Poker Hands Ranked In Order
One of the first lessons to learn for anyone new to the game is what beats what in poker. Without that knowledge, you won’t be able to figure out your own hand strength, let alone whether your opponents have you beat. This guide and poker cheat sheet provide a convenient reference for poker hands ranked from best to worst.
Quick Glossary for Poker Hands
Here are some of the main terms you need to know for poker hands. Understanding these will make it much easier to learn about Texas Hold’em hands:
- Connected: Two sequential cards, such as 4-5 or J-Q. These poker combinations have more chance of making a straight than disconnected hands.
- Face card: Any jack, queen or king. These cards are usually depicted with a literal face.
- Hand: Has two meanings in poker. It can mean your hole cards. Or it can mean the entire round until somebody wins the pot. You’ll usually be able to figure out which meaning is correct from the surrounding context.
- High: A term used to describe the highest card in your hand. For example, a queen-high flush. Or high card, ace.
- Hole cards: Private, face-down cards which only you can see, and only you can use.
- Kicker: The second-best card in your hand, used to decide a winner when the rest of the hand is tied. For example, a pair of aces with a king kicker beats a pair of aces with a queen kicker.
- Nuts: The best possible hand given on any board. For instance, if there are two jacks and three undercards of different suits, the nuts would be two jacks for four-of-a-kind.
- Offsuit: Two cards of different suits. Offsuit cards are marginally less optimal than suited cards.
- Pocket pair: A pair dealt to you before you even see a flop. Also just referred to as ‘Pockets’.
- Premium: Cards that sit high on the Texas Hold’em starting hands rankings, like pocket aces, pocket kings, and A-K suited.
- Rainbow: A flop with all different suits, making it less likely anybody will hit a flush in that hand.
- Suited: Two cards of the same suit. Suited cards have a better chance of hitting a flush than unsuited cards.
- Undercard: Card of lower rank than those already present. For example, if a flop comes 9-10-J, anything below a 9 would be an undercard.
If you want to learn more, you can check out our full A-Z glossary of poker terms.
What Are Poker Hand Rankings?
Poker hand rankings are the standardized order of poker hands, ranked from strongest to weakest, used to determine the winner of each round at “showdown”, which is when you flip your cards over at the end.
Your hand will lose to anything above it in the poker hand rankings, and beat anything below it. Whenever a poker hand goes to showdown, the player with the strongest hand wins the pot.
Whether you’re a beginner or preparing for an upcoming tournament, a deep understanding of poker hand rankings, including which are the best, is essential.
Every Poker Hands Ranking Explained (Strongest to Weakest)
In this section, you’ll learn about every hand in the poker rankings in more detail, complete with clear definitions and examples. You’ll need to memorize them eventually, but you can keep this page open in the meantime while you play. It’s totally legal to do so while playing poker.
From strongest to weakest, here is every type of poker hand in the rankings:
Royal Flush
The royal flush is the most powerful hand in poker. It is A-K-Q-J-T all of the same suit. All suits are equal strength in standard games. This is the rarest hand on poker hands charts and is unbeatable.
Straight Flush
A straight flush is five cards in consecutive order of the same suit. A royal flush is a straight flush, but not every straight flush is a royal flush.
Four of a Kind
Contains four cards of the same rank and one card that isn’t included in this group, known as a kicker. It’s also usually called “quads.”
The kicker is usually irrelevant, since the only way for multiple players to have all four cards of the same rank is if they’re all among the five community cards. If quads are on the board, anyone with an ace in their hole cards has quads with an ace kicker.
It’s one of the strongest hands in the poker hand rankings and is only beaten by a royal and a straight flush.
Full House
A full house consists of three cards of a single rank and two cards of another rank. In a tie where two players have full houses, the player with the superior three-of-a-kind wins.
