Hand combinations in poker is a cornerstone, because if you don’t know the poker hand rankings, you are simply going to lose money. Hand rankings in poker is one of the components of the poker rules, because the main goal is to form the strongest card combination available, or either to force your opponent to fold his cards.

• Poker Best Hands In Order
• Order Of Hands In Poker
• Poker Strength Of Hands Chart

Poker Hand Range and Strength Since Texas Hold’em poker is a flop game with community cards, you won’t need to focus as hard on these percentages as you would playing a draw game – including video poker – where you have to decide which cards to throw away. Understanding poker hand strength is one of the first key concepts new players should learn and veterans should never forget. Recreational players (often called simply recs these days) miss this basic building block of Texas Hold’em, playing starting hands based on hunches, tilt, intoxication level,.

This article is the third one in the series of educational materials about poker rules. In this article we will go through the hand rankings in poker, which are used in the most varieties of poker games, including no-limit Texas Hold’em.

This article will teach you:

• What are the hands in Texas Hold'em;
• The names of combinations of poker hands;
• How to know your chances to get this or that particular poker hand/combination;
• What are poker hands in order of strength (from highest to lowest) and many things more.

We’ve also made up a small step-by-step tutorial for you to remember all the combinations in poker and also to decide immediately their seniority:

• Step 1. Print out the table with poker hands in order or a pictures with poker combinations and always keep these images at hand;
• Step 2. Try to remember 10 names of poker card hand combinations and also rules how to collect them;
• Step 3. To make the whole process of remembering things easier try to take part in games for chips or poker freerolls;
• Step 4. Get 888 poker $88 no deposit poker bonus or any other no deposit poker bonus to put your knowledge to use.

Texas Hold'em poker hand combinations for beginners

This lesson should be studied by you in the first place, because it’s pretty hard to imagine a winning (or a break even player) player, who doesn’t know the cornerstone of No-Limit Texas Hold’em - hand rankings. We’re sure you have some sort of understanding of hand combinations in poker (a Texas Hold’em variety), because it’s highest combination - royal flush - is often used in many images with cards.

Anyone who wants to succeed in any case has to study his thing thoroughly, and only then get down into business. In poker it is the same: the first thing a beginner should do is study all the possible card combinations, as well as their strength, and only then proceed to the more advanced rules and especially - playing the game. Don’t be afraid, you will not need to strain your memory, as you did (or still doing) in school. In this case everything is much simpler - only 10 (ten) poker combinations, that differ one from another radically. 10 fingers on your hands - 10 combinations in poker. Everything is pretty simple, isn’t it?

For starters, let’s get acquainted with the strength of cards in poker on their own (from the weakest to the strongest one):

- deuce (weakest card)
- three
- four
- five
- six
- seven
- eight
- nine
- ten (can be indicated as either T or 10)
- jack
- queen
- king
- ace (strongest card)

Texas Hold’em: hand rankings/order

Below you can see all possible poker hands combinations. They’re displayed by strength, from the senior combination (the strongest hand) to the minor one (the weakest one). The structure of poker hands presenting is the following: the name of the combination, an example, chances, and combination description in poker. So, let’s get started.

How many card combinations are there in poker? What are their names? What is the weakest/strongest/best combination in poker? What’s the order of poker hands? Answers to these questions can be found in the text below.

Here you can find a brief review of all combinations by seniority (from the weakest one to the strongest):

• High card - the weakest hand in poker
• Pair
• Two pair
• Three of a kind
• Straight
• Flush
• Full house
• Four of a kind
• Straight flush
• Royal flush - the highest hand in poker

Below we’ll give you these combinations in detail with examples and explanations, but in reverse order - from the strongest one to the weakest one.

What is the order of winning hands in poker

You will find the poker hand rankings below. Combinations are ranged in descending order, from the strongest to the weakest one. These card combinations are used for the majority of poker games: Omaha, 27 Draw, Stud, Badugi and etc. That’s why you should keep in mind one thing: once remember these poker hands, you’ll feel confident with the rules of most of the poker games. Each combinations has brief description with examples, so you’ll find it very easy to adopt new information. Let’s get started.

Traditional high poker hand ranks

All poker hands are formed out of five cards, made up of your hole cards and community cards on a board. All the suits have an even strength (no suit is considered stronger than the other).

1. Royal flush | Poker Hand Rankings

The chance of getting this hand in poker (no-limit Texas Hold’em) equals 0,0002%.

Royal flush is the strongest poker hand in poker. Royal flush is a combination of five consecutive cards of the same suit from ten to ace. In other words - straight-flush from an ace. Royal flush can be of any suit.

