Poker hands consist of the best five-card hand made up from any combination of the cards you are dealt and the community cards. Every beginning player, therefore, needs to understand the poker hand rankings to determine the strength of each player’s hand and, subsequently, the winner. In this guide, we present the Texas Hold’em hands order of value, from bottom to the highest hand in poker (the rankings apply.
There are 13 pocket pairs you can be dealt as starting hands: 2-2 through A-A. There are 78 unpaired hands that you can be dealt in Texas Hold’em, ignoring suit (e.g. A-2, K-10, 6-2). Those same hands make up another set of 78 when suited (e.g. 9♥-8♥, A♣-8♣, Q♦-J♦). The Big Slick this refers to the Ace-King combination in Texas Hold’em. This is the best non-paired poker hand you can form. Cowboys are known as a pair of Kings. Open Ended is poker lingo for a Straight draw that’s open on both ends. If you’re holding 9-8 pocket cards and the board reads 7-6-2, you can form a Straight with 10 or 5 on the Turn and River.
If you’re learning to play poker, you’ll need to understand poker hand rankings before you can do anything else.
The hand order is the same in all forms of poker. It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing Texas Hold’em poker, Omaha, Stud or any other form of the game, all poker hands use five cards. But which are the best poker hands and which are the worst? Keep reading for our handy guide to get you ready to join the Poker Club community!
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Poker Hand Rankings
In Texas Hold’em, you’ll receive two hole cards, which are the hidden cards only used by you. Throughout the course of the game, five more cards will be dealt into the middle of the table, and they’re called community cards. These community cards can be used by everyone at the table.Once all cards have been dealt, you’ll need to make the best five-card poker hand from the seven available cards. You can use any combination from your hand and the board. Here are the complete poker hand rankings, starting with the best hands first, down to the weakest hands in order.
NB: In the following poker hand hierarchy examples, the first character represents the rank of the card, while the second represents the suit. For example, Ks means “King of Spades”.
Royal flush
The “Royal Flush” is famously the best possible hand in poker, so-called because it contains all of the “royal” cards, i.e. the five best cards, in the same suit. It is really just an Ace high straight flush, thus it sits at the top of the poker hand rankings.
The probability of making a Royal Flush in Texas Hold’em Poker is tiny, just 1 in 649,739, so don’t expect to see them very often!
Example hand:
Ah Kh Qh Jh 10h
Straight flush
Next up, there’s the straight flush, which is simply a less regal version of the royal flush. You’ll have a straight flush if you have five consecutive cards, all of the same suit. So, for example, 5-6-7-8-9, all of clubs, would be a straight flush. In Texas Hold’em poker, with average luck, you will complete a straight flush once every 3,590 hands. If two or more players have a straight flush, the player with the highest card in their hand will be declared the winner.
Winning Texas Hold'em Poker Hands
Example hand:
7d 6d 5d 4d 3d
Four of a kind
Just as the name suggests, this poker hand contains 4 cards of the exact same rank, with any other random fifth card completing the hand. A relatively strong hand among the poker rankings, the chances of making four of a kind in Texas Hold’em are just 1 in 595. This is an exceptionally strong hand but if two players have four of a kind, the four of a kind made up of the highest cards will win. If this still doesn’t lead to a winner, the kicker is used. Kickers are discussed further down this page.
Example hand:
Js Jd Jc Jh 3s
Best Poker Hands Hold Em
Full house
The next hand is the first of the more commonly seen hands. A full house is a hand containing three cards of the same value, and two other identical cards of a different value. For example, A-A-A-K-K would be a full house. The three of a kind part plays first, so “aces full” would beat “kings full”, for example. The below example is referred to as “Aces full of fours”, since it’s three of a kind Aces, with a pair of fours.The odds against completing a full house in Texas Hold’em poker are around 37.5 to 1. If two or more players have a full house, the player with the highest three of a kind will win. If this doesn’t lead to a winner, the player with the highest pair wins.
Example hand:
Ah Ac Ad 4s 4h
Flush
A flush is a hand featuring five cards all of the same suit. These five cards won’t be consecutive ones – if they were, you’d have a royal flush or straight flush instead. It’s a reasonably strong hand, but be careful before shoving all your money into the middle of the table, as it can often be beaten.If more than one player has a flush, the winner will be the player with the highest card in their flush. The second highest, then third highest, and so on are then used to separate hands.
Example hand:
Ks 9s 7s 6s 2s
Straight
Sitting right in the middle of the poker hand hierarchy, a straight is a hand with any five cards in running order, but not of the same suit.
The chances of making a straight are a little under 21 to 1 against in a game like Texas Hold’em. The player with the highest card in their hand will be declared the winner if multiple players have straights.
