Poker hand rankings, from best to worst

Every poker hand is exactly five cards, and there are only ten kinds of hand. Learn the order once and you can play Texas Hold'em, Omaha and almost every other form of poker. This guide lists them from strongest to weakest, shows how often each one comes up, and explains how ties are broken.

The ten hands

1. Royal flush

A, K, Q, J and 10, all of the same suit: A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠. It is simply the highest possible straight flush, and it cannot be beaten. Two players can only share one if it is on the board.

2. Straight flush

Five cards in sequence, all of the same suit: 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥. The lowest is 5♣ 4♣ 3♣ 2♣ A♣, where the ace plays low.

3. Four of a kind

Four cards of the same rank plus any fifth card: Q♣ Q♦ Q♥ Q♠ 7♦. Also called quads.

4. Full house

Three cards of one rank and two of another: J♥ J♣ J♠ 4♦ 4♥, read as "jacks full of fours".

5. Flush

Any five cards of the same suit that are not in sequence: A♦ J♦ 9♦ 6♦ 2♦. In Short Deck poker, played with a 36-card deck, a flush beats a full house.

6. Straight

Five cards in sequence in mixed suits: 8♣ 7♥ 6♠ 5♦ 4♣. The highest is A-K-Q-J-10 (often called Broadway) and the lowest is 5-4-3-2-A (the wheel).

7. Three of a kind

Three cards of the same rank and two unrelated cards: 7♠ 7♥ 7♣ K♦ 2♠. In Hold'em, three of a kind made with a pocket pair is called a set; made with one hole card and a pair on the board, it is called trips.

8. Two pair

Two cards of one rank, two of another, and a fifth card: 10♥ 10♣ 5♠ 5♦ A♥.

9. One pair

Two cards of the same rank and three unrelated cards: K♠ K♥ 9♣ 6♦ 3♥.

10. High card

None of the above. The hand is named after its highest card: A♣ Q♦ 8♠ 5♥ 3♣ is "ace high".

How rare is each hand?

There are exactly 2,598,960 different five-card hands in a 52-card deck. The table counts how many of them fall into each category, which is also the chance of being dealt that hand in five cards. Rarer hands rank higher; that is the whole logic of the order.

In Hold'em and Omaha you choose your best five cards from more than five, so strong hands come up far more often than this table suggests. With seven cards to pick from in Hold'em, for example, a player ends up with at least a pair most of the time. The ranking order never changes, though, and it is the same in every game on PokerClub.

Ties, kickers and split pots

When two players hold the same kind of hand, the hand with the higher cards wins. Only the best five cards ever count; a sixth or seventh card never breaks a tie. Suits are never used to break ties either: spades are not better than hearts. If the five cards match rank for rank, the pot is split.

• Straight flush and straight: the highest card of the sequence wins. 9-8-7-6-5 beats 8-7-6-5-4, and in the wheel 5-4-3-2-A the ace counts as a one, so a six-high straight beats it.
• Four of a kind: the higher four wins. If both players share the same four on the board, the fifth card (the kicker) decides.
• Full house: compare the three of a kind first, then the pair. Kings full of twos beats queens full of aces.
• Flush: compare the highest card, then the next, and so on down all five. A♦ J♦ 9♦ 6♦ 2♦ beats A♥ J♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ because the third card, 9, beats 8.
• Three of a kind: the higher three wins, then the two kickers in order.
• Two pair: compare the higher pair, then the lower pair, then the kicker. K-K-3-3 beats Q-Q-J-J.
• One pair: the higher pair wins, then the three kickers one by one.
• High card: compare the highest card, then the next, down all five.

A kicker example in Hold'em: the board is K♠ 9♦ 7♣ 4♥ 2♠. One player holds K♥ Q♣, the other K♦ J♥. Both have a pair of kings, but the queen kicker beats the jack: K-K-Q-9-7 against K-K-J-9-7.

A split-pot example: the board is A♠ K♦ Q♣ J♥ 10♠, a straight. Every player still in the hand plays the board, and the pot is split between them, whatever their hole cards.

Common confusions

• "A flush beats a straight?" Yes. A flush is rarer, so it ranks higher. A full house beats both.
• "Can a straight wrap around?" No. Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight. The ace is either the top of A-K-Q-J-10 or the bottom of 5-4-3-2-A.
• "I have three pairs." There is no such hand. With three pairs available you play the two highest, plus the highest remaining card as the kicker.
• "Two three-of-a-kinds." That is a full house: the higher three plus a pair from the lower three.
• "Does my hand have to use my hole cards?" In Hold'em, no: you use any five of the seven cards, including all five on the board. In Omaha, yes: exactly two from your hand and exactly three from the board. That rule catches out many Hold'em players; our Omaha guide has examples.
• "My kicker was better, why did we split?" Because the kicker was not in either player's best five cards. If the board holds two pair and a high card, your hole cards may not play at all.
• "Four to a flush is a flush." It is not. Four cards of a suit is a flush draw; you need five.

Practise reading hands

Reading hands quickly comes from seeing lots of them. On PokerClub every showdown names the winning hand, and the hand history shows who held what, so you can check your reading after each pot. Free Play tables are open all day with 2,500 free virtual chips to start, in both Hold'em and Omaha.

Next: the full Hold'em and Omaha rules, running a home tournament, Pineapple OFC, which uses these rankings row by row, or hosting a poker night online.