Poker Hand Rankings

Every form of poker, as long as its a strictly "high" game, has the same combinations of winning hands.  Games such as 2-7 triple draw or Omaha High/Low will be different because of their "low" or "split" nature, but if you're playing a traditional "high" game, you can follow the guideline below for what hands are the best, and what hands are the worst.   The guide moves in order of best hand to worst hand.  NOTE: If you are playing Texas Hold'em, these are the correct Texas Hold'em Hand Rankings.

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Royal Flush

This is the king of all poker hands, and it trumps anything else.  There are only 4 combinations possible to make this hand.  It is the A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit.  Basically, it's simply a straight flush that happens to be the highest straight flush possible.

Straight Flush

This is the second strongest hand in poker.  A straight flush is any consecutive sequence of five cards, all of the same suit.  If two straight flushes are played against each other, the one with the highest card in it will win.  So, for example, if you hold A-2-3-4-5 of hearts, and your opponent holds 3-4-5-6-7 of clubs, you lose the hand because your 5 high straight flush is lower then his 7 high straight flush.

Four of a Kind

Four of a kind is still a very strong hand, but it can be beaten, namely by a straight flush.  The hand itself is self explanatory - you hold 4 of the same card in your hand.  These are also ranked by the highest hand, so if you have 4-4-4-4-A you'll lose to 8-8-8-8-K because your 4's are lower then his 8's.

Full House

A full house is a bit of a trickier hand.  You must hold 3 of one card, and 2 of another card to complete the 5 card hand.  So, an example of a proper full house would be 3-3-3-A-A.  When you pronounce your hand, that would be described as "3's full of Aces," because you have more 3's in your hand than Aces.

When full houses are up against each other, it's always about who has the highest 3 card combination.  So, if J-J-J-AA faced K-K-K-22, the K-K-K-22 hand would win because the 3 Kings beat the 3 Jacks.

Flush

A flush is any hand in which all 5 of your cards are the same suit.  If two flushes face each other, you start with the top card then move down, and whoever has the lowest card first loses.  So, if A-K-J-4-2 of diamonds faced A-K-J-6-3 of hearts, the second hand would win because the 6 would beat the 4, even though the first 3 cards of each hand are the same.

Straight

A straight is any hand that holds 5 consecutive cards.  To rank straights that are facing each other, just look at the hands and whoever holds the highest card wins.  So, A-K-Q-J-10 beats 6-5-4-3-2.

Three of a Kind

Three of a kind is similar to four of a kind, except you only have 3 of the matching card.  To rank these hands against each other, it is simply whoever has the highest 3 card combination.  So, A-A-A-6-3 beats K-K-K-4-3.

Two Pair

Two pair is just as the name implies, you have two pairs in your hand.  An example of this would be if you held A-A-K-K-2, because you have two pairs, Aces and Kings.  To rank two pair hands against each other, the pot simply goes to whoever has the highest pair in their hand.  So, 8-8-4-4-3 would beat 7-7-6-6-2 because the 8's are higher then the 7's.

Pair

A pair simply means you have one pair in your hand.  These are ranked by whoever has the higher pair.  If two people have the same pair, you look at the other three cards in their hand.  If A-A-K-3-2 faced A-A-Q-J-10, the first hand would win because the King kicker beats the Queen kicker.

High Card

If your hand contains nothing that is listed above, you simply have a high card hand.  In this case, whoever has the highest card wins.  If two people have matching high cards, you move down their hand until someone has a lower card.  So, A-K-J-4-3 beats A-K-10-9-8 because the Jack beats the 10.