Our example shows a King high straight. In the event of a tie, the best straight is determined by the highest ranked card. A straight consisting of 8, 9, 10, J, Q, would lose to our example hand. But a straight consisting of 10, J, Q, K, A, would win. Also note that an Ace can be used as the low card for a straight of A, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Poker hands are ranked based on the odds against drawing them. The rarer a hand, the stronger it is.
Some poker variants use alternate hands, but the rank of hands shown below (and at right) is standard. Hands that are tied in terms of rank are decided based on the highest card in the hand. In other words, a Pair of Kings beats a Pair of Tens, and a Straight 7-8-9-10-J beats a Straight 3-4-5-6-7.
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The lowest possible hand is no hand at all -- no pairs, no Straight, nothing. This kind of hand is known by the highest card it contains, so K-7-5-3-2 of different suits would be 'King High.'
The lowest actual hand is One Pair, made of two cards of the same value and three unrelated cards.
Next is Two Pair: two cards of the same value, another two other cards of the same value, and one unrelated card.
Three of a Kind beats Two Pair: three cards with the same value and two unrelated cards. This hand is sometimes referred to as a Set or Trips.
Topping Three of a Kind is a Straight, made of five cards, any suit, in uninterrupted order of value. An Ace can be either the low card or the high card in a Straight, but you can't build a Straight between a King and a Two. In other words, A-2-3-4-5 is a Straight, and so is 10-J-Q-K-A, but Q-K-A-2-3 is not.
Just above the Straight is the Flush: five cards of the same suit, with any value.
Next is the Full House. A Full House is basically three of a kind plus a pair. A Full House made of three Queens and a pair of Sixes would be referred to as 'Full-house, Queens over Sixes.'
Four of a kind is a rare hand without wild cards in play. This hand consists of four cards of the same value, plus one unrelated card.
The strongest hand in poker is the Straight Flush, which is really a combination of a Straight and a Flush. This hand is made up of five cards of the same suit, in uninterrupted sequence.
The legendary Royal Flush is the rarest of all poker hands. Technically, it's just a Straight Flush with an Ace as the high card, but because it's an unbeatable hand, poker players usually consider the Royal Flush a hand in its own category. Specifically, a Royal Flush is five cards of the same suit in an uninterrupted sequence that leads up to the Ace: 10-J-Q-K-A.
7 8 9 10 Ace Poker Game
Hand rankings[edit]
The most fundamental of poker concern the hand rankings, because the hand rankings determine the winner. While betting is extremely important to the game, players are wagering on whether they have won, therefore a complete understanding of hand rankings must come first. These hand rankings do not apply to games played 'low', such as lowball or razz; see the section on 'low hands' below.
The cards are ranked thus, from low to high: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace. An ace is the highest card, but it can also function as the lowest in completing a straight. The two is usually called a 'deuce', and the three is sometimes called a 'trey'. Ten, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace are often abbreviated T, J, Q, K, and A, respectively, so that each card name has a single number or letter associated with it. This is commonly used in describing hands, for example, A-2-3-4-5 is a hand with an ace, a two ('deuce'), a three, a four, and a five — not necessarily in that order, but presenting them in that order makes it clear that the hand is a straight. A hand may also be written, say, A-A-x-x-x, where 'x' means any other card that does not form a better hand.