Flush
A flush is any five cards of the same suit that are not in sequence. If more than one player has a flush, the highest top card wins the hand. For example, an A-K-8-3-2 flush beats an A-J-10-8-4 flush. Suits are not considered when weighing flushes, as all suits are equal in strength.
Straight
A straight is five consecutive cards, not all of the same suit. The highest straight available is A-K-Q-J-T. The nickname for this hand is ‘Broadway’. The lowest available is 5-4-3-2-A, which can also be called a “wheel.”
With any hand worse than a straight, the hand will have kickers.
Three of a Kind
This is made up of three cards of the same rank and two other cards that are not related. In Hold’em, there are two different nicknames for three of a kind: trips and a set.
A set is when a player has a pocket pair and one of the community cards gave them three of a kind. Whereas trips is usually when there are two of the same cards on the board and players have one of the cards in their hand. When a player has “trips,” the kicker is more relevant because another player can easily have trips as well. But when a player has a set, they aren’t worried about their kicker because it’s impossible for another player to have the same three of a kind.
Two Pair
This hand consists of two cards with the same rank, along with two cards of a different rank, to make two distinct pairs plus one kicker. If two players have two pair, the highest pair wins. If those are equal, the second pair is compared, followed by the kicker.
One Pair
One pair consists of two cards of the same rank, with three other unrelated cards. Kickers are very important in one-pair hands since it’s easy for other players to have the same pair. A pair is low in the poker hand rankings, but often plays a part in winning small pots at showdown.
High Card
When a hand contains none of the mentioned combinations, it’s known as high card. This is the lowest-ranked poker hand and is defined by the highest card. In this example, the hand is called jack-high, because the highest-ranked card is a jack.
Poker Hand Rankings Chart
A poker cheat sheet is a simple, easy-to-use guide that helps you remember the most important information for playing poker. The poker hand ranking chart below shows all hands from strongest to weakest. You can use it as a quick visual reference, or download it for study and easy access when you are playing on online poker sites that permit open reference.
What Beats What in Poker
The table below shows you the complete poker hand rankings in order of strength, as well as clearly outlining what beats what in poker for every type of hand:
| Rank | Hand | Example | Beats | Loses to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Flush | A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ | Everything | Nothing |
| 2 | Straight Flush | 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥ | Four of a Kind and below | Royal Flush |
| 3 | Four of a Kind | J♣ J♦ J♠ J♥ 5♦ | Full House and below | Straight Flush and Royal |
| 4 | Full House | Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ 5♣ 5♥ | Flush and below | 4-of-a-Kind and above |
| 5 | Flush | A♣ J♣ 8♣ 4♣ 2♣ | Straight and below | Full House and above |
| 6 | Straight | 10♦ 9♠ 8♣ 7♥ 6♦ | Three of a Kind and below | Flush and above |
| 7 | Three of a Kind | 8♠ 8♦ 8♥ K♣ 3♠ | Two Pair and below | Straight and above |
| 8 | Two Pair | J♣ J♦ 4♠ 4♥ A♣ | One Pair and High Card | Three of a Kind and above |
| 9 | One Pair | 10♠ 10♦ K♣ 7♥ 3♣ | High Card | Two Pair and above |
| 10 | High Card | A♠ J♦ 8♣ 6♥ 3♦ | Lower High Card | Any Pair or better |
If you’re struggling to remember the poker hands ranked in the middle of the pack, you can play for free at the best poker freeroll sites while you get the hand of it. To help you on the way, here’s a quickfire guide to what beats what in poker, covering the most asked questions:
- Does a flush beat a straight? Yes, a flush beats a straight in standard poker variations like Texas Hold’em.
- What beats a full house in poker? Only four of a kind, straight flushes, and the royal flush beat a full house in poker.
- What beats four of a kind in poker? Four of a kind is third in the poker hand rankings and is only beaten by a straight flush and a royal flush.
- Does a straight beat three of a kind? Yes, when it comes to what beats what in poker, a straight beats three of a kind.
