Understanding poker hand rankings is one of the most crucial steps to becoming a winning poker player.
Many of the world’s most popular poker variants use the same rules for deciding what beats what in poker. For example, a royal flush is the best possible hand you can make in Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Seven Card Stud, Five Card Draw, and many other poker games.
This “Poker Hands Ranked” guide from WPT.com gives you everything you need to know about how to decide what hand wins when the cards are revealed in a game of poker.
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What Beats What In Poker?
The poker hands ranking chart that you see below includes all of the hand classes you can make in a game of poker. The hands are ranked from strongest to weakest.
For example, you’ll see the royal flush listed at the top of the rankings. A royal flush beats all of the hands listed below it in the rankings, a straight flush beats all of the hands below it, and so on.
Keep in mind that these poker hand rankings apply to games that require you to make the best five-card hand to win. There are games that use different hand rankings, and those will be discussed later in this article.
Each heading in the chart includes an example of that hand next to the name. Calling this a “poker cheat sheet” isn’t quite accurate, but you would do well to study these rankings until they become second nature.
Poker Hand Rankings Chart
Royal Flush (A♥K♥Q♥J♥T♥)
The strongest hand you can possibly make in poker is the royal flush.
A royal flush consists of A-K-Q-J-T of all the same suit. Another way to look at it – a royal flush is the best possible straight flush you can hold.
The odds against making a royal flush in Texas Hold’em are nearly 650,000-to-1, making it extremely rare! No matter how many poker hands you play, a royal flush is a special hand.
Click here to see an incredible hand from WPT India involving a royal flush vs. a straight flush.
Straight Flush (J♦T♦9♦8♦7♦)
A straight flush is five sequential cards that are all the same suit. In other words, a straight flush is both a flush and a straight at the same time.
The A-K-Q-J-T straight flush (aka the royal flush) is the best possible straight flush you can make. The 5-4-3-2-A straight flush is the weakest version of this hand, although there’s certainly nothing “weak” about any combination that makes a straight flush.
In the rare event that two straight flushes go head-to-head, the winning hand is determined by which straight flush has the highest high card.
Four of a Kind (A♠A♥A♦A♣K♦)
A four-of-a-kind hand is made of four cards of the same rank. Examples of four-of-a-kind include four aces, four kings, four nines, four fours, etc.
Four aces is the strongest possible four of a kind, while four deuces (aka four twos) is the lowest-ranking four of a kind.
Four of a kind is a very strong hand in poker, and only loses to a straight flush or a royal flush.
Check out this video with Tom Dwan making four of a kind against Garrett Adelstein.
Full House (K♥K♣K♦5♠5♣)
A full house consists of three of a kind and a pair in the same five-card hand. Examples of a full house could include K♥K♣K♦5♠5♣, T♣T♦T♥6♠6♣, and 8♥8♣8♦2♠2♣.
The K♥K♣K♦5♠5♣ is referred to as “kings full of fives,” while the 5♠5♣5♥K♣K♦ version is called “fives full of kings.”
In a battle of two or more full houses, the full house with the higher three of a kind wins. For instance, K♥K♣K♦5♠5♣ beats 5♠5♣5♥K♣K♦.
A full house is often called a “full boat” or just a “boat” in poker. A full house beats a flush, a straight, and all other hands below in on this chart.
Jean-Robert Bellands gets to the river with a full house in this $728,000 hand.
Flush (A♣Q♣7♣3♣2♣)
Five cards of all the same suit make a flush in poker.
Examples of flushes could include A♣Q♣7♣3♣2♣, K♥T♥7♥6♥3♥, and T♦7♦5♦4♦2♦.
If two flushes go head to head, the highest flush wins. For example, A♣Q♣7♣3♣2♣ beats Q♣7♣5♣3♣2♣.
A flush beats a straight, three of a kind, and all other hands below it on this list.
Straight (Q♣J♦T♣9♥8♠)
A straight is made of five sequential cards. The five cards in the straight don’t have to be of the same suit.
Examples of a straight could include Q♣J♦T♣9♥8♠, T♣9♦8♣7♥6♠, and 5♣4♦3♣2♥A♠.
