Poker hand rankings: what beats what.
Every poker hand is made of five cards. In Texas Hold'em you use the best five out of seven — your two hole cards and the five on the board. Here are all ten hands, strongest first.
- 010.003%
Royal flush
Ace, king, queen, jack and ten, all the same suit. The best hand there is.
- 020.03%
Straight flush
Five cards in a row, all the same suit.
- 030.17%
Four of a kind
All four cards of one rank ("quads").
- 042.6%
Full house
Three of a kind plus a pair ("kings full of fours").
- 053.0%
Flush
Any five cards of the same suit, not in a row.
- 064.6%
Straight
Five cards in a row, mixed suits. Ace can be high (A-K-Q-J-10) or low (A-2-3-4-5).
- 074.8%
Three of a kind
Three cards of one rank ("trips", or a "set" when you hold a pocket pair).
- 0823.5%
Two pair
Two different pairs.
- 0943.8%
One pair
Two cards of the same rank.
- 1017.4%
High card
None of the above — your highest card plays.
Percentages: how often each is the best five-card hand among seven cards — what you'd end up with by the river if you never folded.
When two players have the same hand
- Higher cards win. A pair of kings beats a pair of nines; a king-high flush beats a ten-high flush; an eight-high straight beats a six-high one.
- Then the kicker. If the pairs are equal, the highest remaining card — the kicker — decides. A♠ A♦ K♣ beats A♥ A♣ Q♦. That's why "ace-king" is so much better than "ace-four".
- Suits never break ties. Two identical straights or flushes of the same ranks split the pot.
- Only five cards count. If the five board cards are the best hand anyone can make — say a straight that no one's hole cards improve — everyone still in the hand splits the pot.
- The wheel. A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight. The ace can't wrap around: Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.