Poker Hand Rankings

Posted By admin On 13/04/22
  1. Get coaching while you play hands and watch videos taught by Jonathan Little and elite poker coaches. Click here to learn more. Master The Fundamentals.
  2. The rules of poker are simple and the way the hands are ranked is very straight forward. In total there are 10 different kinds of hands you can have. These hands are ranked from top to bottom from the Royal Flush to the single high card. The rules of poker are simple and the way the hands are ranked.

In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high games, like Texas hold 'em and seven-card stud, the highest-ranking hands win.

Learning poker hand rankings gives you an edge when playing.

If you understand how poker hand rankings gives an advantage when competing at a high stakes game should not be a problem.

Some of the basics include:

  • Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, Five Card Draw, and Omaha follow the old school high poker rankings.
  • Stud Hi/Lo and Omaha Hi/Lo and Razz follow the Ace to Five low hand rankings.
  • 2-7 Single Draw and 2-7 Triple Draw follow Kansas City or Deuce to Seven lowball rankings.

Related article: The 6 Best Poker Starting Hands You Must Know About

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Royal Flush

Basically, when you get five cards of the same suit in sequence, this forms the straight flush.

When there is a tie, the player with the highest rank from the sequence takes home the pot.

The royal flush is the best possible straight flush you can achieve. This contains the king, queen, ace including the jack and ten of a suit.

It is the most important and unbeatable hand you can get.

Poker Hand Rankings Texas

poker hand rankings: Four of a Kind

This contains a kicker or side plus four cards with similar rank.

If there is a tie, the player with a highest four of a kind takes the pot.

For community card games, if people have similar four of a kind then the player with the highest kicker or fifth side card takes the winnings.

poker hand rankings: Full House

The full house contains three cards with the same rank plus two cards of a matching but different rank.

If there is a tie, the player holding the highest three matching cards wins.

In the case of community card games, if there are players holding three matching cards then the player holding two matching cards with the highest value takes the pot.

poker hand rankings: Flush

You need to have five cards under the same suit to create a flush.

If there is a tie then the player with the highest ranked card takes the pot. In other cases, the second-highest then the third, fourth and the fifth will be used to finish the game.

If the players hold similar ranks then they split the pot. The suit cannot be used to decide who wins in case of a tie.

Straight

You get a straight hand if you have five cards in sequence.

If there is a tie, the player holding the highest ranking card from the rest of the sequence takes the pot.

Poker Hand Rankings Chart

Remember that the ace may be at the bottom or at the top of the sequence. It is also the only card allowed to act in this instance.

The highest straight is A,K,Q,J,T called the Ace high. The lowest straight is 5,4,3,2,A called the Five high.

Three of a Kind

You can achieve three of a kind by getting three cards under the same rank plus two unrelated cards.

If there is a tie, the player holding the highest ranking three will take the pot.

For community card games, if there are people holding similar hands then the player with the highest or second-highest side card becomes the winner.

Two Pair

Create two pairs using two cards with the corresponding rank.

Include one side card plus two other cards with different but corresponding rank. If there is a tie then the player holding the highest pair takes the pot.

Poker Hand Rankings List

For games with players holding similar highest pair then the highest second pair decides the winner. If players hold same pairs then their highest side card give them the advantage.

One Pair

You form one pair if you have three unrelated side cards plus two cards of the corresponding rank.

If there is a tie then the player holding the highest pair takes the pot. And If there are people with the same pair, their highest side card decides if they win or not.

If they are similar then the second or the third-highest side card will decide who takes the pot.

poker hand rankings: High Card

You form the high card with any hand not mentioned or categorized in the previous ranks.

If there is a tie, the player holding the highest card takes the pot.

If players have the same cards then the second or third or even up to fourth highest smallest card decides who the winner is.

Ace to Five Lowball Hand Ranks

This is a type of ranking method for low hands found in traditional games like Razz, Omaha Stud Hi/Lo, and Hi/Lo.

Remember that suits are not as important under this category.

Poker

A straight or flush cannot break Ace to Five low poker hand. You can consider aces as “low card.”

