Winning Hands Texas Holdem Poker

  • Poker Hands Recommends These Texas Holdem Downloads
  • Variations of Texas Holdem Poker
  • Rules of Texas Holdem
    • The Poker Hands Showdown
  • Texas Holdem POKER GAMES and RULES
  • Stud Poker Games
  1. What Hands Win In Poker
  2. Winning Hands In Texas Holdem Poker
  3. Poker Hands Order Chart
  4. Order Of Winning Hands In Texas Holdem Poker
  5. Texas Holdem Poker Winning Hands
  6. Texas Holdem Winning Hand Order

Texas Holdem Poker Games, Rules, Hands, History, & Downloads

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It seems especially to newer players that what constitutes a winning hand, what the best five cards are, can be confusing. So exactly what hand is the winner and why does it win? Texas-hold-em rules reading-hands omaha-hi-lo omaha. Below we have a list of poker hands and their ranking for Texas Holdem, starting with the strongest hand possible, and working our way down to the weakest of hands: A Royal flush is 10, J, Q, K, A of the same suit, this is the strongest hand in poker. In Texas Holdem, you can use the community cards on the table and the two hole cards dealt to you to form a winning five-card combination. One must play the cards accordingly to win a game. Play Only Strong Hands. If you are sure of having strong hands – like that of the Royal Flush – then you can play it in full table games.

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Texas Holdem Poker, also known as Texas Hold ‘em belongs to the family of poker card games whose origination is speculated to be dated back to 1900.

The game used to be called as hold ‘em. Texas holdem grew in popularity, gradually, and the release of Doyle Brunson’s ground-breaking poker strategy guide, Super/System in 1978 played a major role in popularizing Texas Holdem to wider range of card players. Texas Holdem was introduced to the European card players in the early 1980s.

Today Texas Holdem is one of the most popular forms of Poker. Its popularity has increased ten fold in the 20th century due to the extensive television coverage and the internet exposure. The simplicity and popularity of Texas Holdem inspired publication of a large variety of books, sharing tips and tricks to playing Texas Holdem.

Variations of Texas Holdem Poker

There are three most common variations of Texas Holdem Poker namely; Limit Holdem, No Limit Holdem, and Pot Limit Holdem. The Holdem rules remain the same for all of them and there is just a little bit of variation involved.

Limit Texas Holdem

The bets and raises in the Limit Texas Holdem game must remain the same as the big blind. In further rounds, the bets and raises must be twice the amount of the big blind, called the big bet.

No Limit Holdem

In No Limit Holdem, players can bet and raise any amount over the minimum raise. The raising can continue until all the chips the player has are “all in” or fully bet. The minimum raise here is equal to the size of the previous raise.

Pot Limit Holdem

The maximum raise in Pot Limit Holdem is the current size of the Pot, including the amount needed to call. The minimum bet is same as the size of the big blind.

Texas Holdem The Most Popular Poker Game on the Planet What is your lucky Suit? Diamonds, Clubs, Spades or Hearts? Photo Copyright: 123rf.com/profile_mictoon

Rules of Texas Holdem

Every player playing Texas Holdem is dealt two, face-down, cards these cards are called “hole cards”. Depending on a player’s hole cards, each player can play his or her hand by raising the big blind. The big blind is usually twice the size of the small blind, but, it can be larger depending on the stakes at hand. A player can typically perform five actions in Texas Holdem; check, call, bet, raise or fold; the exact options available to the players depends upon the action of the previous player.

The Texas Holdem Pre Flop

After receiving the ‘hole cards’ or starting hand, the players can either ‘check’, if no one has made a bet, or ‘bet’. To check means a player has declined to bet but he or she can keep his or her cards. In a round of betting, a player can call, raise or fold. To call is to match the bet amount of the previous player, to raise is to increase the bet amount of the previous player, on the other hand, to fold is to discard the cards and give up your interest in the pot. A round of betting continues until every player has folded, called or raised his poker hand.

The Texas Holdem Flop

After the Pre Flop round, if there is at least two players taking part in the hand, The Flop is dealt, three cards, face up on the board. The Flop is dealt when all the betting has been finished. In Texas Holdem, the three flop cards are community cards that are available to all the players in hand. The betting option in the flop is similar to that of Pre Flop.

Fourth and Fifth Street Poker Cards

After the Flop round, one more community card, called the Turn or Fourth Street is dealt. It is then followed by a third betting round. After the third betting round, the final community card, called the River of Fifth Street is dealt. This is followed by a fourth and the final betting round.

The Poker Hands Showdown

In case two or more players remain after the final betting round, a showdown occurs. Each player plays the best Poker Hand they can make from the seven cards they have on a showdown. A player can use both, one or none off his or her hole cards.

