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Poker Hands Ranking Odds

7/20/2022
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This article will look at the entire hierarchy of poker hands, from the highest to lowest. Each hand will be accompanied by a probability outlook, advice on betting strategy if you are holding this hand, and how it compares to the rest of the possible hands you may be betting against.

Ranking

With our newly launched poker portal – we thought it would be a good idea to round up the rankings of the best poker hands. If you're a beginner, you might also want to read our guide on the five poker game types you need to learn. The below hands rank from the best at the top to the lowest rank at the bottom. Find all poker hands ranked from best to worst. Use the OFFICIAL poker hand rankings to know what beats what in poker. Download the PDF list of poker hands.

These rules apply to a number of different types of games that can be found at online poker sites. However, some of them also apply to various casino poker games like Caribbean Stud Poker and Five Card Poker. This is also true of many video poker titles.

List of Poker Hands

The following hands apply to Texas Hold’em. There are nine differentiating categories that are the first consideration when it comes to ranking poker hands against one another. The superiority of hands is then further determined within the category that it sits by the individual card ranking – this is from highest to lowest: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. Overall dealing poker cards from a 52-card deck has 2,598,960 distinct hands, but since cards are not ranked by a difference in the suit, there are just 7,462 discrete hand ranks.

Royal Flush: Once in a Lifetime Hand

The Royal Flush is an ace-high straight flush, for example, Ace-King-Queen-Jack-10 all of the hearts (or any of the other three suits), it is the highest possible hand a player can hold in poker. There are clearly four possible combinations of this hand, one for each of the four suits; Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, Spades. Landing this hand requires a lot of composure as it is easy to let the excitement of the moment flicker across your face, alerting opponents that you’re holding something strong. Assuming that you don’t hold the Royal Flush out the Flop, it’s advisable to make your first bet small to keep as many parties interested as possible – and then gradually increasing to a maximum amount on the Turn and River.

Probability of a Royal Flush = 1 in 649,739

Straight Flush

The Straight Flush hand is similar in essence to the Royal Flush but the high card doesn’t matter. You’ll need 5 consecutive cards all of the same suits to land this hand. There are 36 combinations of straight flush to be made, and that’s 9 from each suit. Betting on this hand is again a question of concealing the poker face – you’re almost certainly holding the strongest hand at the table, so extracting the most amount of bets from the opposition before going big on the River is the game plan here.

Probability of a Straight Flush = 1 in 3,217

Four of a Kind

When it comes to Four of a Kind it holds a certain unique place in all the poker hand ranked list. Consisting of four of the same card in each of the four suits it can present itself in many different ways. This powerful combination of cards clearly becomes more valuable if the player is holding a pocket pair and able to match it with two on the table, in this scenario it would be impossible for another player to trump your hand unless they have managed to build a Royal or Straight Flush. Again, bet big if you’re lucky enough to land this combination.

Probability of a Four of a Kind = 1 in 594

Full House

The Full House is a very strong hand that has won its holders a considerable amount of cash in the past. It consists of a pair and a three of a kind in the same hand. Clearly the minimum requirement here is that a pair is dealt on the table by the dealer. From this, a player could possibly construct a full house if they can build out a three of a kind and match one other card. A Full House is first ranked by the three matching cards and then the pair, in a case where two players have matching three of a kind the pair is then used to determine the winner.

Probability of a Full House = 1 in 39

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Flush

A Flush is a mid-strength hand that can be used to win the holder a considerable pot if they play their wagering strategy correctly. The cards needed to form a Flush are simply 5 of the same suit. The higher the face value of the highest card in the Flush is used to determine who wins if two players are holding this hand. If two or more players are both holding the highest card in the Flush, the second card is then consulted, and so on.

Probability of a Flush = 1 in 33

Straight

To land the Straight, a player must form a sequence of 5 consecutive cards by face value, for example, 7-8-9-10-Jack. A powerful hand that will most likely give the holder a lot of confidence to bet big depending on what else has been laid down. The top-ranking Straight also known as “The Broadway” consists of the top ranking cards in the deck in a row, the same as a Royal Flush but without matching suit. The lowest ranking Straight is known in the business as “the Wheel”, holding this should invoke a cautious betting strategy as there is a chance an opponent is holding a higher Straight.

Probability of a Straight = 1 in 22

Poker hands ranking order chart

Three of a Kind

The Three of a Kind is a hand in the bottom half of the poker hand rankings, but it is not without merit. It can be an incredibly powerful hand in the right circumstances. If the Three of a Kind is assembled from a pocket pair and one community card, it is known as a “set”. However, if the Three of a Kind is assembled from a pair of community cards and one hole card, it is known as “trips”. Betting on a set and trips are very different things, and players are advised caution if betting on trips as their position can be easily be trumped by a player with strong hole cards, possibly holding a Full-House.

Probability of a Three of a Kind = 1 in 21

Two Pair

The Two Pair is statistically the most frequent winning hand on average across all poker hands. It is strong enough to win in many cases and comes around often enough to make it occur more than any other winning hands presented on this list. If you’re holding a Two Pair that doesn’t mean you should bet the house though, there are plenty of other stronger combinations out there as we have shown. Tread with caution and always adopt a smart approach to betting strategy when engaging in live poker sessions.

