Poker Hand Rankings

Poker hand rankings are the foundation of every poker game. Whether you're playing Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Seven-Card Stud, or any other standard poker variant, the same hand hierarchy applies. The strongest hand wins the pot, and understanding which hands beat which is the first thing every poker player must learn.

Royal Flush is the highest possible hand: A, K, Q, J, and 10 of the same suit. It's unbeatable and extraordinarily rare. You'll see one roughly once every 650,000 hands in a five-card deal.

Straight Flush is any five consecutive cards of the same suit (excluding the royal version). For example, 9-8-7-6-5 of hearts. If two players have straight flushes, the one with the higher top card wins.

Four of a Kind (also called quads) is four cards of the same rank plus one kicker. Four kings beats four queens, and if two players somehow have the same quads, the higher kicker wins.

Full House is three of a kind combined with a pair. The three-of-a-kind portion determines the rank first (e.g., jacks full of eights beats tens full of aces). Full houses are strong hands that frequently win large pots.

Flush is five cards of the same suit, not in sequence. When comparing flushes, start with the highest card and work down. An A-J-8-6-3 of diamonds beats a K-Q-J-9-7 of spades because the ace outranks the king.

Straight is five consecutive cards of mixed suits. The ace can play high (A-K-Q-J-T) or low (5-4-3-2-A, known as the wheel), but it cannot wrap around (Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight). The highest top card wins when two straights compete.

Three of a Kind (trips or a set) is three cards of the same rank with two unrelated kickers. In Hold'em, a "set" specifically means you hold a pocket pair that matches a board card, while "trips" means you hold one card matching a board pair. Sets are generally stronger because they're better disguised.

Two Pair is two different pairs plus one kicker. The higher pair is compared first, then the lower pair, then the kicker. A hand of A-A-8-8-K beats K-K-Q-Q-J because aces outrank kings.

One Pair is two cards of the same rank with three kickers. The higher pair wins; if pairs are equal, kickers are compared in order. One pair is the most common made hand in Hold'em.

High Card is a hand that doesn't fit any category above. The highest card plays, followed by the second-highest, and so on. Ace-high is the strongest high card hand.

The rarity of each hand directly determines its ranking. Hands that are harder to make rank higher. Here are the odds of being dealt each hand in a standard five-card deal from a 52-card deck:

In Texas Hold'em, you have seven cards to work with (two hole cards plus five community cards), so the probability of making strong hands increases significantly compared to five-card poker. For instance, the odds of flopping a set when holding a pocket pair are approximately 1 in 8.5, and the odds of making a flush by the river with two suited cards are roughly 1 in 15.

One of the most misunderstood areas of poker hand rankings is the role of kickers. A kicker is any card in your five-card hand that is not part of the primary combination (pair, trips, etc.). Kickers only come into play when two or more players hold the same ranked hand.

When kickers matter: Kickers apply to Four of a Kind (one kicker), Three of a Kind (two kickers), Two Pair (one kicker), One Pair (three kickers), and High Card (all five cards compared). For each hand type, the kickers are compared from highest to lowest until a winner is determined. If all kickers are identical, the pot is split.

When kickers don't matter: Full Houses, Flushes, Straights, and Straight Flushes use all five cards for ranking, so there are no separate kickers. A Full House is ranked first by the three-of-a-kind component, then by the pair. A Flush compares all five cards from highest to lowest.

Common kicker mistakes: In Hold'em, the board's community cards are shared. If the board shows A-A-K-Q-J, a player holding 9-8 has the same hand as a player holding 7-6 — both play the board's top five cards (A-A-K-Q-J) and split the pot. Your hole cards only matter if they improve the best five-card hand available.

Suits never break ties: In standard poker, all suits are equal. If two players have identical flushes in different suits, they split the pot. Suits are only used in specific non-standard situations, like determining the bring-in in stud games.

These are the most commonly searched poker hand comparisons. In standard poker, hand rankings are always the same regardless of the variant you're playing.