If the best poker hand is shared by more than one player, the pot is equally split among them. The best hand must be carefully determined from all the poker hands still remaining. In Texas Holdem, only the card’s numerical value is of sole importance.

Texas Holdem Poker Hands Order

In Texas Holdem poker, players competing against each other compare five card hands to determine the winner. For example a four of a kind is better than a full house and so on. We have made a list of the best to worst hands. If your hand is not on the list, probably you have been wiped out. But hey, try again!

  • Royal Flush – An Ace high straight of any one suit.
  • Straight Flush – Five cards straight in a sequence from any one suit.
  • Four of a Kind – Four cards of the same rank.
  • Full House – Three cards within the same rank and the other two cards within the same rank.
  • Flush – Five cards of the same suit, not necessarily in order.
  • Straight – Five cards in a sequential rank, belonging to any suit.
  • Three of a Kind – Three cards of different suits but the same rank. Known as trips
  • Two of a Kind – Two pair of cards from different suit with the same rank. Known as Two Pair

Fun Fact History About Texas Holdem Poker

The game dates back to 1900 and its birthplace is somewhere in Texas, obviously! It is definitely not easy to determine where exactly the first round of the Texas Holdem Poker was played.

The Texas State Legislature has passed a resolution declaring the city of Robstown as the birthplace of Texas Holdem Poker. This legislature was passed in May 2007.

Today, Texas Holdem Poker is one of the most widely played variant of poker, played extensively in casino and online by a wide number of enthusiastic audience.

History of Texas Holdem Poker

Poker is one of the oldest games that is still enjoyed widely today. In fact, it is one of the most popular non-computer games in the United States as well as abroad. Whether in a casino setting or at a friend’s house, poker has always been a crowd favorite due to the intense skill involved if a player is seeking to dominate his or her opponents.

This is most apparent in professional league poker, where players go beyond the simplicity of the card game and into complex strategies, sometimes even going so far as to attempt to psych out the other contenders at the table. When money is on the line, things can get QUITE intense.

Modern poker is speculated to have dated back at least 1,000 years and to have been played throughout many different cultures.

The game is believed to have descended from a domino-style card game which was enjoyed by the emperor of China in the 10th century AD. Some also believe that the Persian card game “As Nas” is responsible for bringing poker into the forefront of gaming evolution.

Either way, the game was played in many different variations until the European game of “Poque,” or “Pochen” in German, gained sweeping popularity throughout France and Germany, and slowly further and further abroad.

The game of poker first made its appearance in the North American continent in the early 18th century when French colonials imported the game westward to “New France,” otherwise known as modern-day Canada. It was referred to in early memoirs as the “cheating game,” being played by bored seamen aboard steamboats traveling the Mississippi River. As settlers moved further and further west, during the “Wild Western” period in the United States, poker became a crowd favorite at saloons.

In fact, almost every populated area had a gambling community which would meet at local pubs. This perpetually created an atmosphere where word spread of this game of skill. Now, nearly everyone has played poker at some point.

Poker in its various forms has been around for hundreds or thousands of years depending on how you would define poker. Five card draw, seven card stud, texas hold’em, omaha style, and more are all commonly played versions of this entertaining card game.

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Texas Holdem POKER GAMES and RULES

The aim of poker rules is to give an idea of how the poker game is played. Rules shall be given for the following games: Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Irish poker, Draw, Stud, Badugi, 8 game and Razz.

TEXAS HOLD’EM

Hands

It is probably the most populous and best game variation of poker. It uses a standard 52- card deck that is shuffled before every hand. The aim of the game is to win the hand and have the best hand at showdown.

Holdem Poker Hand Rules

In this game, a dealer button help determines the two players to post blinds. The two players, usually to the left of the dealer button, are forced to bet blind (small blind and big blind) before seeing their card.

The position immediately to the left of the dealer is called the small blind because he is to bet one-half of the minimum bet, and the position to the left of the small bind is called the big blind because he is to bet the normal minimum bet (full bet).

For an example, a game that is being played at a minimum of $4 will see the player at the small bind put out $2 while the big blind will put out $4. The blinds were introduced for money to be in each pot, thereby serving as an incentive for players to get involved.

After the blind bets, each player starting with the small blind, is dealt with two cards facedown. The round of betting begins and the player to the left of the big blind is to act first.

The players have the option of folding, calling the big blind or raising the bet. If the big blind is not raised by any player, the big blind may decide to raise the bet. After this first round of betting, the dealer then deals the flop(three community cards face up) before the second round of betting begins, but now it starts with the small blind and end with the button.

After the bet, the dealer deals the turn (fourth community card face up) and a third round of betting occurs and once all players have acted on the turn, the dealer then puts out the river (fifth community card face up) and thereafter the final round of betting.

In the showdown which determines the winner, the remaining players on the hand are to show their best five cards, with the best hand being the winner. However, if there is a tie, the pot will be split evenly for the process to start again.

