pot. In other cases, the second-highest then the third, fourth and the fifth will be used to finish the game.
- 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%.
- 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.
- Poker Hand Rankings List
- Poker Hand Rankings Printable Version
- Poker Hand Rankings Photos
- Poker Hand Rankings
The best possible hand a player can make playing poker is called a royal flush and is the best hand rankings poker hand,the hand consists of a 5 card run all in the same suit i.e. Using only one of the four available suits (hearts,clubs,spades or diamonds) and also only consisting of an ace king queen jack and ten of any of these suits to make your royal flush, see image below for example.
With few exceptions, all poker games place hands on the same
scale from high- to low-value. Poker hands are ranked depending
on their likelihood. The least-likely hands are the
highest-ranked; the most common hands are the lowest-ranked.
Identical poker hands are ranked by which hands holds cards of
the highest value.
Poker Hand Rank
Here is the standard hand rank, from highest to lowest:
A royal flush is a hand where all the cards are of the same suit and the 5 highest cards in consecutive order (10, J, Q, K, A). This hand is the best hand that you can get in the game of Texas Hold’em.
A straight flush is a hand where all the cards are of the same suit and are in consecutive order. For example, a 23456, all of hearts, is a straight flush. In the event of a tie, the straight flush with the highest card wins.
A 4 of a kind is a hand where 4 of the 5 cards are of the same ranking. An example of a hand with a 4 of a kind might have KKKK2. That would be the 2 in every suit–clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. In the event of a tie, the 4 of a kind with the highest hand ranking wins.
Poker Hand Rankings List
A full house is a hand that consists of 3 cards of one rank and 2 cards of another rank. An example of a full house might look like this: KKKQQ. In the event of a tie, the hand with the higher cards in the 3 cards is the winner.
A flush is a hand that consists of 5 cards of the same suit—clubs, diamonds, hearts, or spades. In the event of a tie, the flush with the highest card is the winner.
A straight is a hand where all 5 cards of consecutive ranks. 23456 is an example of a straight. In the event of a tie, the straight with the highest card is the winner.
2 pairs is a hand where you have 2 cards of one rank and 2 cards of another rank along with a final card of another rank. An example of 2 pairs might look like this: AAKK7.In the event of a tie, the hand with the highest pair wins.
1 pair is a hand where you 2 cards of one rank and 3 cards with different ranks. An example of a pair might look like this: JJ278. In the event of a tie, the higher ranked pair wins.
High card means a hand where none of the other hand rankings apply. If no one still in the hand can make a pair or better, the player with the highest card in his hand wins the pot.
Playing a live game of poker requires that you know this
hierarchy. For new players, this may seem a little daunting.
After all, here you have nine pieces of complex information to
remember in precise order.
A Word About Mnemonic Devices
I learned the order of poker hands using a mnemonic. I think
anyone can use this simple method to learn the hierarchy in a
matter of minutes. Mnemonics are popular memory devices used by
students, teachers, and people of all stripes for hundreds of
years in order to remember complex information.
You probably used a mnemonic device to remember the order of
the planets in our solar system. I remember learning the
sentence: “My very excellent mother just served us nine pizzas.”
The first letter of each of the words in that sentence will help
you remember that the planets go in this order – Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. I’ll
probably never forget that fact, thanks to the mnemonic device I
was taught.
The trouble is, it’s hard to convert hand rankings into
words. Besides that, I don’t think you learn much about poker by
simply memorizing the order of hands. You should use the
opportunity of needing to learn proper hand hierarchy to improve
your understanding of poker strategy.
The tips below will help you understand the proper order of
poker hands better and introduce you to some basic poker
concepts to help you improve your overall game.
Low-Value Poker Hands
To remember the order of the four lowest-value hands, just
remember the number series “0, 1, 2, 3.”
- 0 means “high card.” Having nothing in your hand means
the value of your hand depends on the value of your highest
card. Remember – in poker, aces rank high, while 2’s rank
low. - 1 means “one pair.” Any hand that contains just a single
pair of cards and nothing else valuable is a 1. - 2 means “two pair.” This is a hand that contains two
pairs of cards. - 3 means “three-of-a-kind.” It’s the most valuable of the
low-value hands.
High-Value Poker Hands
For the purpose of this post, I’m calling every hand above a
three-of-a-kind a “high-value hand,” but lots of poker
strategists would consider a straight to be a low-value hand.
This is really a difference in philosophy and a language issue
more than anything else.
For that reason, and for simplicity’s sake, I like to think
of straight as a “/” symbol in my mnemonic. That means our
current mnemonic string goes: “0, 1, 2, 3, /.”
It’s easier to memorize the order of the other high-ranking
hands if you count the number of letters in the hand’s name.
It’s made all the easier to remember by the fact that the number
of letters increases as you move up the scale.
Here’s how I break it down:
- 5 – The word flush contains five letters.
- 9 – The words full house contain nine letters.
- 11 – The words four of a kind contain eleven letters.
- 13 – The words straight flush contain thirteen letters.
- 18 – The words royal straight flush contain eighteen
letters.
Putting them all together, our mnemonic is: “0 – 1 – 2 – 3 /
5 – 9 – 11 – 13 – 18.”
Other Ways to Memorize Hand Hierarchy
I’m not going to pretend that the method I used to learn hand
hierarchy is the only one that will work. The three ideas below
are the most popular tactics on the Web besides the use of
mnemonics, based on my research. You can use any of the four
methods described on this post to keep track of what hand beats
what other hand. That way, you’ll be able to plan your tactics
ahead of time and make smart bidding decisions.
Rote Memorization
Some people learn best by repeated drilling of the material
to be memorized. I’ve heard of actors reading their scripts over
and over, playing tapes of the script in their sleep, and
learning their lines by rote. I can’t think of any reason why
you shouldn’t try this method.
Hand Evaluation Diagrams
Various poker trainer programs and strategy gurus have put
together diagrams to help you analyze your hand. You can use
these in poker rooms, and obviously you can use them online, so
long as you don’t care about the other guys at the table making
fun of you. They’re available for free with a simple Google
search.
Frequent Exposure
The more rounds of poker you play, the more you’ll become
familiar with all the rules, including the rules of hand
ranking. You may lose a bunch on the way there, because of your
lack of familiarity with hand ranks, but, by God, you’ll get it
eventually.
Conclusion
Remember that some poker variations assign different values
to cards and hands. Some games are totally reversed, rewarding
the lowest-value hand instead of the highest-value one. Other
games may consider an Ace to be low, or use Jokers, which throws
off the hierarchy and strategy a bit.
Poker Hand Rankings Printable Version
I hope that this page helped you learn about the value of the
cards you’re dealt. I believe the best way to practice your
newfound understanding of hand hierarchy is to get out there and
play a bunch of poker. If you’re still new to the game and not
yet comfortable with your understanding of hand rankings, you
can always play in free-to-play apps or use play-money at your
favorite online poker room.
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.
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?
Poker Hand Rankings Photos
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:
Poker Hand Rankings
- 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