Example hand:
Qs Jd 10c 9h 8d
Three of a kind
No prizes for guessing that this is a hand that contains three cards all of the same suit. The other two cards will be different from one another – if they aren’t, you’ve got a full house, which is a much better hand. In Texas Hold’em poker, you’ll make three of a kind roughly once every 20 hands. The player with the highest cards in their three is the winner if more than one player has this hand. In the event of two or more players having the same three of a kind, then kickers are used.
Example hand:
9c 9h 9s 7h 5d
Two pair
If you are holding two different pairs with a random, unmatched card in your hand, then you have “two pair”. The bigger of the two pairs plays first, with the lesser pair only acting to break a tie. So Kings and threes would beat Queens and tens, for example, while Jacks and nines would beat Jacks and sevens.
Example hand:
Qs Qc 3h 3c 8d
Pair
One of the more common poker hands, and towards the bottom of the hand rankings. A pair is simply two cards of the same rank, with no other matching cards. In Texas Hold’em poker, you will find a pair in your two starting hole cards once every 17 hands on average.
Example hand:
10s 10d 6s 5h 2c
High Card
If your final five card hand doesn’t fit into any category in the above poker hand rankings, then you have the worst possible type of hand – high card. The best card in your hand plays, so the below example is “Ace high”. Ace high beats King high, and so on.
Example hand:
As Jh 9s 5d 4c
Understanding Kickers
To really bring your A-game, it helps to have a grasp on kickers too. Kickers are essentially spare cards in your hand. For example, if you had A-A-K-K-10, you’d have two pair and your kicker would be the 10.You might not think that your kicker is important, but it can be the difference between winning or losing a pot. This is because the kicker will be used to determine the winner when two players have the same hand. For example, if both players have A-A-K-K in their hand, however, one has a 10 kicker and the other has an 8, the player with the 10 wins, as they have the higher kicker.If both kickers are also the same and the hand allows, the second kicker will then be used, then the third. If two players have exactly the same hands though, the pot will be split.
Now you’re ready to raise your game in Poker Club, available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X S.
See you at the table!
Most Commonly Asked Poker Questions
Not sure what beats a full house or what a straight can beat? Here are the answers to the most commonly-asked poker questions this side of the Strip.
Does a flush beat a full house?
No. A full house beats a flush in the standard poker hand rankings. The odds against making a full house in a game of Texas Hold’em are about 36-to-1, while the odds against making a flush are 32-to-1. The full house is a more rare hand and beats a flush.
Does a flush beat a straight?
Yes. Using the standard poker hand rankings, a flush beats a straight, regardless of the strength of the straight. The odds against making a straight in Texas Hold’em are about 21-to-1, making it a more common hand than a flush (32-to-1 odds against).
Does a straight beat a full house?
No. The odds against making a full house in Texas Hold’em are about 36-to-1, while the odds against making a straight are about 21-to-1. Both are strong five-card hands, but a full house occurs less often than a straight. A full house beats a straight in the poker hand rankings.
Does three of a kind beat two pair?
Yes. Both three of a kind and two pair can make a lot of money in poker, but three of a kind is the best hand when it goes head to head with two pair. The odds against making three of a kind in Texas Hold’em is about 20-to-1, while the odds against making two pair is about 3-to-1.
Does three of a kind beat a straight?
No. The odds of making both of these hands are very close in a game of Texas Hold’em. The odds against making a straight are 20.6-to-1, while the odds against making three of a kind are 19.7-to-1. The straight comes about slightly less often, making it the winner against three of a kind in the poker hand rankings.
Does a flush beat three of a kind?
Yes. The battle of strong hands between a flush and three of a kind sees the flush as the stronger hand. The odds against making a flush in Texas Hold’em are about 32-to-1, with odds against making three of a kind at around 20-to-1.
Does a straight beat two pair?
Yes. The poker hand rankings dictate that a straight is a stronger hand than two pair. The straight occurs with about 21-to-1 odds against in Texas Hold’em, while the odds against making two pair stand at about 3-to-1.
Does four of a kind beat a full house?
Yes. Both four of a kind and a full house are among the strongest poker hands, but four of a kind is a much rarer holding. Texas Hold’em odds against making four of a kind are 594-to-1, while you have about 36-to-1 odds against making a full house.
Does three of a kind beat a flush?
No. When the flush and three of a kind go head to head, the flush comes out as the best according to the poker hand rankings. The odds against making three of a kind sit around 20-to-1, with the odds against hitting a flush at 32-to-1.
Does a full house beat a straight in poker?
Yes. The full house comes in less often than a straight. In Texas Hold’em, the odds against drawing a full house are around 36-to-1, while the odds against making a straight are around 21-to-1.
Does a straight flush beat four of a kind?
Yes. Four of a kind is an exceedingly rare hand in poker, but the straight flush is an even more elusive five-card hand. The odds against making a straight flush in Texas Hold’em is about 3,590-to-1, much rarer than four of a kind (594-to-1 odds against)