Poker Hands In Order Of Best

The Order of Hands in Poker


Poker hands basics

There are a total of 10 different hands in standard five-card games of poker like Texas Holdem. Each hand’s strength is determined by how difficult it is for players to come across it. The rarer a hand is, the harder it is to beat.

The best Four of a Kind poker hand is A A A A x, which beats all other 4 of a Kind and lower hands in poker. Here is a couple of examples of these poker hands, which is also known as Quads: A A A A 4 Q Q Q Q K. An ace-high straight flush, commonly known as a royal flush, is the best possible hand in many variants of poker. In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game. Simply put, a poker hand is just a collection of specific cards. At the end of each game (i.e., the showdown stage), all active players must compare their respective hands to determine a winner (or winners in case there’s an unbreakable tie). Here we will give some additional information regarding the hand order in poker, and what you need to make a certain hand. We start with the strongest hands you can make in Poker. The Royal Flush is the best possible combination in Poker. You have to be incredibly lucky to get this hand as it occurs seldomly.

Why knowing your hands matter

Even though you can, in some cases, bluff your way to victory in poker, getting a strong hand is still the surest, most straightforward way to win a game. Besides, bluffing and pretty much any other strategy you could think of – including knowing when to fold – relies heavily on your understanding of poker hands.

Please note the following card references:

(h) Hearts (d) Diamonds (c) Clubs (s) Spades

Poker hand rankings

Below are all the five-card poker hands at your disposal (arranged from strongest to weakest):

#1 Royal Flush

649,739 to 1 odds (In a 52-card Deck)

Made up of five suited cards in sequence with an ace as its highest card, a royal flush is the strongest hand in poker.
Ex: Ac Kc Qc Jc 10c

Royal Flush Tiebreaker Tip: In standard games of poker, the suits cannot be used to break ties so if two or more active players end up with a royal flush, the pot is simply split evenly among them.

#2 Straight Flush

72,192 to 1 odds (In a 52-card Deck)

Practically the same as a royal flush, the only thing that sets it apart is that it uses a king or lower as its highest card.
Ex: 6s 5s 4s 3s 2s

Straight Flush Tiebreaker Tip: The highest cards of all tied players are compared first. If they’re the same, then we move on to the second highest. The process continues until a winner is determined. If all the cards are the same, however, the pot is split evenly among all tied players.

#3 Four of a Kind

4,164 to 1 odds (In a 52-card Deck)

As the name suggests, this hand consists of four cards of the same value (plus a random fifth card).
Ex: Qd Qh Qs Qc 6s

Four of a Kind Tiebreaker Tip: The only way there can be a tie in this case is when the hand appears on the table. When this happens, the pot is split evenly among all tied players.

#4 Full House

693 to 1 odds (In a 52-card Deck)

This hand is made up of a trip (i.e., three cards of the same value) and a pair (i.e., two cards of the same value).
Ex: Jd Jh Js 2s 2c

Full House Tiebreaker Tip: The trips are compared first. If they’re tied, we move on to the pairs. If they’re still tied, then the pot is split evenly among all tied players.

#5 Flush

508 to 1 odds (In a 52-card Deck)

This hand consists of five suited cards. The values do not matter.
Ex: Ac 8c 6c 3c 2c

Flush Tiebreaker Tip: Ties are broken in the exact same way as with straight flushes.

Worst

#6 Straight

254 to 1 odds (In a 52-card Deck)

In contrast to a flush, this hand consists of five non-suited cards of consecutive values.
Ex: 10d 9c 8s 7c 6h

Straight Tiebreaker Tip: This hand also uses the same process to break ties as straight flushes.

#7 Three of a Kind

46.3 to 1 odds (In a 52-card Deck)

It’s just a trip plus two random cards.
Ex: 7h 7s 7c Qd 4s

Three of a Kind Tiebreaker Tip: The trip gets compared first. If they’re tied, then the fourth (and, if needed, fifth) kicker cards are compared. If they’re still the same, then the pot is split evenly among all tied players.

#8 Two Pair

20 to 1 odds (In a 52-card Deck)

As you may have probably guessed, this hand consists of two pairs (plus a fifth kicker card).
Ex: Jd Jh 8d 8c 3s

Two Pair Tiebreaker Tip: The high pairs are checked first. If they are tied, then the low pairs get compared. If they’re still the same, then the kicker cards are used to determine a winner.

#9 One Pair

1.37 to 1 odds (In a 52-card Deck)

The only difference between a two pair hand and this one is that a pair only has, as the name implies, one pair (plus three kicker cards to complete the set).
Ex: 6d 6h Ks 7c 4s

One Pair Tiebreaker Tip: Ties are broken just as you would with two pair hands. The only difference is that there are three kicker cards to work with.