It is also important to remember that the values in five-card low stand begin with the top card.

Then it goes down to every card. For Wheel or Five Low, this features an Ace, Deuce, Three, Four, and Five.

Also read: Governor Of Poker 2: How Is It Different From The First?

If there is a tie then players with the five-high hands divide the pot.

You can form a six low so long as you get five unpaired cards. The highest card should be six. If there is a tie then the player holding the lower second-highest-ranking card becomes the winner.

This means 6,5,4,2,A loses to 6,4,3,2,A. If possible, the third, fourth or the fifth-highest card decides the winner in the tie.

You can create a seven low with any five unpaired cards.

The highest card should be a seven.

If there is a tie, the player holding the lower second-highest ranking card becomes the winner. If there is still a tie then the third, fourth or fifth highest cards will decide who takes home the pot.

The eight low contains five unpaired cards. The highest card should be an eight. If there is a tie, the lower second-highest ranking card decides the winner.

The same principle is applied if there is still a tie.

Knowing your different poker hand ranks should help you assess which ones give you the best advantage.

It is also easier to decide whether you should continue playing or not if you know what hand you can or cannot create.

Posted on 2015-02-26 Comments (0)

Poker Hand Rankings With Jokers


No matter which variant of poker you play, the rank of poker hands always stays the same. The hand ranking was determined over a hundred years ago, with each hand’s rank roughly corresponding to the likelihood that a particular hand will occur (unlikely hands are ranked higher), although the exact odds for each hand will vary between different types of poker.

We now offer a Rank of Poker Hands poster (image at right) that can be displayed in your game room to help your newer players learn the hands and the order they rank in. It’s an excellent way to head off questions about what outranks what that can reveal to other players what might be in the newbie’s hand.

The standard rank of poker hands is:

1. Five of a kind
This is technically the highest-ranked hand, although it is only available in games involving wild cards. Five of a kind consists of all four of a particular rank of card, plus a wild card (example: 9-9-9-9-2 in a deuces wild game). Ties are broken by the rank of the cards (five nines beats five eights).
2. Royal flush
This is the highest-ranked traditional poker hand. A royal flush consists of A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit. Competing royal flushes split the pot.
3. Straight flush
A straight flush consists of five cards of the same suit in sequence (example: 4-5-6-7-8♠). Ties are broken by the highest card; competing straight flushes with the same top card split the pot.
4. Four of a kind
Four of a kind consists of all four of a particular rank of card (example: 5-5-5-5-J). Ties are broken by the rank of the cards (four 6s beats four 5s).
5. Full house
A full house consists of three of one rank of card and two of another (example: 7-7-7-3-3). Ties are broken by the rank of the three matching cards (Q-Q-Q-9-9 beats 10-10-10-K-K).
6. Flush
A flush consists of five cards of the same suit, not in any particular order (example: 5-6-9-J-K♦). Ties are broken by the rank of the highest card, then by the next highest if necessary, and so on until the tie is broken.
7. Straight
A straight consists of five cards of any suit in sequence (example: 4♦-5♣-6♣-7♠-8♥). If all cards are the same suit, it becomes a straight flush. Ties are broken by the highest card; competing straights with the same top card split the pot.
8. Three of a kind
Sometimes called trips or a set, three of a kind consists of three cards of the same rank and two non-matched cards (example: 7-7-7-3-A). Ties are broken by the rank of the three matching cards.
9. Two pair
Two pair consists of two matching cards of one rank and two matching cards of another rank, with a fifth unmatching card (example: 7-7-3-3-10). Ties are broken by the higher pair, then the lower pair, then the unmatched card.
10. One pair
A pair with three unmatched cards (example: A-A-5-7-9). Ties are broken by the pair, then the highest unmatched card, then next highest, and so on.
11. High card
Five unmatched cards (example: 4-5-7-9-10). Ties are broken by the highest card, then the next highest, and so on.

Posted in Game Rules Tags: card games, game rules, poker, poker hands

Poker Hand Rankings Photos

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