Poker Hand Rankings
Last reviewed · CardLore editorial
Ten hands, the same ten in every poker game ever dealt. A royal flush is the best and a high card is the worst, and nothing about the variant, the stakes or the house changes that order. Learning it is the one piece of memorisation poker requires.
The rankings exist because of how rare each hand is. Four of a kind beats a full house for no reason other than that four of a kind is harder to make.
The ten hands in order
Poker hands from strongest to weakest
| Hand | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Royal flush | A K Q J 10, all one suit | A K Q J 10 of hearts |
| 2. Straight flush | Five cards in sequence, all one suit | 9 8 7 6 5 of clubs |
| 3. Four of a kind | Four cards of the same rank | Q Q Q Q 3 |
| 4. Full house | Three of a kind plus a pair | J J J 8 8 |
| 5. Flush | Five cards of one suit, not in sequence | K 10 8 5 2 of spades |
| 6. Straight | Five cards in sequence, mixed suits | 8 7 6 5 4 |
| 7. Three of a kind | Three cards of the same rank | 7 7 7 K 4 |
| 8. Two pair | Two separate pairs | A A 9 9 6 |
| 9. One pair | Two cards of the same rank | 10 10 K 7 3 |
| 10. High card | No pair and no sequence | A J 9 5 2 |
Every poker hand is exactly five cards. In Hold’em you choose the best five from seven, in Stud the best five from your own seven, in Draw you simply hold five. The comparison at the end is always five against five.
How often each hand appears
These figures are for a five-card hand dealt from a full deck. In seven-card games the chances are considerably higher, because you are choosing the best five of seven.
Frequency in a five-card deal
| Hand | Combinations | Roughly one deal in |
|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 4 | 649,740 |
| Straight flush | 36 | 72,193 |
| Four of a kind | 624 | 4,165 |
| Full house | 3,744 | 694 |
| Flush | 5,108 | 509 |
| Straight | 10,200 | 255 |
| Three of a kind | 54,912 | 47 |
| Two pair | 123,552 | 21 |
| One pair | 1,098,240 | 2.4 |
| High card | 1,302,540 | 2 |
Breaking ties
Two players often make the same kind of hand. The tie-break rules below decide the pot, and they are the source of most disagreements at a home game.
- Compare the rank that defines the hand first. Three queens beat three jacks; a flush headed by an ace beats a flush headed by a king.
- Then compare the remaining cards in order. These are kickers. A A K 7 4 beats A A K 6 5 because the fourth card is higher.
- Only five cards count. A sixth or seventh card never breaks a tie, however high it is.
- Suits never break a tie. If the five cards are equal in rank, the pot is split, whatever the suits.
Tie-breaks in practice
| Situation | Winner | Why |
|---|---|---|
| K K 9 7 4 against K K 9 7 2 | The first hand | Same two pair, higher fifth card |
| Two flushes in hearts, A-high against K-high | The ace-high flush | Highest card of the flush decides it |
| Q Q Q 8 5 against Q Q Q 8 5 | Split pot | Identical five cards; suits are ignored |
| Straight to the ten against straight to the nine | The ten-high straight | Top card of the run decides it |
| Full house, aces over twos, against kings over queens | Aces over twos | The three of a kind is compared first |
The hands people misread
- The ace is both high and low in a straight. A-K-Q-J-10 is the best straight and 5-4-3-2-A is the worst. A straight never wraps around: Q-K-A-2-3 is not a hand.
- Four of a kind still needs a fifth card. In a shared-card game, the fifth card can decide a tie when both players use the same four.
- Two pair is only two pair. Holding three pairs across seven cards means your hand is the best two of them plus the highest remaining card.
- A flush is five cards, not four. Four hearts and a high card is a high-card hand.
- A straight flush is not a separate flush. It is ranked as a straight flush and beats both components.
- In Omaha the rules change. The ranking is identical, but you must use exactly two cards from your hand, which makes some apparently obvious hands illegal.
Lowball rankings
A few games invert the order so that the worst hand wins. The two common systems differ in whether straights and flushes count against the player.
- Ace-to-Five
- Aces are low, straights and flushes are ignored. The best hand is 5-4-3-2-A, called a wheel. Used in Razz and in the low half of Omaha Hi-Lo.
- Deuce-to-Seven
- Aces are high, straights and flushes count against you. The best hand is 7-5-4-3-2 of mixed suits.
- Eight-or-better
- A qualifier used in split-pot games: the low hand must be five unpaired cards of eight or lower, or no low is awarded.
Common questions
Does a flush beat a full house?
No. The order is four of a kind, then full house, then flush, then straight. A full house beats any flush.
What beats a straight?
A flush, a full house, four of a kind, a straight flush and a royal flush. Nothing below a flush beats a straight.
Is the ace high or low?
Both, in standard poker. It is the highest card in a hand and may also act as a one at the bottom of a straight.
Do suits matter in poker?
Only for forming a flush, and for deciding the bring-in on third street in Stud. Suits never decide which of two finished hands wins.
What happens if the board makes the best hand?
In a community-card game, every remaining player holds that hand and the pot is split. This is called playing the board.