The ace-high version of the straight A♥K♠Q♣J♦T♣ is known as the broadway straight, and is the strongest version of the straight you can make.
If two straights go head-to-head, the straight with the highest high card wins. Keep in mind that the ace can work as both the highest card of the Broadway straight (A♥K♠Q♣J♦T♣) and the lowest card of the 5♣4♦3♣2♥A♠ straight (aka the “wheel” straight).
Three-of-a-Kind (Q♠Q♦Q♣5♦4♣)
A three-of-a-kind hand consists of three of the same-ranking card. Examples of three of a kind could include Q♠Q♦Q♣5♦4♣, T♠T♦T♣A♦7♣ and 5♠5♦5♣J♦K♣.
If two or more three-of-a-kind hands go to battle, the hand with the highest-ranking three of a kind wins. For example, Q♠Q♦Q♣5♦4♣ beats T♠T♦T♣A♦7♣.
In Texas Hold’em, three of a kind is often called “trips” if you make three of a kind with one hole card and two community cards.
If you make three of a kind with a pocket pair and one community card, that’s known as making a “set” in Texas Hold’em.
Two of the world’s best players both make three of a kind in this hand from WPT Alpha8.
Two-Pair (A♣A♦7♣7♠2♥)
Much like the name suggests, a two-pair hand is made when you hold two distinct pairs in the same five-card hand.
Examples of two-pair hands could include A♣A♦7♣7♠2♥, J♣J♦5♣5♠3♥ and 9♣9♦7♣7♠5♥.
If two or more two-pair hands go to battle, the hand with the highest-ranking high pair wins. For instance, A♣A♦7♣7♠2♥ beats J♣J♦5♣5♠3♥.
One-Pair (K♠K♦8♦5♥4♥)
A one-pair hand (or just a “pair”) is made when you have two cards of the same ranking in your five-card hand.
A pair is the lowest-ranking made hand you can have in poker. In a battle of two or more one-pair hands, the highest pair wins.
High Card (A♠K♦9♦7♥2♥)
When you don’t make a pair or better with your five cards, you’re hand is known as a high-card hand.
A hand like A♠K♦9♦7♥2♥ is known as “ace-high,” a hand like K♦9♦7♥5♠2♥ is known as “king-high,” and so on.
When two high-card hands face off, the hand with the highest-ranking high card wins.
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Card Rankings in a 52-Card Deck
Most poker games use a standard 52-card deck. This regulation playing card deck includes 13 different cards, with four suits for each (13×4=52).
The 13 cards rank as follows, from highest value to lowest:
- A♠A♥A♦A♣ (Ace)
- K♠K♥K♦K♣ (King)
- Q♠Q♥Q♦Q♣ (Queen)
- J♠J♥J♦J♣ (Jack)
- T♠T♥T♦T♣ (Ten)
- 9♠9♥9♦9♣
- 8♠8♥8♦8♣
- 7♠7♥7♦7♣
- 6♠6♥6♦6♣
- 5♠5♥5♦5♣
- 4♠4♥4♦4♣
- 3♠3♥3♦3♣
- 2♠2♥2♦2♣ (aka “Deuce”)
The Ace can also be used as the lowest-ranking card in the deck, and make the low end of the 5♣4♦3♣2♥A♠ straight.
When two hands of equal value go heads-up in a poker game, the hand with the higher ranking in this Ace-to-Deuce chart wins.
For example, a pair beats another pair if it contains the higher-ranking cards in the pair. So, a pair of aces always beats a pair of kings, a pair of kings always beats a pair of queens, and so on.
The Q♣J♦T♣9♥8♠ straight beats the T♣9♦8♣7♥6♠ straight, the A♣Q♣7♣3♣2♣ flush beats the Q♣7♣5♣3♣2♣, etc.
The two through ten cards are fairly intuitive to figure out in terms of which ones outrank the others when playing poker. It’s crucial to understand how the Jack-through-Ace cards relate to each other.
Kickers
In Texas Hold’em and other games, you’ll quite often see situations where two players turn over hands of the same value. Which hand wins the pot in this case?
