Follow our easy guide for understanding all ten poker hand rankings and gain confidence in your poker game.
Poker is arguably the most popular card game in the world, and for all the people who play it, there are just as many who don't due to being somewhat daunted by the rules of the game, most notably the value of each hand.
Understanding poker hand rank is essential to playing the game effectively. Poker games involve a standard deck of 52 cards, and poker hands fall into ten categories, all of which we will explain in detail.
By familiarising yourself with these poker hands and studying our ranking chart, you will be able to better improve your poker game by knowing which hands are the best and which hands are the worst.
Knowing why a certain hand beats another will also help to simplify the game for beginners and pave the way for understanding more advanced strategies. Check out our poker cheat sheet below for an easy-to-follow breakdown of all ten poker hand rankings.
There are ten poker hands that players can utilise in standard poker games.
Royal flushes, straight flushes, and four-of-a-kind are among the highest-ranking hands in poker. Essentially, these are the hands you are most likely to raise or call a bet on.
Low-ranking hands like pairs or two pairs are less likely to net you a win at the card table, and most players will fold on such hands due to the risk of another player likely holding on to something of higher rank.
Below, we have provided detailed explanations of each poker hand in descending order from the best hand in poker to the worst.
A royal flush beats every other hand in poler.
A royal flush beats every other card combination, making it the best hand in poker. It consists of an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 cards all of the same suit.
A royal flush is an extremely rare hand to be dealt, hence explaining its high value within poker games.
While it's possible to have more than one royal flush in a game of poker, the likelihood of this happening is next to zero. In cases where this happens, the pot is usually split between the two players holding the royal flushes (although the outcome can be different depending on the poker variant you are playing).
This is why in poker strategy, a royal flush is the best hand to call a raise on as it's highly unlikely anyone else will have the same hand, and no other poker hands can beat it.
A straight flush is the second-highest ranking hand, consisting of five cards of the same in sequential order (all spades, for instance). This hand is much more common than a royal flush, and a straight flush beats every other poker hand besides a royal flush.
Having a straight flush in your hand should leave you confident to call a raise, as your chances of winning are still very high.
In cases where more than one player has a straight flush, the winner is determined by the player with the highest value straight.
This would be a 10-high straight, that is, a straight consisting of a 10, 9, 8, 7, and 6 card all the same suit. The next highest would be a 9-high straight, like in the above illustration, and so on and so on until you get to the lowest possible straight flush, a 5-high straight flush.
The third most valuable hand in traditional poker hand rankings, four of a kind, is a hand that contains four cards of the same rank, with the fifth card being a kicker. So, as the example shows above, this can be a hand consisting of four aces.
The best possible four of a kind hand is four Aces, followed by the face cards, Kings, Queen, and Jack and then the number cards descending from ten.
In poker games that use more than one deck (Irish online casinos often offer multi-deck poker games), the kicker comes into play.
If two players have the same four of a kind hands of the same rank, then the value of the kicker card determines the winner.
For instance, if one hand has four 7s and a King; and the other hand has four 7s and an Ace; the Ace card would beat the King meaning the second hand would be determined the winner.
However, say that two players each have four of a kind, but they're not the same values. For example, one hand consists of four Kings and a 7, and the other hand consists of four Queens and an Ace.
The hand with the four Kings would win despite the other hand having a higher kicker because the value of the Kings trumps the Queens. When determining the value of a four of a kind hand, the rank of the four cards always takes precedent over the kicker.
A full house consists of three cards of the same rank, followed by a pair of cards of the same rank. For instance, if we take the above example, that would consist of three Aces and a pair of 9s.
Full house poker hands can be referred to as "Aces full" or "Kings full", depending on the rank of the three cards in the hand.
The above example image shows "Aces full of 9s", which is a very good full house hand. However, the best full house you can get is "Aces full of Kings", which is a hand containing three Aces and two Kings.
When it comes to how full house poker hands rank against each other, it's the three cards that are the most important and "Aces full" will always win out the day.
If we take the above example once again, an "Aces full of 9s" will always beat a "Kings full of 10s" as it's the three cards in the full house hand that ultimately determine the value of the hand over the value of the pair.
A flush contains cards all of the same suit, but unlike a straight flush, they do not need to be in consecutive order, but can be cards of any rank from that same suit.
If more than one player has a flush, then the flush with the highest-ranking card wins. If the two players with flushes have the same highest card, then the second-highest card is used to determine a winner.
This tends to be one of the mid-level poker hand rankings, and as such, players should play more cautiously, as there is every chance that someone else at the table could have a better hand.
A straight is a hand that contains five cards in sequential order, but not all of the same suit.
So, for instance, you can have an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and a 10, which are all from different suits; if they were all the same suit you would have a royal flush; but because they are different suits it is now just a regular straight.
However, a straight can be any combination of cards as long as the values are in sequence. In some other poker games, depending on the variant you are playing, Aces can be played high or low in order to make a straight.
So you can have an Ace, 2, 3, 4, and 5; or you can have Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10, but the sequence can't wrap around, so you can never have a Queen, King, Ace, 2, and 3 form a winning combination.