| Rank name | Also called | Cards needed | Example | Names for example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High card | No pair, nothing | (Anything) | A-x-x-x-x | Ace high |
| Pair | Two cards of same rank | A-A-x-x-x | Aces; pair of aces | |
| Two pair | Two pairs | A-A-K-K-x | Aces up; aces and kings; aces over kings | |
| Three of a kind | Trips, a set | Three cards of same rank | A-A-A-x-x | Three aces; set of aces |
| Straight | Five cards in sequence | 10-J-Q-K-A | Ace-high straight | |
| Flush | All five cards same suit | A♣10♣7♣6♣4♣ | Ace-high flush | |
| Full house | Boat, full boat | Three of a kind plus a pair | A-A-A-K-K | Aces full; aces full of kings |
| Four of a kind | Quads | Four cards of same rank | A-A-A-A-x | Quad aces; four aces |
| Straight flush | Five cards forming straight and a flush | 10♠J♠Q♠K♠A♠ | Ace-high straight flush (Also called a Royal Flush) |
A-2-3-4-5 is considered a five-high straight, and it is called a wheel or bicycle; this is the only time an ace plays as a low card. An ace-high straight flush is called a royal flush and it cannot be beaten. The only time it ties is when all 5 cards to the royal flush, i.e. A♥K♥Q♥J♥10♥, are on the community board. Higher cards always beat lower cards, for example, a pair of aces beats a pair of kings, and a flush with a king beats a flush whose highest card is a Queen. If two players have the same pair, a kicker is used to break the tie if possible (more about them soon). When two players have two pair, the highest pairs are considered, for example, aces up always beats kings up, no matter the other pairs. If, for example, two players both have aces up, then the higher of the smaller pairs wins: aces over kings beats aces over queens. If, for example, both players have aces over kings, then the kicker card is considered. Kickers also come into play when more than one player has the same three or four of a kind (possible only in community card games or wildcard games). If players have the same straight, flush, full house, or straight flush, it is always a tie and the players split the pot. There is no suit superiority or trump suit; a spade flush with A-10-9-6-4 does not beat a club flush with the same values.
A kicker is any card that you hold in your hand that does not make part of it, that is, an otherwise useless card. A hand can have more than one kicker; A pair for instance has three kickers and a three-of-a-kind has two, and they are considered in rank order highest-first. When two players hold the same pair, two pair, three of a kind, or four of a kind, the highest kicker wins, for example, A-A-K-x-x beats A-A-Q-x-x, A-A-K-Q-x beats A-A-K-J-x, and A-A-K-Q-J beats A-A-K-Q-T. A kicker can be higher than the rest of the hand, for example, K-K-A-x-x beats K-K-J-x-x, so an ace usually makes the best kicker. If the first kicker ties and there is a second or third, they are compared in rank order; A-A-K-J-x loses to A-A-K-Q-x. If the hands are totally equivalent, the pot is split.
Low hands[edit]
Some games have a high-low split, and some games such as lowball or razz are played low-only. In a high-low split game, typically a low hand must not have any cards ranked higher than eight and no cards must be paired, or it does not count as a low hand. In low-only games, any cards can be used. Many forms of poker do not use low hands, so you need not concern yourself with these until you intend to play games that do.
There are three common ways of ranking low hands: ace-to-five low, ace-to-six low, and deuce-to-seven low, named after the best possible hands in the respective systems. In all systems, paired cards are bad and cannot be used to beat any hand that does not have a pair. Likewise, a pair beats three of a kind, three of a kind beats a full house, and a full house beats four of a kind. The most common hand ranking system for low hands is ace-to-five, used almost universally in high-low split games and very common in other games. This means A-2-3-4-5 (called a wheel or bicycle, just as it is as a high hand) is the best possible low hand, and the ace is the lowest card. For a high-low split game, it also forms a high hand: a five-high straight. In order to avoid confusion, we will discuss only ace-to-five low at the moment.
When pairs and any other 'bad' hands are not present, then the winner is the one whose highest card is lowest. For this reason, a low hand is usually described highest card first, to make it easier to tell which is lower. In ace-to-five, 8-4-3-2-A loses to 7-6-5-4-3 because the highest card in the first hand (eight) is higher than the highest card in the second hand (seven), even though all the other cards in the second hand are lower. If the highest cards are the same, then the next-highest cards are considered, and so on: 8-7-6-3-A loses to 8-7-5-4-2 because the second hand goes lower first.
In ace-to-six low, straights and flushes count for high (that is, they're bad), and the best possible hand is A-2-3-4-6 unsuited, since it's the lowest possible card combination that avoids pairing, straights, and flushes. Deuce-to-seven is identical except the ace is the highest card, so the best possible hand is 2-3-4-5-7 unsuited. Therefore, in deuce-to-seven low, the hand that would make the worst possible high hand in traditional poker is the best possible low hand, and vice versa: a royal flush is the worst possible hand.