Poker Article: Poker Hand Rankings

Many people are mystified about the ordering of hand ranks in poker. Without question, this issue is one of the most discussed amongst the Poker community. Fortunately, we have taken the time here to fully describe poker hand rankings from lowest to highest, and provide examples of each type of hand. Hopefully, this will clear up any ambiguities that poker players may have regarding this subject.

• High Card - This is the worst possible hand in poker. As an example, a high-card could be: Queen of Clubs, 8 of Hearts, 4 of Diamonds, King of Spades, and 9 of Hearts. If multiple hands are high-card hands, then the hand that has the highest card wins.

• One Pair - A one-pair hand consists of 2 cards of the same number or face value. As an example, a one-pair hand could be: Ace of Hearts, 7 of Diamonds, 6 of Spades, 4 of Hearts, and 4 of Clubs. If more than one participant has the same one-pair hand, then the highest card, of the remaining 3 cards, wins the hand. Odds of acquiring this hand: 2.36-to-1.

• Two Pairs - Two pairs is a hand that consists of 2 groups of 2 cards of the same number or face value. As an example, a two-pairs hand could be: Queen of Hearts, Queen of Spades, 7 of Diamonds, 9 of Hearts, and 9 of Clubs. If more than one two-pairs hands exist in a game, then the hand with the highest pair wins. In this case, if more than one participant has identical high pair cards, then the poker player with the highest second pair cards wins. Again, in this case, if both pairs of hands are the same across multiple players, then the 5th card, also known as the "kicker" card, determines the winner (the highest "kicker" determines the winner in this scenario). Odds of acquiring this hand: 20-to-1.

• Three-of-a-Kind - A Three-of-a-kind hand consists of 3 cards of the same number or face value. As an example, a three-of-a-kind hand could be: King of Clubs, 4 of Hearts, 6 of Diamonds, 6 of Spades, and 6 of Hearts. In the event of more than one player having a three-of-a-kind in a game, the hand with the highest card in the threesome wins. Odds of acquiring this hand: 46-to-1.

• Straight - A Straight is 5 cards in order sequence, where any of these cards can belong to any suit. As an example, a straight could be: 7 of Spades, 8 of Hearts, 9 of Hearts, 10 of Diamonds, and Jack of Spades. With a straight, an Ace can be used as a high card (10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace) or as a low card (A, 2, 3, 4, 5). In the event that more than one player has a straight, the hand with the highest card in the straight is victorious. Odds of acquiring this hand: 254-to-1.

• Flush - A Flush is a hand that has 5 cards all of the same suit. As an example, a flush could be: 4 of Clubs, 6 of Clubs, 10 of Clubs, Queen of Clubs, and King of Clubs. If there is more than one player with a flush in a game, then the flush that contains the highest card wins. Odds of acquiring this hand: 508-to-1.

• Full House - A Full House consists of 3 cards of one number or face value and 2 other cards of one number or face value. As an example, a Full House hand could be: Jack of Hearts, Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Clubs, 6 of Hearts, and 6 of Spades. If more than one player has a Full House in a game, then the player with the highest ranking 3-of-a-kind, wins. Odds of acquiring this hand: 693-to-1.

• Four-of-a-Kind - A Four-of-a-Kind hand means that 4 of the 5 cards have the same number or face value. As an example, a four-of-a-kind-hand could be: 2 of Spades, 2 of Clubs, 2 of Diamonds, 2 of Hearts, and Jack of Hearts. If there are more than one Four-of-a-Kind hands in a game, then the hand with the higher card (in the four-of-a-kind) wins the game. Odds of acquiring this hand: 4,164-to-1.

• Straight Flush - A Straight Flush is a hand where you have 5 cards in a sequence, all of which are in the same suit. As an example, a straight flush could be: 7 of Spades, 8 of Spades, 9 of Spades, 10 of Spades, and Jack of Spades. If there is more than 1 straight Flush in a game, the hand with the highest card in the straight flush wins the game. Odds of acquiring this hand: 72,192-to-1.

• Royal Flush - This is the best possible hand that you can have in Poker. A Royal Flush is an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10, all of the same suit. As an example, a Royal Flush Hand could be: Ace of Hearts, King of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, Jack of Hearts, and 10 of Hearts. This hand defeats any other hand. Odds of acquiring this hand: 649,739-to-1.