When two hands of the same value go head-to-head, the next-highest card in the hand determines the winner. This card is known as the “kicker,” and you’ll see kickers come into play often at the poker table.
For example, let’s say all five community cards are on the board in a game of Texas Hold’em. The board reads:
A♠T♦9♦5♥3♥
One player turns over A♦Q♣ as their hole cards, and another flips over A♣J♦. Which player wins?
In this battle of the same highest pair, A♦Q♣ wins over A♣J♦. Both players have a pair of Aces, but the player with A♦Q♣ has the better kicker.
You can visualize these two five-card hands (using the two hole cards with three community cards to make the best hand) like this:
Player One has: A♦A♠Q♣T♦9♦
Player Two has: A♦A♣J♦T♦9♦
In the above hands, Player One has a pair of Aces with a queen kicker, which beats Player Two’s pair of Aces with a jack kicker.
In some cases, two (or more) players will turn over the exact same hand with the exact same card as the kicker. In such cases, the players split the pot equally.
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What Games Use The Standard Poker Hand Rankings?
Poker players around the world know the standard poker hand rankings well. You can refer to the poker hand rankings chart above when you play the following games:
- Texas Hold’em
- Omaha
- Stud
- Five Card Draw
Many other poker games use the standard poker hand rankings as well.
Lowball Hand Rankings
Some poker games use Lowball hand rankings. These games include Lowball, Badugi, Razz, Omaha Hi-Lo, and others.
If you’re playing a game with Lowball hand rankings, you’re trying to make the lowest possible hand. These games do use the standard poker hand rankings in a sense, but reversed.
Most Lowball games use one of two kinds of hand rankings:
Ace-to-Five Lowball Hand Rankings
In Ace-to-Five lowball, the Ace-to-Five straight is the lowest and best hand you can possibly make.
Flushes and straights don’t count in Ace-to-Five games, so any combination of 5-4-3-2-A makes the best possible hand (aka the “nuts”).
The highest card in your hand determines the strength of your hand, while the other cards act as kickers.
For instance, 8-5-4-3-2 beats 9-5-4-3-A, as all eight-high hands beat all nine-high hands.
Again, flushes and straights don’t count in Ace-to-Five games, so 5♣4♣3♣2♣A♣ is the same value as 5♠4♦3♦2♥A♥
Deuce-to-Seven Lowball Hand Rankings
Deuce-to-Seven Lowball games require you to make the lowest hand possible, but with a couple of major fundamental differences when compared to Ace-to-Five games.
In Deuce-to-Seven, the best (lowest) possible hand is 7-5-4-3-2. That’s because straights do count against you under Deuce-to-Seven rules, so a hand like 5-4-3-2-A is a disaster.
Flushes also count against you in Deuce-to-Seven. So while 7♥5♠4♦3♦2♥ makes the nuts, 7♣5♣4♣3♣2♣ does not.
Poker Hand Rankings FAQ
What are the rankings of hands in poker?
As detailed in this guide, poker hand rankings from strongest to weakest go in this order: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card.
From top to bottom, the hands listed here beat all of the hands below them in the poker hand rankings.
Some poker games use lowball hand rankings, which essentially reverse the order of the hand rankings.
What is statistically the best hand in poker?
The strongest and most rare hand you can make in poker is the royal flush. A royal flush consists of an ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of all the same suit.
The royal flush ranks as the highest-possible straight flush (a straight and a flush at the same time) that you can make. Statistically, the odds of making a royal flush in a game of poker are about 650,000-to-1.
Does a straight beat a flush?
No. A flush always beats a straight in poker.
Does four of a kind beat a full house?
Yes. Four of a kind beats a full house, although both four of a kind and a full house are very strong poker hands.
Does four of a kind beat a straight flush?
No. While four of a kind is a very strong poker hand, it loses to the straight flush.
Does a flush beat a straight?
Yes. A flush always beats a straight in poker.
Does a flush beat three of a kind?
Yes. A flush always beats three of a kind in poker.
Does three of a kind beat two pair?
Yes. Any three-of-a-kind hands beats a two-pair hand in poker.
Does three of a kind beat a straight?
No. A straight beats three of a kind in poker.
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