Texas Hold’em is the most popular poker variant in the US. It is also the ranking game internationally, dwarfing other poker games by a long margin. This Poker Hands Guide is based on Texas Hold’em hand rankings, and it will reveal the best-kept secrets to forming winning hand combinations.
Since a definitive guide on every hand and how and when to play it in every situation would take more words than a novel. This article will touch on the major points of basic pre-flop hands with broad strokes. Texas Holdem Starting Hands. Watch the video below for some immediate help picking the right Texas Hold'em Starting Hands. Poker Hands Rankings: List of All Poker Hands. About to play your first poker hands? Let's see what beats what in Texas hold'em poker. This list of poker hands is essential to become a successful player and to know how to read the board in poker. This is the best hand in poker. This list of the top 10 best starting hands for Texas Hold 'em is a good place to start learning. Do keep in mind, however, that there is some disagreement over which hands are the best, and it does depend in part on your skill level and style of play. Also, a great starting hand can turn bad quickly with the wrong community cards. Poker Hand Combinations Explained. Poker hands fall into one of ten categories. The highest is a royal flush, followed by a straight flush, then four of a kind, a full house, a flush, a straight.
There are 10 different hands ranks in Texas Hold’em – from a Royal Flush to a Straight to a lousy High Card. Here’s a comprehensive list of all Texas Hold’em poker hand rankings:
You can also print and download the Official Texas Hold’em hand ranking as a PDF file.
Download the poker hand ranking charts image or PDF:
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There are only 10 distinct poker hand ranks, but if you randomly deal 5 cards from a deck of 52 cards there are exactly 2,598,960 possible card combinations.
The poker hand ranking charts are based on the probability for each distinct hand rank. More unlikely combinations are ranked higher. Those are the probabilities and odds for all 5-card poker hands:
If you’re playing Texas Hold’em, you have 7 cards to chose your hand from. There are 133,784,560 to deal 7 random cards. This changes the odds and probabilities for all poker hands a bit. Those are the probabilities and odds for all Texas Hold’em Poker hands:
Technically it’s more likely that you’re dealt at least a pair in Texas Hold’em than holding only high card. But “High Card” still remains the lowest rank.
When playing Texas Hold’em (or any other popular poker variant) 2 pairs are always ranked below a straight.
3 Aces are just trips (or three of a kind) in poker. When playing regular Texas Hold’em a straight is ranked above trips. There are however rule variations where trips can bet a straight, namely Short Deck Hold’em, a poker variant where all cards below 5 are removed.
In regular poker variants there are is no 5-of-kind rank. When playing with wildcards (joker) 5 of a kind are possible. In this case 5 of a kind are the highest possible poker hand and beat a royal flush.
Every full house always beats trips, no matter the rank of the trips. Even trip aces are always ranked below every possible full house.
A Royal Flush is the best possible poker hand and of course always beats any other flush.
Every common poker variant, including Texas Hold’em, ranks a Full House above a straight. So no, a Straight never beats a Full House in Poker.
In all regular modern poker variations (including Texas Hold’em and Omaha) a Royal Flush is always the highest possible hand rank. A higher rank is only possible when playing with a Joker. In this case 5 of a kind (4 Aces plus Joker) beats a Royal Flush.
A Flush is a very strong hand in poker. The only hands that beat a Flush are Full House, Quads, Straight Flush, and Royal Flush.
A Royal Flush is extremely rare. When playing Texas Hold’em you’ll only get one every 31,000 hands. And that assumes you never fold. The hand is so rare that most poker players can remember all Royal Flushes they have been dealt in their life time.
Straight Flushes are almost as rare as Royal Flushes. When playing Texas Hold’em you will hit a Straight Flush roughly every 3,600 hands (assuming you never fold any hand that can make a Straight Flush).
There is no “3 pair” hand rank in poker. When playing Texas Hold’em it’s technically possible to have three pairs, but since a poker hand only consists of 5 cards only the 2 highest pairs are in play. For example, if you hold Q-J and the board reads Q-J-6-A-A you only have two pair: Aces and Queens.