A three of a kind hand consists of three cards of the same value or ranking and two additional cards that aren't paired with each other; as in the above example, three 9s along with a 5 and a 7.
It has some similarities to a full house, except it is missing the one pair, thus placing it significantly lower in poker hand rankings.
As you can see from the poker hands ranking chart at the top of this page, more poker hands beat a three-of-a-kind hand than can be beaten by it.
That doesn't mean that three of a kind will never win a round of poker for you; however, it's a shrewd player who decides to go on a hand like this.
Two pair is one of the lower-ranking poker hands and consists of two pairs of cards of the same value or ranking along with a kicker.
As you can see from the above example, a two pair hand can be made of two 7s and two 9s, along with a 5 card standing in as the kicker.
The kicker works as a tie breaker in any scenario where two players both have the same two pair in their hands. The kicker with the highest value determines the winner in said scenario.
One pair is the second-lowest-ranked poker hand in the game. A one-pair hand is made up of one pair of cards of the same value and three unrelated cards.
As you can see from the above example, a one pair can be made up of two 9s. If more than one player has a pair, then the highest pair wins.
If two players each have one pair of the same rank, then the player with the third card of the highest value wins.
So, for instance, say there are two players that both have a pair of 9s; one of the players is holding the hand in the above example; the other player is holding an 8, a 4, and a 3.
The second player wins because his 8 card trumps the highest-ranking card in the above example hand.
This is the lowest hand in our poker hands ranking chart, and it's a poor draw where any player is going to win a round with just a high card.
A high card hand is formed when a player's hand cannot form any recognisable card hand. In this instance, the high card is determined by the highest-ranking card in the hand, as with the above example, this would be the ace.
In any scenario where no player has a higher-ranking hand and two players have the same high card, the player with the next highest card in their hand wins.
Ace to five lowball is a variant of poker that uses a different poker hand ranking system. In this variant, the lowest-ranking hand wins, with aces being considered low cards.
Straights and flushes are not counted as ranking hands in Ace to Five Lowball. Likewise, pairs count against a player.
Players don't want to receive any of the high-ranking hands that we have detailed above. In low hand games, a high card will always beat one pair, one pair will beat two pair, and so on as you climb up the ranks toward a royal flush, which, as we have mentioned, are not counted.
No pair hands determine winners by the lowest-ranking card rather than the highest-ranking card in standard poker. So, it's better to have an Ace or a 2 rather than a King or a Queen, for instance.
If more than one player has a no-pair hand with an Ace, then the next lowest card in their hand determines the win.
The best possible hand in ace to five lowball is the “wheel,” which consists of an Ace, 2, 3, 4, and 5 as it is the lowest possible combination of cards that players can be dealt.
Texas Hold'em is a popular poker variant that is played with just one 52-card deck. Players must create the best five-card hand using a combination of their two private "hole cards" and five community cards dealt face-up on the table.
The player with the best five-card hand, using any combination of their hole cards and the community cards, win, so our poker hands ranking chart will come in useful for playing Texas Hold'em.
However, because only one deck is in play, rules such as the kicker in a four-of-a-kind hand don't apply.
This is a small variation to the standard rules, but it is one to keep in mind when considering the hand you can make with your hole cards and the community cards, as well as the potential combinations other players could make using the community cards.
Texas Hold'em requires players to have a keen understanding of power hand rankings. Given the presence of the five community cards, players must employ an added level of strategy to win a round.
Understanding the value of each poker hand ranking and developing a solid strategy are essential to success in poker.
While poker may seem daunting to new players, the hand rankings are quite simple to follow, and you will quickly get the hang of the game.
Whenever in doubt, please come back and refer to our poker cheat sheet to help you out when playing poker.
Mark has written extensively for the iGaming industry, covering topics including casino reviews, how-to-play guides, and articles on gambling regulation and responsible gambling practices. He is passionate about the Irish casino market, constantly searching for the best online casinos and games to offer our readers. Check out his articles like our best online casinos page for his expert know-how on Irish online casinos.
A royal flush beats every other hand in poker; it must contain an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 card all of the same suit to be a royal flush, making it a rare card combination. The next best poker hand is a straight flush, which contains five cards of the same suit in sequence.
There are 2,598,960 possible five-card poker hands that can be formed from a standard deck of 52 cards. As there are multiple ways of forming certain hands, the probability of pulling, say, a royal flush is calculated by dividing the number of different ways you can draw the hand.
In this case, four different ways (or one for every suit) divided by the number of possible card hands, 2,598,960. This means there is a one in 649,740, or 0.000154% chance of drawing a royal flush.
A high card is the lowest-ranked poker hand in the game. A high card can only win when no other player can form a recognisable poker hand. High cards are often used as tie-breakers, or kickers, when players have the same ranked hand.
High cards are commonly used to determine a tie break when two players have the same one pair or two pair card combinations. In multi-deck poker variants, the high card is also used as a tie breaker when two players have the same four-of-a-kind hand.