Probability of a Two Pair = 1 in 4.25

One Pair

One Pair accounts for almost half of all poker hands and is by that number the most common of all poker hands to be dealt. To achieve One Pair is fairly easy, simply match two cards together either with the community cards or by holding one hole card matching a community card. This hand is not very strong at all, and therefore should not be bet on too heavily. Approximately 40% of players are able to achieve at least One Pair on any given hand.

Probability of a One Pair = 1 in 2.28

High Card

The High Card is the weakest of all the possible combinations of poker hands. It is determined by the highest card out of the 5. The odds of getting a High Card as your best hand are actually lower than the One Pair and Two Pair, this is because it is more likely you will match something rather than missing with everything with the seven cards available. The only bets you should be making with these are desperate bluffs, and even then it is better to fold early if this one is looking likely. Make sure to educate yourself properly before playing for real money, read our guide to best poker training courses to improve your knowledge.

Probability of a High Card = 1 in 5.74

Poker is a very technical casino game and you can easily be overwhelmed if you are just starting out. There are different variations of online poker games each with slightly different rules.

However, the ten different types of hands you can make are constant.

Finding an easy way for a beginner to learn these hands will help you get started quickly. With this poker hand cheat sheet, you’ll get an overview of all the poker hands you can make.

While there will be slight variations as you play different poker games, this should not deter you from getting started with the basics.

6Poker Hand Cheat Sheet Conclusion

Highest value hands in Poker – the Flushes

Each hand in poker is made up of five cards. Depending on the game variant, players can make that hand from different numbers of their own and community cards.

Poker

Poker hands are ranked in value and the rules that govern the content of each hand are the same:

  • The highest value hand is the Royal Flush – a straight run of five cards with values from 10 to Ace all in the same suit.
  • Straight Flush is the next highest – all cards are from the same suit and run sequentially, e.g. 6 to 10 of spades or 9 to K of diamonds.

Middle value hands in poker

After the Flushes, there are several other hands that you can form to hit a win in poker. In order of value, they are:

  • Four of a Kind – which involves four cards of the same rank but different suits.
  • A Full House – which is a combination of three of a kind and a pair.
  • A Flush – five cards from the same suit, not in any sequence.
  • A Straight – five cards in a sequence, but not from the same suit.
  • Three of a Kind – three cards with the same rank, but from different suits.

Lowest value hands in poker

The last three poker hands are the lowest-ranked and are:

  • Two pair – Two different pairs with all cards being from any suit.
  • Pair – two cards of the same rank but different suits.
  • High card – This is only used when you have not made any of the hands previously described.

In this case, the highest card in your hand is played. One other point to remember is that if you play the same hand as the dealer, the value of the cards within that hand determines the winner.

For example, if both have four-of-a-kind, then four kings would win over four sixes.

Poker hand odds

Odds

To successfully apply what you have learnt, you need to understand the odds of different hands in various poker games.

Generally, poker hands are played with 5 cards, however, there are some variants that use 7 cards. These games have higher odds for making specific hands compared to 5-card poker, although not in all cases.

Hands

For a Royal flush, a 5-card poker game has odds of this occurring of 0.00015% compared to 0.0032% in a 7-card poker game.

However, the odds of getting a high card are 50.1% in a 5-card poker game compared to 17.4% in 7-card poker.

Using Poker tools

There are different forms of poker tools you can use to improve your skill. The most popular type is the poker simulator.

This tool mimics a real poker round, however, you will be playing against a computerized dealer.

The good thing is that it is free. Another poker tool is the Propoker tool. This is an equity calculator for various versions of poker games.

If you want a tool made for beginners, you can check out the Hold’em Poker trainer. This simple tool provides you with free online exercises to practice ranking hands, making the best hand, and more.

Poker Hand Cheat Sheet Conclusion

This poker hand cheat sheet is going to be helpful when playing in the real world of poker but there is one other important thing to bear in mind. That is positional play, which relates to your position at the table in relation to the dealer.

The three positions are termed early, middle, and late.

The early position is usually considered to be the first three seats to the left of the dealer and is considered weak. The middle position is considered better since it offers the opportunity to play based on what the early position players have. The late position is the strongest as you’ll have seen all other players’ actions.

However, when playing poker online, you play against the dealer only, regardless of whether you are playing virtual or live poker games.

For beginners, having a good grasp of the different poker hands and their respective rankings will stand you in good stead. This is where our poker hand cheat sheet will come in handy and help you get ahead.

Of course, the more you play the more familiar you’ll become with the different hands. Then you can test out your skill for free using some of the online poker tools available, before playing for real money at your favorite casino site.

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FAQs

How do you score hands in poker?

Poker Hands Ranking Order List

The top 10 hands:
1. Royal flush – A, K, Q, J, 10, all the same suit.
2. Straight flush – Five sequenced cards in the same suit.
3. Four of a kind – Four cards with the same rank.
4. Full house – Any three of a kind with a pair.
5. Flush – Five cards with the same suit that’s not in a sequence.
6. Straight – Five sequenced cards that’s not of the same suit.
7. Three of a kind – Any three cards with the same rank.
8. Two pair – Two pairs of different ranks and suits.
9. Pair – Two cards with the same rank.
10. High Card – None of the above but you have the highest card.

Poker Hands Ranking Order Chart

What is the best poker hand you can have?

It’s an Ace-High Royal Flush or Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten with the same suit.

What hands should you always play in poker?

Any big pocket pair, high cards like Ace, King, Queen, and Jack. Always play big-suited connectors and big-connectors off suit.