Poker Hands Ranking Memory Tips
At first, it’s fine to look at a poker hands cheat sheet, but ultimately you want to memorize the poker hand rankings by heart. This is easier than it looks. Every time you play, it sinks in a little bit more. Plus, you start to notice which hands are coming up often (low-ranked hands, like pairs and high cards) and which are rare (high-ranked hands, like straight flushes and quads).
To help you learn the poker hand rankings, here are some useful memory tips:
- Focus on the low-ranked hands. The vast majority of hands you’ll see will be from the bottom half of poker hand rankings, so try and lock these in. Luckily, they’re quite intuitive: a pair is harder to make than a single card, and two pair is harder to make than a pair.
- A flush beats a straight. This is the one of those poker combinations that trips up beginners a lot, so pay extra attention to it.
- Remember ‘123 straight flush, 234 straight flush’. This is a handy way to memorize all poker hands ranking from bottom to top in a couple of minutes. Note that high card isn’t included, but it’s naturally the lowest ranks. Here’s how ‘123 straight flush, 234 straight flush’ works:
- 1 pair
- 2 pair
- 3 of a kind
- Straight
- Flush
- 2 + 3 (a pair plus trips) for a full house
- 4 of a kind
- Straight flush
How Tie-Breakers Work in Poker Hand Rankings
Higher-ranked poker hands always beat lower-ranked hands, no matter what cards are held. For example, three of a kind fives beats two pair with aces and kings. But what happens when players have the same ranked hand?
How to Compare Hands of the Same Rank
When two or more players have the same ranked poker hand at showdown, the hand is first decided by who has the highest cards. For example, three of a kind aces beats three of a kind kings:
A♣A♠A♥6♠2♣ > K♦K♣K♠9♥2♠This is the same for all types of poker hands. An ace-high flush beats a king-high flush, which beats a queen-high flush. A ten-high straight beats a nine-high straight. A pair of sixes beats a pair of fives, and so on.
When Do Poker Hands Split the Pot
If two or more players have exactly the same winning five card combination, the pot is split evenly. This is common when five board cards are being used, known as “playing the board”. It can also happen when players share the same value hole cards. For example:
Player A: Q♥10♥
Player B: Q♠9♠
Board: K♣K♠Q♣J♠4♥
Outcome: The strongest five card combination both players can make is two pair, kings and queens, with the jack on board playing as the kicker (KKQQJ).
Pro Tip: Players will often have the same ranked hand in games like Texas Hold’em because the board cards are shared. That’s why having a strong version of the hand is important, whether that’s the top end of a straight, a high flush, or a decent kicker to go with your top pair.
Poker Hand Rankings Probability & Odds
When learning about what beats what in poker, you’ll notice that the hands that are more difficult to make are higher up in the rankings. This is by design. The rarer the hand, the more valuable it is in the poker hand rankings.
This table shows poker hands ranking from top to bottom along with the probability of making each type of hand:
| Hand Rank | Poker Hand | Probability | On average, dealt every x hands |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Flush | 0.0032% | 30,940 |
| 2 | Straight Flush | 0.0279% | 3,591 |
| 3 | Four of a Kind | 0.168% | 595 |
| 4 | Full House | 2.60% | 38 |
| 5 | Flush | 3.03% | 33 |
| 6 | Straight | 4.62% | 22 |
| 7 | Three of a Kind | 4.83% | 21 |
| 8 | Two Pair | 23.50% | 4 |
| 9 | One Pair | 43.80% | 2 |
| 10 | High Card | 17.40% | 6 |
* These probabilities represent the chances of hitting a five-card hand across all seven cards, assuming that you stay in the pot until the river.
Poker hands are ranked in order according to probability. The strongest card combinations are very rare and difficult to make, whereas a pair occurs nearly 44% of the time by the river.
These are the basics, but our poker hand odds guide explains it in more detail.