The three variants of texas hold’em which is based on the betting rules are Limit hold ’em, Pot Limit and No-Limit hold ’em.

In Limit hold’em, the bet can only be raised by the amount of the big blind.

In Pot-Limit, the maximum bet can only be raised based on how much is in the current pot at the time of making the bet.

In No Limit hold ’em, the bet can be raised from the minimum amount up to the maximum amount of chips that the players have in front of them. It is the most popular of the three of them.

Omaha Holdem Poker and Rules

Omaha hold ’em, a family of community card game is the second most played game after Texas hold’em. The play and betting method of Omaha is quite similar to that of Texas hold’em, however, the glaring difference between them is that players of Omaha are dealt four cards each against two cards in Texas hold’em.

The rule similar to that of Texas hold’em is that after the players are dealt four cards each, there is a first round of betting and then a deal of flop (three community cards face up) by the dealer; a second round of betting before a deal of the turn (four community card face up); a third round of betting, followed by the deal of five community card face up (river) and then the final round of betting.

At showdown, each of the players must only use their two hole cards with three of their community cards to make their hand (best five-card).

It also has a popular variant called Omaha Hi-Lo/8. It is quite similar to Omaha only that the pot is shared similarly between two winners (one with highest and lowest hand respectively).

To be eligible to win the lowest hand, none of the players’ five cards can be greater than 8. If no player is qualified to win the lowest pot, the player with the highest wins the whole pot.

Irish Poker and Game Rules

Irish poker is a combination of Texas Hold’em and Omaha Poker. The players are dealt four cards as in the Omaha case, but must discard two cards after the flop betting round, thereby leaving the remainder of play similar to the standard Texas Hold’em.

The rule is thus: in the preflop similar to Omaha standard hand, the two players to the left of the dealer button must post blind bets (small blind and big blind) respectively before all the players are dealt with four cards each.

The first round betting begins with the player that is left to the big blind and continues round the table. The players are to fold, limp or raise as the bet moves round; if no action is taken before it gets to the big blind, he is entitled to check.

After the betting round, the dealer deals three community cards face up (flop) as in Texas Hold’em or Omaha. At the end of the second round of betting, the active players must discard two cards from their four. After this, the game is played similarly like Texas Hold’em hand through the “turn” and “river”.

In the showdown, the active players are to show their best hand, comprising of the two hole cards and three community cards. The player with the highest hand is awarded the pot.

There is also a variant of Irish Poker known as Irish Hold’em. Irish Hold’em, players play with three hole cards after one is discarded after the flop deal.


Draw Poker Game Rules

Also known as five Card Draw, it has been played for a long time and was known best until the rise of the Texas Hold’em. It can be played in two ways: ante(the traditional way) and blind(similar to Texas Hold’em). The aim of the game is to make the best hand of five cards at showdown.

After the deal where the players are dealt five hole cards, the first round of betting begins. If the game is played with antes, the betting starts with the player to the left of the dealer and if it blind, the betting will start with the player to the left of the big blind(similar to Hold’em). After the first round of betting, which the players have options to fold, call or raise the bet, there is a draw.

The draw allows each of the active players starting from the dealer’s left to freely discard the cards he so wishes to discard and then replace them from the undealt pack of cards. However, a player may decide to “stand pat”, that is desisting from discarding any of the five cards. A second betting interval follows suit before the showdown. Just like the previous games, the player with the best five-card hand wins the pot.

Stud Poker Games

There are two forms namely five card stud and seven card stud.

In the Game of Five Card Stud

Each of the players receive two cards, with one being face down (the hole card) and the other face up. The first round of betting begins with the player having the highest face-up card. If the game is played without an ante, the player with the highest face-up card opens with a minimum bet.

At the end of the betting round, the dealer deals one face-up card to the players before another round of betting. Two other rounds of dealing follows where each player receives one card face-up, with a betting interval at the end of the rounds.

In each of the betting intervals, the first bettor is the player who currently has the best hand. At the showdown, which is after the fourth deal and last betting interval, the active players show their cards and the best high hand wins.

In Seven Card Stud

The players are dealt with seven cards throughout the course of the game, however, the five best–card poker determines the winner.

After the deal where the players are dealt two hole cards and one face-up cards each, the betting begins with a compulsory bet called “bring in” by the player showing the lowest card.

After the first round of betting, each of the players receives a face-up card called “Fourth Street” and then followed by another round of betting. This time, the player to act first is the one with the highest poker value.

The same process is repeated for two other face-up card deals (Fifth Street and Sixth street) and at the final card called “Seventh Street”, each player is dealt one face-down card, so that each of the players now four exposed cards(face-up) and three hidden cards(face-down).

At the showdown which is after the final betting round, the player with the best poker hand of five cards claims the pot.