• - a hearts royal flush
• - a spades royal flush
• - a diamonds royal flush
• - a clubs royal flush

It’s obvious, that in every given hand a player can only have only one of four royal flushes. Situation, when players have drawn 2 different royal flushes, is impossible. There are situations when the royal flush hits the board as community cards. In that case the pot is always split among the active players at the table equally.

2. Straight flush | Poker Hand Rankings

The chance of getting straight flush in poker (no-limit Texas Hold’em) equals 0,0015%.

Straight flush is combination of any five consecutive cards of one suite. The strength of straight flushes is determined by the strength of the highest card and does not depend on suit. Sometimes there will be situations when two players at the table will have a straight flush. In that case the winner of the hand will be considered a player with the highest card forming a straight flush. An example will be given below.

Examples of straight flush in poker:

• - the lowest straight flush
• - standard straight flush
• - the highest straight flush, which is also the highest hand in poker (royal flush). It can be said that royal flush is a variety of a straight flush.

Example. Player 1 was dealt , Player 2 was dealt . were dealt on a board. Two players have a straight flush poker hand. How to determine a winner in this hand? Simply enough. Player 2 is the winner of this hand because his highest card in the straight flush is 10 (Player 1 has nine).

If were dealt on a board and players 1 and 2 would have similar starting hands, the pot would be split equally, because the highest possible combination is on a board already, and none of them can have a better hand.

3. Four of a kind | Poker Hand Rankings

The chance of getting four of a kind in poker (no-limit Texas Hold’em) equals 0,024%.

Four of a kind is just four similar cards (for example - four kings or four threes, plus one other card). The highest four of a kind is four aces, the lowest - four deuces. If four of a kind is dealt on a table, the winner of the hand is determined by highest card (kicker). As you may have guessed, there cannot be more than two four of a kind combinations of different ranks in one hand. In that case (2 four of a kind in one hand) the winner is the player with the highest ranked four of a kind.

Example. were dealt on a board. Player 1 has , Player 2 - . In that situation the winner is Player 2, as he has a combination of , when player 1 has . If Player 1 also had an ace the pot would be split.

4. Full house | Poker Hand Rankings

The chance of getting a full house in poker (no-limit Texas Hold’em) equals 0,14%.

Full house is 3 cards of one kind plus 2 card of the other kind. If there are two full houses in a hand, the winner is first determined by the rank of set of 3 cards, and then by the rank of pair.

Example. is considered a weaker hand than , but is higher than .

5. Flush | Poker Hand Rankings

The chance of getting a flush in poker (no-limit Texas Hold’em) equals 0,20%.

Flush is any five cards of the same suit. If two or more players have flush in one hand, the winner is considered a player with the highest card in the flush. If two or more players have similar flush in a hand, the pot is split equally.

Example. Player 1 has , Player 2 has . were dealt on a board. Who will win? Exactly, Player 2, because he has , and Player 1 has . But if would be dealt on a board (with the same pocket cards for Players 1 and 2), the pot would be split equally.

Poker Best Hands In Order

6. Straight | Poker Hand Rankings

The chance of getting a straight in poker (no-limit Texas Hold’em) equals 0,39%.

Straight is any five consecutive cards. Similar as in the previous example, if two or more players have straight in one hand, the winner is considered a player with the highest card in the straight. If two or more players have similar straight in a hand, the pot is split equally.

Note: An ace can be considered either as a highest, or the lowest card in this combination.

Straight example:

• - the lowest straight (the wheel)
• - standard straight
• - the highest straight

Example. Player 1 has , Player 2 has . were dealt on a board. In that situation Player 2 will win the pot, since he has a straight from eight - , and Player 1 has straight from 7 - .

7. Three of a kind | Poker Hand Rankings

The chance of getting three of a kind in poker (no-limit Texas Hold’em) equals 2,1%.

Three of a kind (set or trips) is just three cards of one rank. Beginners often think, that set and trips are different hands. In reality they are not, however there is a small difference. Let’s explain it. In any case, either you have a set or trip - on a showdown your hand will be called Three of a kind. So, the only difference between set and trips is the following:

• Set - is a variety of three of a kind combination, i.e., situation when you have any pocket pair and one more card of this rank is dealt to the board. Example. You have , board - .
• Trips - is a variety of so called three of a kind, i.e., situation when you have unpaired pocket cards and there is a pair of cards on a board, and one of your pocket cards are of the same rank to this board pair. Example. You have , board - .

8. Two pair | Poker Hand Rankings

The chance of getting two pairs in poker (no-limit Texas Hold’em) equals 4,75%.