Hands

#10 High Card

0.995 to 1 odds (In a 52-card Deck)

The weakest one in the bunch, a high card hand is just a set of five random cards. It’s something you automatically end up with if you cannot build any of the other hands on this list.
Ex: Qd 7c 5s 3h 2h

High Card Tiebreaker Tip:High card ties are broken with the same method used for straight flushes.

Standard order of poker hands

Seems overwhelming? Don’t worry. Most five-card varieties of poker use this exact hand ranking system so you only really have to memorize everything once before you can play.

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Poker Hands: An Introduction


To fool or be fooled

Poker is a pretty straightforward game. All you have to do is build a hand that’s strong enough to beat everyone else’s – or trick your opponents that you do have a strong hand regardless of what cards you actually have – to win.

But how exactly do you gauge the strength of your hand? Well, there’s a table below that shows you all the hands at your disposal and how each one of them ranks with respect to all the others. But before we get to that, let us first go over some of the basics:

Please note the following card references:

(h) Hearts (d) Diamonds (c) Clubs (s) Spades

What is a hand in poker?

Simply put, a poker hand is just a collection of specific cards. At the end of each game (i.e., the showdown stage), all active players must compare their respective hands to determine a winner (or winners in case there’s an unbreakable tie). The player or players with the strongest hand wins the pot.

In most cases (i.e., in standard games like Texas Holdem and Omaha), a hand is made up of five cards. Even in seven-card poker, only the strongest five-card hands get considered. The only difference is that each player gets more cards to work within seven-card games.

The only exception to this five-card hand rule are three-card poker games, where, as the name suggests, only three cards are used to make a hand.

What determines the strength of a poker hand?

Rarity dictates how strong a certain poker hand is. The more difficult it is to get, the higher it ranks. Now, while we won’t actually show you the math behind it in this post, if you enjoy working with numbers or are just curious, then there’s a detailed write-up on the subject right here.

You said something about tricking my opponents. What’s that about?

Well, it’s a technique called “bluffing.” It basically entails making your opponents believe that you either have a strong or weak hand depending on how you want them to act. By making other players believe that you have a strong hand, you can force those with weak hands to fold, thereby decreasing the total number of people you have to compete with come showdown time. By acting weak, on the other hand, you can bait them into raising the pot, which ultimately means more money for you at the end of the game.

All it takes is a bit of acting. Of course, being able to read your opponents would help a lot as well. But be sure to not overuse this technique to prevent your opponents from seeing a pattern and countering.

Poker hands in order of strength

Now that we’re done with the basics, let’s move on to the hand rankings:

Royal Flush Probability

0.000154%

The top hand in poker, it consists of five suited cards of consecutive values starting with an ace.

Ex: As Ks Qs Js 10s

Straight Flush Probability

Best

0.00139%

It’s essentially a clone of a royal flush but it uses a king or lower as its highest card instead of an ace.

Ex: Js 10s 9s 8s 7s

Four of a Kind Probability

0.0240%

This hand is made up of four cards of the same value and a fifth kicker card.

Ex: 3d 3h 3s 3c 9s

Full House Probability

0.1441%

A trip and pair combo.

Ex: Kd Kh Ks 4s 4c

Flush Probability

0.1965%

Five suited cards of any value.

Ex: Ad 7d 6d 4d 2d

Straight Probability

0.3925%

As you may have guessed, this hand consists of five cards in sequence. The suits do not matter.

Ex: 6d 5c 4s 3c 2h

Three of a Kind Probability

2.1128%

Also known as a trip, it’s just three cards of the same value plus two kicker cards.

Ex: 4h 4s 4c 10d 7s

Two Pair Probability

4.7539%

A pair is just two cards of the same value. This hand has two of them plus a fifth kicker card.

Ex: 10d 10h 6d 6c 2s

One Pair Probability

42.2569%

In contrast, this hand only has one pair plus three kicker cards.

Ex: Kd Kh 6s 3c 2s

High Card Probability

50.1177%

It’s called a hand but it’s practically just a collection of random cards. This is what you get by default when you are unable to build anything stronger.

In most cases, it would be best to just fold when you get this hand – unless you’re sure that you can bluff your way to victory.

Ex: Jd 7c 6s 4h 2h

Different Poker Hands In Order Of Best To Worst

Mastering these poker hands takes experience

Don’t worry if the whole subject seems overwhelming. The more games you play, the more you’ll be able to master these things.

List Of Poker Hands In Order Of Best

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Poker Hands In Order Of Best To Worst