Poker Hands - What Beats What?

Poker hands are a collection of 5 cards, 2 hole cards and 5 community cards dealt during a game. Their relative hand strength ranks these hands from high to low.

The first step in a poker journey is to learn poker hand ranking. Learning about poker hands is pivotal in helping a player win the game.

This article will give you a complete list of poker hands and their relative strength. Starting with the highest hand, we will explain how to make one and what can beat your hand.

Royal Flush

The Royal Flush is the strongest poker hand on the table. This is a dream hand for all poker players. You will have to influence others to bet more to increase the pot value and benefit from it. This will help you win larger stacks.

How to make a Royal Flush?

Combine all face cards with Ace and 10 of the same suit to make a Royal Flush.

Example: A♦ K♦ Q♦ J♦ 10♦ is a Royal Flush as all the cards are from the same suit with the A-K-Q-J-10 combination.

How strong is a Royal Flush?

Royal flush beats all other hands on the poker table.

Straight Flush

A Straight Flush is the second-strongest poker hand on the table, coming second only to the Royal Flush. If Two Players Have The Same Hand Rank As A Straight Flush, The Higher Ranking Straight Flush Would Win The Pot.

How to Make a Straight Flush?

You make a Straight Flush hand by combining five consecutive cards of the same suit.

How strong is a Straight Flush?

Coming second only to the Royal Flush, Straight Flush beats all other hands except Royal Flush.

Four-of-a-Kind

Four-of-a-Kind is the third strongest poker hand on the table. As the word says, Four of a kind consists of 4 cards of one rank. To make it a 5-card hand, you can use any card as the fifth, irrespective of rank and suit. The fifth card is called a Trump Card. In case of a tie, the player with the highest ranking Four-of-a-Kind wins the pot.

How to make a Four-of-a-Kind?

To make a Four-of-a-Kind hand, you need to combine four cards of the same rank, and the fifth card can be any of the cards from the deck.

Example: J♦ J♣ J♠ J♥ K♦. Here, you have four Js, which makes a Four-of-a-Kind hand.

How strong is a Four-of-a-kind?

A Four-of-a-kind is the third strongest poker hand that can beat a Full House, Flush, Straight, Three-of-a-kind, Two-pair, a Pair, and a High card.

Full House

Full House is the fourth strongest hand on the poker table. A full house combines three cards of one rank(Three-of-a-Kind) and one pair of cards of any other rank. In case of a tie, the player with the higher ranking Three-of-a-Kind wins. If Three-of-a-Kind is the same for two players, the player with a higher Pair will win the pot.

How to make a Full House?

You make a Full House hand with three cards of one rank(Three of a Kind) and another pair of some other rank.

Example: A♥ A♣ A♦ 7♠ 7♣.  Here you have three Aces and one pair of 7’s to complete a Full House hand

How strong is a Full House?

The fourth-best poker hand, the Full House, can beat a Flush, Straight, Three-of-a-kind, Two Pair, a Pair, and a High card.

Flush

A Flush is the fifth strongest hand on the poker table. A Flush is a Poker hand that has all five cards of the same suit. If there’s a tie, the player with the highest-ranking five cards wins. In the case of the same highest-ranking cards, the player with the second-highest card wins. The third, fourth, and fifth highest-ranking cards can break the tie if required.

How to make a Flush?

A Flush is made with five cards of the same suit, not necessarily in the same rank.

Example: 4♦ 3♦ 2♦ J♦ K♦. In this example, all 5 cards are of the same suit; hence, it is a Flush.

How strong is a Flush?

A Flush is the fifth-best poker hand that can beat a Straight, Three-of-a-kind Two-pair, a Pair, and a High card.

Straight

This is the sixth strongest hand on the poker table. A Straight is a poker hand with five cards in a sequence, not all of the same suit. Ace can be treated as the highest(above King) or the lowest card(below 2), but not as both, in a Straight hand. In case of a tie, the player with the highest card wins. If both the players have same highest card, then the pot is equally divided amongst them.

How to make a Straight?

You make a Straight hand when you have five cards in a sequence, not necessarily of the same suit.

Example: 2♦ 3♣ 4♦ 5♠ 6♣.  Here, 2-3-4-5-6 are in a Straight sequence.