Two pair is a combination of a pair plus one more pair. If two or more players have two pairs in a specific hand, the ranking of the higher pairs are considered first, if they are equal, the rankings of lower pairs are considered to determine a winner. Example. You have , opponents has . were dealt on a board. In that situation you are the winner, because you have two pairs - , opponent has .

9. Pair | Poker Hand Rankings

The chance of getting a pair in poker (no-limit Texas Hold’em) equals 42,26%.

Pair is a combination of any pair of cards. If two or more players at the table have a pair, the winner is considered a player with the highest ranking pair. Example. You have . Player 2 has . Player 3 has . were dealt on a board. Player 2 is a winner in this situation, as he has a pair of , you have a pair of , and Player 3 has a pair of .

10. High card or Kicker | Poker Hand Rankings

The chance of getting a kicker (high card) in poker (no-limit Texas Hold’em) equals 50,12%.

The kicker is when you have none of the aforementioned combinations. If all the five cards are equal the combinations are considered equal as well.

Example.

Player 1:

Player 2:

Board:. Who will be considered a winner in this situation? Answer - the pot will be split, as Player 1 has weaker pair than two lying on a board, meaning that Player 1 has two pairs of . Player 2 hasn’t hit the board at all, meaning that he has two pairs of as well. Since the board also has a community card of , this card will be considered a kicker for both players. Consequently, the pot will be split.

Let’s take a look at the similar example.

Player 1:

Player 2:

Board:. Player 2 will be considered a winner in this situation, as he has two pairs and an Ace kicker. Player 1 has two pairs and a King kicker. is weaker than .

You can refer to our article Poker hands in pictures, where you will find an image with all poker hands by rank and a brief description of each.

Poker hand hierarchy - table

Below we’ve made a special table with all the information above being structured, so that beginner players had no problems with learning new information. The result of our work is a table, which can be nominally called “Table with hierarchy of poker hands”.

With the help of this table you’ll find it easier and faster to find differences between poker hands and distinguish them by seniority. As a rule, it takes about several hours to remember all of them. However, to reinforce this information in your head, you may need a little bit more time. That’s why we strongly recommend you to use our table with poker combinations. Don’t hesitate to have a look of the table if you come up with any sort of hesitations.

In the early stages of your poker career, if you really want to learn how to play poker properly, you simply must keep this table at hand. With the help of it you’ll find it easier to understand the gradation of the hands in this card game.

Knowledge base's sections

The best about poker

• Five reasons why I've made money and continue doing this playing poker
  The psychology of poker
• The fundamental theorem of poker
  Poker theorems
• The probabilities of getting specific starting hands on preflop
  Poker mathematics

Table Of Contents

Do you want to know what beats what in poker? Use the official poker hands rankings chart and seem them from best to worst!

Whether you play live at your local casino or card room, you have your home game going, or you prefer the online action at websites like PokerStars, 888Poker, or partypoker, you need to learn the order of poker hands from best to worse.

Use the list of poker hands below to know beats what in poker.

Commit this poker hands ranking list to memory today and print it if you need it (there's a button for it at the bottom). Knowing the correct poker hands rank is key to start making winning poker hands.

Order Of Hands In Poker

Poker Hands From Best To Worst

Poker Hands From Best To Worst

Not Sure What Beats What in Poker?

Many consider poker less of a gambling game than other casino games. For that to be true, players need to improve their understanding of game play and the strategy required to be a winning player.

The first step toward learning how to play poker is to learn the poker hand rankings.

Most poker players have these rankings memorized, which allows them to think about other things at the table when deciding the best way to play their hands.

The good news is these hand rankings tend to be the same among a wide variety of poker variants, whether it is Texas Hold'em, Omaha, seven-card stud, or other games.

All of those games use the same traditional poker hand rankings that were first developed way back in the 19th century when five-card draw first started to be played.

On this page, you find a complete list of poker hand rankings going from the highest possible hand (the Royal Flush), down to the lowest hand in which there is no pair among the five cards.

Hand rankings in poker correspond to the likelihood of making such hands.

A royal flush, consisting of the cards ranked ace through ten all being the same suit, is extremely rare — in fact, some players go their entire lives without making a royal flush.

A regular straight flush with any five consecutive cards of the same suit is a little less rare, four of a kind occurs slightly more frequently, and so on.

Notice that a full house is ranked higher than a flush.

That's because a full house comes just a little less frequently than a flush, thereby making it the higher-ranked hand of the two.

Additional readings for beginners:

• Poker Tips: A collection of tips 'to bring your game from 'meh' to amazing' created to help beginners become better players.
• Texas Hold'em Strategy: a complete manual to read as soon as you start to remember what beats what in poker.
• Poker starting hands chart: the only article you need to read to learn how to use your cards to the fullest.