A Royal Flush can be any of the 4 suits, spades, hearts, diamonds, or clubs. It’s just that usually a Royal Flush is depicted in spades or hearts. Nevertheless, it doesn’t matter which suit, a Royal Flush is always the best Texas Hold’em Poker Hand.
A poker hand can consist of up to 5 kickers. A player with no pair only has kickers. A player with one pair has 3 kickers, a player with trips has 2 kickers, and a player with 2 pair or quads has 1 kicker.
When building a straight an Ace can be used as a virtual “1” in poker. Meaning, A-2-3-4-5 is a straight. There are also lowball poker variations where the Ace counts as the lowest card.
Yes, the ace can count as the lowest card in a straight and function as a “1” when combined with 2-3-4-5.
A straight cannot go “around the corner”, the Ace can only be either the highest or the lowest card, not a card in the middle. So no, J-Q-K-A-2 is no straight in poker.
A straight cannot go “around the corner”, the Ace can only be either the highest or the lowest card, not a card in the middle. So no, Q-K-A-2-3 is no straight in poker.
For a straight you need to use all 5 cards. There are no cards left for a kicker. The rank of the straight is determined by the highest card. E.g. an ace-high straight beats a queen-high straight.
A flush in poker is hand which consists of 5 cards of the same suit. The same color (red or black) is not enough. It has to 5 spades, hearts, diamonds, or clubs.
There are no distinctions between the 4 possible Royal Flushes in poker. A Royal Flush in spades is as good as a Royal Flush in hearts, diamonds, or clubs.
Only in very rare occasions (for example when dealing for the button) the suits are ranked in poker. In this case the ranking is: 1. spades, 2. hearts, 3. diamonds, 4. clubs. Suits are otherwise generally not ranked in poker. A Flush in spades is as good as a flush in any other suit, only the ranks of the cards matter.
In poker the lowest possible pair is a pair of Deuces (twos).
To win a bad beat jackpot in poker you need to lose with a very strong hand, usually a strong Full House (Aces Full). It’s also necessary that both, the winning hand losing player, user both of their hole cards. E.g. losing with quads on the board does not count.
The odds of hitting a bad beat jackpot in poker depend on the rules for the jackpot. If you have to lose with Aces Full or better your odds of hitting the bad beat jackpot are 1:58,948. If you have to lose with quads or better your odds are 1:624,609 (assuming a 10 player table where nobody ever folds).
If you lose with a very strong hand against an even stronger hand this is called a “bad beat”. It is also a bad beat if you lose an all-in while being far ahead and you opponent wins by catching some miracle cards.
5 Card Stud is one of the oldest poker variants where each player is dealt 5 cards. There are exactly 2,598,960 different 5 stud poker hands possible.
There are only 10 distinct poker hand ranks, but if you randomly deal 5 cards from a deck of 52 cards there are exactly 2,598,960 possible card combinations. If you’re playing Texas Hold’em, you have 7 cards to chose your hand from. There are 133,784,560 to deal 7 random cards.
It’s possible (and not too uncommon) for two players to have the same hand in poker. In this case the pot is split and both players receive half the pot.
When playing Texas Hold’em it’s almost impossible for two players to have a Royal Flush. For that to happen the 5 community cards need to form a Royal Flush. In that case all players in the hand win and split the pot.
If two players have the same hand, the pot is split and both players win half of it. This can happen for example if both players have the same cards (e.g. Ace-King) and nobody makes a Flush.
In Video Poker you can win the jackpot when you hit a Royal Flush. To maximize your chances you should always keep all suited cards 10 or above (if you have at least 2) and discard the rest. You will see a Royal Flush roughly once every 40,000 spins.
The odds of hitting a royal flush directly are only 1 in 649,739. But since you can draw one time your odds increase. If you play perfectly your odds of hitting a royal flush are roughly 1 in 40,000.
Looking for an easy-to-understand and printable list of poker hands to know what-beats-what in Texas hold'em? You've come to the right place.
Learning the poker hand rankings and what are the best hands in poker is the number one thing you need to do before you sit down and play cards at the best UK online poker sites.
You want to know the strength of all poker hands and find out what is the best hand in poker before you begin to play with other players.
To help you learn everything about all the Texas hold'em hands and know what beats what in poker, we prepared a key page for all beginners: the official poker hands rankings.