How strong is a Straight?

While the Straight might seem like a strong hand, it can only beat Three-of-a-kind: Two Pair, a Pair, and a High Card.

Three-of-a-Kind

Three-of-a-Kind is the seventh strongest hand on the poker table. Three-of-a-kind is a poker hand with three cards of the same rank and two unrelated cards. In a tie, the player with the higher rank, Three-of-a-Kind, wins the pot. So J-J-J-2-3 wins over 9-9-9-2-3 as the prior has a higher Three-of-a-Kind.

How to make a Three-of-a-Kind?

You make a Three-of-a-Kind hand with three cards of the same rank.

Example: 6♣ 6♦ 6♠ 2♣ K♦. Here, you have three 6’s, which makes a Three-of-a-Kind hand, with the other two being unrelated cards.

How strong is a Three-of-a-kind?

The 3-of-a-kind is stronger than the Two Pair, Pair, and the High Card.

Two Pair

Two Pair is the eighth strongest hand on the poker table. A Two Pair consists of the first pair of one rank and the second pair of another rank, with the fifth card being from any other rank. In a tie, the person with the higher rank of Two Pairs wins. If the Two Pairs are identical, the person with a higher fifth card(from community/hole cards) wins the pot.

How to Make a Two-Pair?

To make a Two Pair hand, take two cards of the same rank, repeat the same with different ranks, and add one side card different from the first two ranks.

Example: 5♦ 5♠ Q♦ Q♥ 2♣. As explained above, this combination has two pairs- one pair of 5 and another pair of Q.

How strong is a Two Pair?

The Two Pair is a strong enough poker hand to beat the One Pair and the High card.

One Pair

One Pair is the ninth strongest hand on the poker table. A One Pair combines only two cards of the same rank but different suits, while the rest of the three cards can be any cards from the deck. In the case of a tie, if players have the same ranked pairs, the highest of the other three cards is used to identify the winner.

How to make a One Pair?

You can form a One Pair hand by adding two cards of the same rank and three different cards to it.

Example: A♦ A♥ K♠ 9♦ 4♥. This combination has just one pair of Ace and the other three unrelated cards.

How strong is a One Pair?

The One Pair is a common poker hand that only beats the High Card.

High Card

The High Card is the lowest or the tenth strongest-ranked hand on the poker table. If no players on the table have any of the above-mentioned hands, the player with the highest card wins the pot. If more people have the same highest card, the second-highest cardholder wins the pot. If the tie is unresolved, the third, fourth, and fifth-highest cards are also considered to declare the pot winner.

How to make a High Card?

If you cannot make any of the hands mentioned above, The highest rank card in your hand is called the High Card.

Example:  4♥ K♠ 9♦ 5♦ 7♠. K♠ is your high card, as this 5-card combination cannot make any of the above-mentioned hands.

How strong is the High Card?

The High Card can only beat another high card with a lower rank. So, a player with cards K-J-8-6-2 beats another player with cards Q-J-8-6-2 because the first player's highest card is K, which is stronger than the second player's Q card.

Best Hole Cards in Poker

In Poker, it is a must to understand the strength of your hole cards at the pre-flop stage and use them accordingly as the game proceeds. If you get some of the best Poker hands in real money poker, then it will surely make your day. Play your best online cash game, poker, with these hole cards. 

Pocket Aces: Pocket Aces carry a high value in the game of Poker. They are also known as Bullets, and rightly, they can make your wallet loaded if you play the hand smartly. 

Pocket Kings: This pre-flop hand consists of two Kings and is supposed to be the second-best pre-flop hand after Pocket Aces. They are also called Cowboys. 

Pocket Queens: After the Pocket Kings, the Pocket Queens are the best hole cards to have in the game of Poker. It consists of two Queens and is also known as the Ladies. 

Ace-King Suited: Another great set of hole cards, they are also regarded as one of the best non-pair hands in Poker. In the Poker dictionary, they are also called the Big Slick. 

Pocket Jacks: This is also a very useful pre-flop hand in Poker. Also called the Hooks, it is up to the player to use them wisely to catch fish or to be fed by sharks.