Understanding Winning Poker Hands

Players new to the game of Texas hold'em often struggle, at least at first, with what the best poker hands are.

Once they have read this easy-to-digest guide that will no longer be the case.

The aim of Texas hold'em is to make the best five-card poker hand at showdown.

You can win without having to show your cards if you force someone to fold before the river. Nonetheless, for the purpose of this article, we'll pretend that we've gone to showdown and need to know what beats what in poker.

Winning Poker Hands: What Are The Best Hands In Poker?

First up is the weakest possible holding you can make in poker, a hand that can still win you the pot, although the likelihood of that happening decreases in a pot involving multiple players.

We are of course talking about high card.

As the name suggests, you don't even hold a pair here and instead are using the highest card among the five you are playing.

Example:

You have and the board has come .

Your best five-card hand would be where you would hold queen-high.

Next up is one pair, one of the more common Texas hold'em hands and one that will win you plenty of pots.

Example:

You have and the board comes .

Your five-card hand is — you have a pair of aces. Nice poker hand!

One place higher up on the poker hands chart is two pair.

Example:

You have and the five community cards are .

Your best five-card hand at showdown is or two pair, tens and nines.

One note of warning on this specific poker hand: if you are verbally declaring your hand, try to announce the higher pair first as to help avoid confusion.

Good Poker Hands

Now we're getting into the realm of the best poker hands because once you make three-of-a-kind (sometimes called a set or trips), you are much more likely to win the pot than with any of the previously mentioned hands.

Example:

Your five-card poker hand is — you have three-of-a-kind kings, often a very powerful hand in hold'em.

To beat three-of-a-kind you're going to need at least a straight.

A straight is five consecutive cards where at least one of them is a different suit from the others.

Example:
Should your hand read you would hold a six-high straight.

If someone held a seven-high straight, then that player would win the hand.

There are two straights that have nicknames that are worth remembering.

A wheel is a straight that runs from ace-to-five, and a Broadway straight — the strongest straight — runs from ten-to-ace.

A flush is one of the most powerful Texas hold'em hands because it is only beaten by a handful of others.

Any hand that that has five cards of the same suit is a flush.

Aces are always high when it comes to flushes, which means a hand such as beats .

There are few hands that can beat a flush — one that does is a full house. Also called a 'boat,' a full house is when your five-card hand is made up of three of a kind plus a pair.

Example:

With you have kings full of deuces, while is fives full of queens.

When it comes to full houses, the higher three of a kind determines which hand wins, so in this case 'kings full' would beat 'fives full.'

The Stronger Hands in Poker

The next three holdings are so rare that if you hold them, you can almost guarantee that they are winning poker hands.

Four of a kind is the minimum holding you'll need to beat someone with a full house.

Again, as the name suggests, four of a kind means having four cards of the same rank.

Example:

is four-of-a-kind tens and an extremely powerful holding.

Your only way to beat four of a kind, or 'quads' as they are often called, is to hold either a straight flush or a Royal Flush.

The former is five consecutive cards all of the same suit, so would be an eight-high straight flush and practically unbeatable.

If you manage to make (or the same holding in any of the other three suits), you have a Royal Flush and the only way to lose the hand would be to fold by accident!

Poker Hands Probability

If you are into numbers (most poker players are), you might be wondering about the probability of poker hands.

We said that she platers might go entire lives without ever getting the highest hand in poker but, looking at the numbers, what are the odds of a Royal Flush?

In this section of our complete analysis of the poker hand ranking and what beats what in poker, you get a clear overview of the probability of poker hands.

How to calculate the probability of poker hands?

When you know that there are 52 cards in play and 2,598,960 possible combinations, the calculation is easy.

You just need to divide the number of possibilities to build a specific poker hand by the number of total poker hands.

Let's run a few examples:

What are the odds of a Royal Flush? 0.000,001,539
(4/2,598,960)

What are the odds of a Straight Flush? 0.000,015,39
(40/2,598,960)

Use the table below to calculate the probabilities of all poker hands.

Absolute Value vs. Relative Value of Poker Hands

It should be noted also that while poker hand rankings never change, sometimes circumstances can make a good hand less valuable and a poor hand more valuable.

In other words, when it comes to poker hands there's a difference between absolute value (reflected in the list of poker hands above) and relative value.

For instance, in a game of Texas hold'em, if you have two pair that might seem like a good hand.

But if your opponent keeps betting into you and it's possible he could have a straight or flush, your two pair is no longer looking so good.

Meanwhile, if you have just one pair but your opponent keeps checking to give you a free play at the pot, you might well have the strongest hand and should bet your hand.