Real Examples of Poker Hands in Texas Hold’em
If you’re new to poker, reading about poker hand rankings can get a bit overwhelming and confusing, so let’s take a look at some real-life examples. We’ll look at poker hands from two players and see where they stand in the poker hand rankings, which player would win the pot, and go through a quick explanation of why.
Scenario 1
Player A: K♦K♣
Player B: A♣A♦
Board: 2♥4♣6♠K♠10♥
Outcome: Player 2 had the stronger hand at the start, with a pair of aces being the best starting hand in Texas Hold’em. But the king on the turn changes the outcome, upgrading Player 1 from a pair of kings to three-of-a-kind. Player 1 wins the pot.
Scenario 2
Player A: 9♥10♥
Player B: K♣J♦
Board: 8♠J♠3♣K♥7♣
Outcome: Both players have a strong hand. Player 2 connected with a king and a jack on the board, giving them two-pair. But Player 1 managed to hit a straight on the river (J-10-9-8-7). A straight outranks two pair, so Player 1 wins.
Scenario 3
Player A: A♠10♠
Player B: A♣Q♦
Board: 4♣A♥J♠9♦4♦
Outcome: It’s a close one, as both players have two pair (aces and fours). In this instance, the kicker comes into play. The best five-card hand Player 1 can make is aces and fours with a jack kicker. Player 2 makes aces and fours with a queen kicker. Player 2 has a higher kicker and wins the pot.
Common Mistakes When Comparing Poker Hands
Here are the most common mistakes that players make when comparing poker hands:
- Misreading the board: There’s nothing worse than misreading the board and moving all in with what you think is a flush, only to notice the spade was actually a club. Check and double-check the hole and board cards.
- Ignoring card strength: Having a high ranked hand is great, but the value of the cards often matters. For example, a weak flush can easily lose to a higher flush. Always consider your hands’ true strength in relation to the board and other players’ potential poker combinations.
- Assuming suits matter: In some card games, suits have a strength order. That’s not the case in poker. If players have identical hands, it’s a tie, and the pot is split.
Learning how these hands compare in real situations makes it much easier to read boards and evaluate strength accurately.
Poker Hand Names
It’s worth keeping in mind that a lot of poker hands have nicknames that are widely used among players, streamers, and poker commentators. To keep up with poker entertainment, strategy, and hand analysis, it helps to know some of the common poker hand nicknames and slang used:
| Rank | Poker Hand Name | Poker Hand Nicknames |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Flush | The Absolute Nuts |
| 2 | Straight Flush | Steel Wheel (A-2-3-4-5 suited) |
| 3 | Four of a Kind | Quads, Four Horsemen (KKKK) |
| 4 | Full House | Boat, Full Boat |
| 5 | Flush | Nothing common |
| 6 | Straight | Broadway (A-high), Wheel (5-high) |
| 7 | Three of a Kind | Trips (if paired on board), Set (if pocket pair) |
| 8 | Two Pair | Dead Man’s Hand (Aces & Eights) |
| 9 | One Pair | Pocket Rockets (AA), Cowboys (KK), Ladies (QQ), Ducks (22) |
| 10 | High Card | Big slick (AK), Doyle Brunson (T2) |
Do Poker Hand Rankings Change in Other Games?
Most variations use the standard poker hand rankings we’ve outlined in this guide, including Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Five Card Draw, Seven Card Stud, and other popular games.
In Omaha, players are dealt four hole cards and must make the best possible five-card combination using exactly two hole cards and three community cards. The best online Omaha sites also include PLO5 and PLO6, where you’re dealt five or six hole cards respectively.
The actual hand rankings remain the same.
Lowball poker games like Razz and 2-7 Triple Draw use completely different rankings, as the aim is to make the lowest possible five card combination. Short Deck Poker hand rankings also differ, because the shorter deck changes probabilities.
In Short Deck Poker, winning hands are slightly different, as a flush beats a full house.
More obscure poker games, such as Badugi, use a completely different hand ranking system with four and three card lowball hands.