Poker Hands Probability

Poker hands probability refers to the likelihood of obtaining a specific hand in a poker game. Players need to understand the mathematics behind poker to make informed decisions. The probability of drawing a particular hand is calculated by dividing the number of ways that hand can be drawn (frequency) by the total number of possible 5-card hands (sample space). Players can use the knowledge of poker hands probability to make strategic decisions. For instance, if a player knows the probability of drawing a Flush is higher than that of drawing a Straight, they can adjust their strategy accordingly. Players can calculate the odds of completing their desired hand and compare it to the current pot odds to determine whether it's worth continuing.

Calculation of Probability:

The probability (P) of a particular hand is calculated as follows: P = Number of ways to draw the hand/ Total number of 5-card hands. For example, drawing a Royal Flush involves 4 different ways (one for each suit), so the probability is 4/2,598,960 = 649,740.

Poker Hands Odds Table

Poker Hand Absolute Value vs. Relative Value of Poker Hands

The absolute hand value refers to the inherent strength or ranking of a poker hand, irrespective of the specific circumstances of the game. It measures a hand is strength on its own, based on the standard hand rankings in poker. For instance, a Royal Flush has a higher absolute value than a Pair. On the other hand, the relative hand value considers the strength of a hand in the context of the specific situation or circumstances of the current game. It considers factors such as the community cards, opponents' actions, betting patterns, and the overall dynamics of the game. Depending on these contextual factors, a hand that might be strong in one situation could be relatively weak in another. 

Example: Suppose a player holds a pair of Kings (K ♠ ️ K♥) as their hole cards in Texas Hold'em. The community cards are: K♠ Q♠ J🔸 T♣ 2♠ In terms of absolute hand value, a pair of Kings is relatively strong, and it ranks higher than many other possible hands. But in case your opponent has A♠ or 9♣, then their sequence would be Flush or Straight and, therefore, will beat your hand of a Pair of Kings.

Ties and Kickers

In poker, ties can occur when two or more players have hands of equal rank. When this happens, tiebreakers, often involving kicker cards, come into play to determine the pot winner. The kicker is the highest-ranking card that doesn't contribute to the main hand's rank. Kickers do not count in high-ranking sequences such as Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Straight, Full House and Flush.

Here is a scenario explaining ties and the role of kickers in tiebreakers: 

Scenario 1: Player A has A♥ 5♠ Player B has K♦ J♦ Community cards are Q♥ Q♦ Q♠ Q♣ 4♦ Player A’s hand: Q♥ Q♦ Q♠ Q♣ A♥ Player B’s hand: Q♥ Q♦ Q♠ Q♣ K♦ Therefore, in this scenario, player A wins as A♥ kicker plays after the four queens.

Scenario 2: Player A has A♣ 2♦ Player B has A♦ 7♠ Community cards are A♥ 9♥ 9♣ J♦ 4♣ Player A’s hand: A♣ A♥ 9♥ 9♣ J♦ Player B’s hand: A♦ A♥ 9♥ 9♣ J♦ Therefore, the pot will be split, since neither the 7♠ nor the 2♦ are played and both players have the same hand.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are poker hands ranked with respect to their strength?

Here’s how the poker hands are ranked, from the highest to the lowest: Royal Flush, Straight flush, Four-of-a-kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three-of-a-kind, Two Pair, a Pair, and a High card.

What is a poker hand?

A poker hand is a combination of five cards that defines its strength. It consists of two hole cards and three community cards, common to all the players on the table. Players must wager and aim to leverage their hands accordingly to win the game.

How many poker hands are there?

There are ten different poker hands ranked, from the highest to the lowest: Royal Flush is the highest hand, followed by Straight flush, Four-of-a-kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three-of-a-kind, Two Pair, a Pair, and a High card, which is the lowest ranked hand.

What's the luckiest hand in poker?

Royal Flush is the best and the luckiest hand one can get in poker. It beats all other hands in the game.

Conclusion

Understanding poker hands is essential for any player to master the poker game. This article explains the poker hands from the highest card, Royal Flush, to the lowest card, High Card. Each poker hand is detailed with its composition and relative strength. The Royal Flush tops the list, followed by the Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three-of-a-Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, and finally the High Card. Knowing these poker hand rankings can significantly enhance a player's strategy and decision-making, leading to greater success at the poker table.