In this page, you'll find:
In other words, if you are looking for a list of all poker hands ranked in order of strength and importance - you'll love this page.
About to play your first poker hands? Let's see what beats what in Texas hold'em poker. This list of poker hands is essential to become a successful player and to know how to read the board in poker.
This is the best hand in poker. The Royal Flush is a very difficult poker hand to get - but when you do, you have the hame in your hands.
A Royal Flush consists of five consecutive cards (10 through ace) of the same suit.
Example of a Royal Flush:
The second-best hand in the list of all poker hands. Holding a straight flush is almost always sign that you will win the hand.
You don't have mathematical certitude, but it's really hard to be beaten when you have Straight Flush to support you. Why?
Because it beats all other poker hands except for the Royal Flush and a Straight Flush higher in value.
A Straight Flush consists of five consecutive cards of the same suit that are not 10 through ace.
Example of a Straight Flush:
Another premium poker hand that will help you win a lot of pots.
A four-of-a-kind is a four-card poker hand consisting of the same card in all the four suits in the game.
Example of a four-of-a-kind:
This strong poker hand is the combination of two different hands: the three-of-a-kind and the pair.
A full-house poker hand is composed of three same cards in different suits and a pair of cards of the same ranks but (again) of different suits.
Example of a full house:
This is also a strong poker hand - even if it's not the best hand in poker and a large number of players tend to overestimate its strength.
The flush is a five-card poker hand composed by cards of the same suit. The cards' ranks are irrelevant.
Example of a flush:
A straight is a five-card poker hand composed by consecutive cards in different suits.
Remember: the flush beat the straight in poker. And the straight beat the three-of-a-kind.
While the Ace can be counted both as 1 or a K, you can't have a straight with two Aces.
Example of a straight:
The three-of-a-kind is a poker hand composed of three cards of the same rank but different suits.
Example of a three-of-a-kind:
A four-card poker hand made by two separate pairs, cards of the same rank but different suits.
Example of a two pair:
One of the most basic and weakest poker hands.
The pair is a two-card poker hand composed by two cards of the same rank but different suits.
Example of a pair:
The weakest hand in poker and the last one in our list of poker hands. In this case, your 'poker hand' is nothing but the highest-denomination card in your hand.
Example of a high card:
In the example above, the 'high card' is the King of hearts.
Getting ready for a game? Print the free poker hands cheat sheet and bring it with you the next time you play poker!
Click on the image below to download the poker hands ranking in PDF and use it when you play poker. To help you hide your doubts about poker hands from your opponents, we grouped all poker hands in one cheat-sheet…they will never know what you are looking at!
Did you go through the poker hands rankings but you are still not sure about what beats what in poker?
The table below is the answer to all your questions.
Poker Hand | Beats | Doesn't beat |
---|---|---|
Royal Flush | All poker hands | N/A |
Straight Flush | High Card, Pair, Two Pairs, Three-of-a-Kind, Straight, Flush, Full House, Four-of-a-Kind | Royal Flush |
Four-of-a-Kind | High Card, Pair, Two Pairs, Three-of-a-Kind, Straight, Flush, Full House | Royal Flush, Straight Flush |
Full House | High Card, Pair, Two Pairs, Three-of-a-Kind, Straight, Flush | Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind |
Flush | High Card, Pair, Two Pairs, Three-of-a-Kind, Straight | Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind, Full House |
Straight | High Card, Pair, Two Pairs, Three-of-a-Kind | Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind, Full House, Flush |
Three-of-a-Kind | High Card, Pair, Two Pairs | Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight |
Two Pairs | High Card, Pair | Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three-of-a-Kind |
Pair | High Card | Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three-of-a-Kind, Two Pairs |
The best hand in poker is the Royal Flush, a five-card poker hand made of consecutive cards (10 through Ace) of the same suit.
Most pros agree that beginners should only play premium hands, even if this means that most of the game will be spent folding preflop.
When two players have a four-of-a-kind each in the same hand, the winner is the player with the highest-ranking four cards.
When two players have the same four-of-a-kind each in the same hand, the winner is the player with the highest 'kicker' — the fifth card in their hand.