Hand Rankings

Does a flush beat a straight - just can't keep it straight?

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Rankings of Poker Hands

This is a listing of poker hands from best to worst.  Obviously the most desirable hands are at the top.  Remember, most big pots are won by a pair, two pairs or three of a kind.  Even professional poker players don't see the Royal Flush very often!

  1. Royal Flush:  Just try to keep a poker face while you're looking at this hand!  If you can keep your heart rate in check, the sweat from rolling down your forehead, and the smile off your face, this is the hand to bet!  A royal flush consists of five consecutive cards from 10 to Ace of the same suit (ex. Aheart Kheart Qheart Jheart 10heart)
  2. Straight Flush:  Another hand that's hard to keep your heart from jumping out of your chest!  This is five cards in a row (straight), all the same suit.  A Royal Flush is simply the highest straight flush possible!  Here are some examples: 9club 8club 7club 6club 5club or 7diamond 6diamond 5diamond 4diamond 3diamond.
  3. Four of a Kind | Quads: Having all four cards of the same number or rank.  Examples: 5spade 5heart 5club 5diamond or 2spade 2heart 2club 2diamond .
  4. Full House | Full Boat | Boat : Three of a kind and a pair in one hand.  The proper lingo to use when revealing your full house is the three of a kind "full of" the pair - here are a couple examples.  Aheart-Adiamond-Aclub-5club-5heart is aces full of fives.  4diamond-4spade-4heart-Kdiamond-Kspade is fours full of kings.
  5. Flush: Five cards of the same suit.  Qspade-9spade-8spade-4spade-3spade is a Queen high flush. Any combination of five cards in the same suit is a flush.
  6. Straight: Five cards in a row, in numeric order.  2diamond-3club-4heart-5spade-6heartand 9diamond-10heart-Jdiamond-Qspade-Kspade are both straights. 
  7. Three of a Kind | Trips | A Set: Three cards of the same rank or three of one card.  7diamond-7club-7spade is a set of sevens.  Kspade-Kheart-Kdiamond is trip Kings or a set of Kings.
  8. Two Pair: Two of a kind twice in the same hand, or a pair of pairs. 2heart-2club-3spade-3heartor 7club-7spade-Jspade-Jdiamondare examples.
  9. One Pair: Two of a kind.  5club-5heartor Aspade-Aheart are examples of pairs.
  10. High Cards: The highest five cards from the Ace down to the Two.  Adiamond-Jspade-9club-7diamond-2spade is Ace-Jack high.