Hand Rankings
Card Ranking
Standard Poker card ranking is as follows, from lowest to highest rank:
Hand Ranking
Standard Poker hands are made up of five card combinations. In some poker games you are dealt the five cards. In others you are dealt a certain number of cards and other cards are placed on the table for all to use. These shared cards are called community cards. But a hand is always a five card combination that you create using either the cards in your hand, the community cards or some combination of both.
Here are the poker hand combinations in order from highest to lowest:
Royal Flush
Odds: 64,973:1
Combinations: 4
The best hand in poker. If you get this hand, you cannot lose. A Royal Flush consists of the top five cards in order from 10 up to Ace (10-Jack-Queen-King-Ace) and all having the same suit:
Straight Flush
Odds: 72,192:1
Combinations: 40
Any five cards in sequential order that are all in the same suit. Aces can be counted as low (A-2-3-4-5) or as high (10-J-Q-K-A) card. Between two straight flushes, the one with the highest straight ending card wins. In other words, 4-5-6-7-8 of hearts will beat A-2-3-4-5 of clubs. Suits are not ranked in straight flushes.
Four Of A Kind
Odds: 4,164:1
Combinations: 624
Any four of the same card in all four suits. Between two fours-of-a-kind, the higher card set would win. So 3h-3d-3c-3s-2c is beaten by 10s-10c-10h-10d-2c.
Full House
Odds: 693:1
Combinations: 3,744
Three ranked cards with two other ranked cards. Three 9's along with two 5's is a full house, sometimes called "nines full" or "nines over fives". When comparing two full houses, the three card set determines the winning hand. Thus 5-5-5-3-3 beats 3-3-3-5-5. If the three card set is the same, then the two remaining cards would be the determiner. 8-8-8-3-3 loses to 8-8-8-A-A.
Flush
Odds: 508:1
Combinations: 5,108
Any five cards all of the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the one with the highest ranked ending card wins. For example: 2-5-7-8-J all spades loses to 3-5-8-Q-K of hearts, because of the higher rank of the King in the heart flush.
Straight
Odds: 254:1
Combinations: 10,200
Any five cards in consecutive ranking order, regardless of suit. When comparing two straights, the one with the higher card rank wins. For example, a 2-3-4-5-6 straight would lose to a 5-6-7-8-9 straight held by an opponent because their straight ends at a nine where yours ends in a six.
Three Of A Kind
Odds: 46:1
Combinations: 54,912
Three cards of the same rank. Sometimes referred to as "trips" or "a set". When comparing two threes-of-a-kind, the set with the higher card rank wins. So 5-5-5 would lose to 8-8-8. If comparing sets of equal rank the remaining two cards in the five card hand, sometimes called "kickers", would be the determiner. So 5-5-5-2-J would beat 5-5-5-7-9 because of the Jack's higher rank.
Two Pair
Odds: 20:1
Combinations: 123,552
Two pairs of cards of equal rank. Example: 4-4-Q-Q-10 has 2 pair - Fours and Queens. When comparing two hands each with two pair, the hand with the highest pair of ranked cards wins. If both pairs are equal in rank, the fifth card in the hand would determine the winner by higher rank. So 4-4-Q-Q-A beats 4-4-Q-Q-2 because of the Ace higher.
One Pair
Odds: 1.4:1
Combinations: 1,098,240
One pair of cards of equal rank. Example: Q-Q-A-2-10 has 1 pair of Queens. When comparing hands that have one pair, the higher ranked pair wins. If the pair are the same, the hand with the higher ranked remaining card ("kicker") wins. For example: 2-4-8-J-J would lose to 3-7-J-J-A because of the Ace higher.
High Card
Odds: 1:1
Combinations: 1,302,540
When comparing hands that have none of the above combinations, the hand with the highest ranking card wins. K-9-4-3-2 beats J-6-4-3-2 because of the King higher.
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