The 'absolute' value of your hand may not be great, but in that case the 'relative' value very well could be.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that in some games like razz, deuce-to-seven triple draw, Badugi, and others you might encounter when playing online poker, the hand rankings listed below do not apply.

These hand rankings are for regular or 'high-card' games, not 'lowball' games with alternate hand rankings.

Poker Hand Rankings F.A.Q.

What is the order of poker hands?

As shown in the poker hand rankings chart, the order of poker rankings (from the highest to the lowest) is: Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three-of-a-Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, High Card.

What is the best hand in poker?

The Royal Flush is the best hand in poker. To have a Royal Flush, you need an Ace, a King, a Queen, a Jack, and a 10. All the cards that compose the hand need to be of the same suit.

What beats what in poker?

As you can see in our poker hand rankings chart, the hands in poker follow a clear hierarchy.

In a game of poker, the hand rankings work as follows:

• a pair beats a high card;
• a two pair beats a one pair;
• a three-of-a-kind beats a two pair;
• a straight beats a three-of-a-kind;
• a flush beats a straight;
• a full house beats a flush;
• a four-of-a-kind beats a full house;
• a straight flush beats a four-of-a-kind;
• a Royal Flush beats a straight flush.

The Royal Flush is the best hand in poker, so no one other hands beat this one.

What is a straight in poker?

You have a straight when all the five cards that compose your poker hand are consecutive ones. E.g. 5-6-7-8-9.

If the cards are of the same suit, you have a straight flush, which is a considerably stronger hand compare d to the simple straight.

What beats a straight in poker?

Although many see the straight as a stronger hand, there are many other poker hands that beat it.

The list of hands that beat a straight includes:

• a flush;
• a full house;
• a four-of-a-kind;
• a straight flush;
• a Royal Flush.

What beats a flush in poker?

The list of hands that beat a flush includes:

• a full house;
• a four-of-a-kind;
• a straight flush;
• a Royal Flush.

Poker Strength Of Hands Chart

What beats a full house in poker?

The list of hands that beat a full house includes:

• a four-of-a-kind;
• a straight flush;
• a Royal Flush.

What is the highest suit in poker?

All the suits in poker have the same value. In some games, different suits can be assigned different values.

When that happens, the value is as follow (from the lowest to the highest): clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. In that case, spades is the highest suit.

How many poker hands are there?

The total number of poker hands in a game of poker is 2,598,960. Since a game of poker uses a 52-card deck of French cards, there are 2,598,960 different possible combinations (aka. poker hands).

What hands to play in poker?

The type of hands to play in a poker game depends on the game you play and other factors like your position in the hand, your stack, and the action at the table.

In a famous poker strategy article, professional player Jonathan Little shared which hands to play in poker and how to play marginal hands.

Can you make three pairs?

Although it is possible to hold a pair in your hand and then have another two pair appear among the five community cards, you can only use a total of five cards to make your poker hand, so you don't win anything for three pairs.

Which is better, a set or trips?

They are both essentially the same hand because they are both three of a kind.

The terminology 'set' is used when you have a pair as your hole cards and then catch another one of those cards on the board.

'Trips' is when there is a pair on the board and you have another of those cards as one of your hole cards.

Sets are easier to disguise than trips so many consider them to be a better hand, although they both rank the same.

What is a chopped or split pot?

If you and an opponent have the same five-card poker hand, then the pot is divided equally between you.

Say you have and your opponent has , and the board comes .

You both would be playing the same five-card hands in terms of their value (A-J-T-8-3), and so would split the pot.

If there is four of a kind on the board, who wins?

Because the aim is to make a five-card poker hand, whoever has the highest fifth card in this case wins.

If the board reads and you have in your hand and your opponent has , then you win because you hand is 7-7-7-7-A and your opponent's is 7-7-7-7-K.

You would also win even if your opponent holding was in this example.

Are the suits ranked in Texas hold'em?

No, they are not. Some poker variants have different ranks for suits, but hold'em is not one of them.

Why did my 4-4-4-T-T lose to my opponent's 7-7-7-8-8?

As mentioned earlier, it is the three-of-a-kind element of a full house that dictates the winner.

If you're new to the game and want a reference of all of Texas hold'em hands, you can keep this page open or you could always download and print our poker hands ranking chart and keep it next to you while you're playing poker.

Useful Poker Tools

• Poker Odds Calculator: Add your cards to the calculator to discover your chances to win the hand.
• How to use PokerStars Tools to Your Advantage: As a beginner, this article can save your life! Let us show you how you can use all the tools available on the PokerStars client to become an outstanding poker player!