It is important that beginners understand the fundementals of why poker hands are ranked as they are, and what gives them their value. Poker is played with a regular 52 card deck. Each card is ranked from high to low in the order of : Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. In poker Aces are always the best card. In a poker hand, Aces are worth more than Kings, Kings are worth more than Queens, Queens are worth more than Jacks which are worth more than 10s etc. Although there are four different suits in the deck, they all have the same value. The suits are: Clubs: Spades: Hearts: Diamonds:

Each suit is of the same value which means that none are valued more highly than another. While the amount of hole cards and community cards dealt for players is different between different variations of poker, the object is always to end up with the most highly valued hand possible. From highest to lowest value, poker hands are ranked in the following order:

Straight Flush

Four of a Kind

Full House

Flush

Straight

Three of a Kind

Two Pair

One Pair

High Card (worst)

Royal Flush

This is the most highly valued hand in all of poker and is extremely rare. A Royal Flush must be comprised of a 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, all of the same suit.

Example:

HAND 1:

J

Q

K

A

HAND 2:

J

Q

K

A

Straight Flush

A Straight Flush is made up of five cards in consecutive numerical order (a straight), all of the identical suit (a flush). A Straight Flush cannot “wrap-around”, such as K-A-1-2-3, it MUST stay within the regular order of card rankings. While it is extremely infrequent to get a straight flush in a hand, if by chance two players active in the same hand both have one, the player’s which reaches the highest card value will win. As you can see, example Hand 1 would beat Hand 2.

Example:

HAND 1:9 10 J Q K HAND 2:4 5 6 7 8

Four of a Kind

Four cards of the exact same numerical ranking together with any other card (remember that although you may have four of a kind, you still need to create a five card hand). If two or more players can make this hand at the end of a round, the highest-valued Four of a Kind wins. Check out the examples below in which Hand 2 beats Hand 1.

Examples:
HAND 1:6 6 6 6 J HAND 2:Q Q Q Q 3

Full House

Of the five cards in your final hand you have three of a kind together with a pair. If two player’s hands qualify as full houses, whichever player has the highest ranking Three of a Kind wins. If both players have the same Three of a Kind, ties are beaten by the hand with the numerically higher pair. So A-A-A-4-4 beats 10-10-10-Q-Q, which beats 10-10-10-7-7.

Examples:
HAND 1:J J J 4 4 HAND 2:5 5 5 A A

Flush

A Flush consists of five cards all of the same suit; numerical rank is insignificant. If a tie exists between two or more players, the Flush with the highest ranked card will win. In the example below, Hand 1 (with a King) beats Hand 2 (with a Queen).

Examples:
HAND 1:2 4 7 J K HAND 2:5 6 7 8 Q

Straight

A Straight is made when a player has five cards in consecutive numerical order, irrespective of suit. Exactly like a Straight Flush, a Straight cannot “wrap around”. In a situation in which both players hold a straight, the player with the straight ending with the more highly ranked card will win. In the example below, Hand 1 beats Hand 2.

Examples:
HAND 1:7 8 9 10 J HAND 2:3 4 5 6 7

Three of a Kind

Three of a Kind consists of three cards all of the same numerical rank together with two random other cards which do not form a pair. If more than two players qualify Three of a Kind when a round is complete, the player with the higher valued Three of a Kind will always win.

Examples:
HAND 1:10 1010 3 Q HAND 2:2 2 2 8 9

Two Pair

Two Pair is made of a five card hand consisting of two pairs and another random card. If more than one player has Two Pair, the player with the highest pair wins. If two players have the same Two Pair, then the player with the highest valued fifth card wins the round. For example 9-9-3-3-K would beat 9-9-3-3-2. In the example below Hand 2 would beat Hand 1.

Examples:
HAND 1:7 7 J J 5 HAND 2:Q Q K K A

One Pair

Two cards of the same rank together with three more random cards. If two or more players have the same pair, the player with the next best high card will win.

Examples:
HAND 1:8 8 5 K 3 HAND 2:2 2 3 4 5

High Card

If all the remaining players in a hand have nothing of value in their best five card hand, the player who holds the highest ranked card will win. The lowest, or worst, card in this scenario is a 2 and the highest, and best, card is an Ace. If more than one player share the same highest card, the winner is chosen by the next best High Card, and so on and so forth.

Examples:
HAND 1:2 4 5 10 Q HAND 2:2 8 9 10J


Visit our Low Poker Hands page for a list low rankings used in Hi Lo poker games.  If you are looking for rules for poker games, visit our Poker Rules section.