It also has a variant called Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo or Stud Eight or Stud/8. In this game, there are two winners in each hand, one for having the best high poker hand and the other for holding the best low poker, provided his hand is not higher than eight.

Badugi Poker Game

Badugi is a Japanese poker game that is similar lowball games in nature and in play and betting action, it is similar to triple draw.

It requires a small blind and big blind, four betting rounds and also a standard 52-card deck shuffled before every hand like other poker games. However, the hand ranking system which is made up of four pocket cards makes it different from others.

The rule of Badugi is thus: as a blind game, Badugi is played using mandatory bets, where the player to the left of the dealer button post a small blind, and the player sitting left to the small blind puts the big blind.

Each player starting from the left of the dealer is dealt four cards each and as well, the round of betting begins with the player to the left of the big blind acting first.

Once the betting is completed, there is a draw where the players have the option of discarding any number of his cards and replace with new ones.

However, a player may decide to “stand pat”, that is desisting from discarding any of the four cards. The second round of betting begins with the player to the dealer’s left, then another draw. A showdown where the player with the best hand wins the pot occurs after the third round of draw and final betting interval. The winner is the player with the lowest card.

8 Game A combination of Texas Holdem Poker Games

The 8 Game is called Thorseha and consist of eight individual games of three variants. The Holdem variants are Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, Pot Limit Omaha Hi, Limit Holdem, and No Limit Holdem; the Stud variants are 7 Card Stud Limit, Razz, and Stud Hi-Lo; while the Holdem Blocks variant is 2-7 Triple Draw.

Since the game is made of eight individual games, the rules of 8-Game Poker relies on the rules of each of the game that is being played. It therefore means that 8 Games Poker actually has eight sets of rules.

The game is normally played with six players at the table and each of the game is played for six hands. After the game is played from the first to the last, it resumes with 2-7 Triple Draw and so on.

One strong strategy in 8 Game is that since not every player is particularly good in all the poker games, you take the advantage of the games you are strong at.

For instance, if you have a great Limit Omaha Hi-Lo strategy, but usually don’t do so very well in other games, a great strategy is you playing more aggressively during your mastered games. Get used to playing all kinds of poker games before mastering this.

Razz

Razz is known as a “low” game, which means players are to make the lowest or worst hand in order to win the pot. The game is almost similar to 7 Card Stud but differs in the player to start the betting action, the player to start action on each street, and also in how to decide the winning hand at showdown.

After the deal where the players are dealt two hole cards and one face-up cards each, the “bring in” which is the compulsory bet is done by the player showing the highest card unlike 7 Card Stud, where the player with the lowest card does the “bring in”.

After the first round of betting, each of the players receives a face-up card called “Fourth Street” and then followed by another round of betting. This time, the player to act first is the one with the lowest poker value.

The same process is repeated for two other face-up card deals (Fifth Street and Sixth street) and at the final card called “Seventh Street”, each player is dealt one face-down card. At the showdown which is after the final betting round, the player with the best Razz hand or lowest cards claims the pot.

Texas Holdem Conclusion:

Will poker ever lose its worldwide popularity? Doubtful. Since its humble beginnings, the game of poker has increased in its range of influence exponentially. Even in this modern technological age, online poker games attract the attention of new generations of gamers worldwide willing to put money on the line.

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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.

Poker Hands From Best To Worst

Poker Hands From Best To Worst

1. Royal Flush10JQKAThe best possible hand in Texas hold'em is the combination of ten, jack, queen, king, ace, all of the same suit
2. Straight Flush56789Five cards of the same suit in sequential order
3. Four-Of-A-Kind3333KAny four numerically matching cards
4. Full HouseJJJKKCombination of three of a kind and a pair in the same hand
5. Flush2459KFive cards of the same suit, in any order
6. StraightA2345Five cards of any suit, in sequential order
7. Three-Of-A-Kind77745Any three numerically matching cards
8. Two Pair99KK4Two different pairs in the same hand
9. One Pair10103QKAny two numerically matching cards
10. High CardK248QThe highest ranked card in your hand with an ace being the highest and two being the lowest
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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

Texas holdem poker winning hands and odds

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.

What Hands Win In Poker

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:

Winning Hands In Texas Holdem Poker

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.

Poker HandNo. WaysProbability
Royal Flush40.000,001,539
Straight Flush400.000,015,39
Four-of-a-Kind6240.000,240,1
Full House3,7440.001,440,58
Flush5,1080.001,965,4
Straight10,2000.003,924,65
Three-of-a-Kind54,9120.021,128,45
Two Pairs123,5520,047,539,02
One Pair1,098,2400,422.569.03

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.

Poker Hands Order Chart

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.

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.

Order Of Winning Hands In Texas Holdem Poker

Can you make three pairs?

Texas Holdem Poker Winning Hands

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.

Texas Holdem Winning Hand Order

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!