Poker can come in many different forms. Five-card poker is often considered one of the easiest variations to learn. However, you need to know your poker hands, and that is where we come in!
To win at poker, you need to beat your opponent's hand with a higher-ranked hand than theirs. There is a degree of strategy involved, but unless you know your poker hands, you may as well give up before you even begin.
Ten possible poker hands will allow you to win the pot, so let’s take a look at these in more detail.
Poker Hands Ranked
A game of poker is all about getting the best poker hands at the right time. If you’re new to poker, you can also check out our Poker Guide for more information.
Now we are going to look at all the winning hands in poker to better understand which cards you need and when you need them.
The Poker hands ranked in order below will also show you a picture of each hand so you have a visual of the kind of cards you can collect to create a winning hand.
What is a Royal Flush
This is the best poker hand you can collect and beats all other poker hands. The chances of getting this hand are very slim but possible!
To get a Royal Flush, you need an Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten of the same suit.
What Is a Straight Flush
One of the other best poker hands is a Straight Flush, it may not be a hand you get very often, but when you do, it could win you the bet! Only a Royal Flush can beat this hand, and that is a difficult hand to create. If you have a Straight Flush and you get beaten by a Royal Flush, that is one unlucky round.
A Straight Flush is a hand that contains five cards in the same suit, in sequential order.
Four of a Kind
There are lots of winning poker hands, and Four of a Kind is highly ranked. This is a poker hand that contains four cards of the same rank and one card that is a different rank.
The picture we have included gives you an example of Four of a Kind. Later on, we will explain who wins if two players have Four of a Kind.
Full House Poker
If you’re aiming to get a Full House, you will need a hand that contains three cards of the same rank and two cards of another rank. You can see our example below for a better understanding of this hand.
What Is a Flush in Poker
A Flush is another great poker hand! To get a Flush in Poker, your hand needs to contain five cards of the same suit, but they do not need to be in sequential order.
What Is a Straight in Poker
A Straight ranks below a Flush, and your hand needs to contain five cards of the same rank, in sequential order. However, they do not need to be in the same suit.
Three of a Kind
If you have a Three of a Kind, your hand will contain three cards of one rank and two cards that have a different rank. For someone to beat this hand, they would need a Straight.
Two Pairs Poker
As we work our way through the poker hands in order, Two Pairs comes next. To have a winning hand, you would need two cards of one rank and two cards of another rank. Your third card would also need to be a different rank.
One Pair Poker
A One Pair may not seem much, but it is still one of the poker-winning hands. You would need a pair of cards of the same rank to get One Pair. Your other three cards would need to be a different rank. This poker hands ranking is still above High Card.
What Is High Card in Poker
As we reach the bottom of our poker hands chart, High Card is one of the worst hands in poker that you can collect. Your hand will not contain any pairs. It will contain one high card, such as an Ace.
Best Hands in Poker
Of course, there are different types of poker; so the best hands may vary from game to game. However, undoubtedly, the best poker hand is a Royal Flush; as you have probably guessed, this is not an easy hand to collect!
According to reports, the chance of getting a Royal Flush is 1 in 2,598,960 hands! However, that is not to say you’re never going to get this hand. It happens all the time. You might just get lucky one day, and there’s no harm in being ambitious and going for it now and then.
When we look at a Straight, your chances increase, but only slightly. Reports say that there is a 36 in 2,598,960 chance of creating this poker hand.
Here are some other probabilities to look at in percentage form:
- Flush - 0.19565% chance
- Straight - 0.3925% chance
- Three of a Kind - 2.1128% chance
- Two Pair - 4.7539% chance
- One Pair - 42.2569% chance
- High Card - You have more than a 50% chance of creating this poker hand
A Four of a Kind is a popular winning hand and beats anything except a player who holds a Straight or a Royal Flush. If you and your opponent both have a Four of a Kind, the winner will be the person with the highest ranking of the four cards. The odds against you creating this hand are 594:1.
Poker Winning Hands
When you are playing poker, you and your opponent could likely have the same poker hand, So, who wins?
Quite simply, the person who wins is the one with the highest-ranked cards from that hand. Here are the rules to save you from having an augment:
- If you and your opponent are both holding two pairs, the player with the high card wins.
- If you both have a Flush, it is the player with the highest cards who wins.
- If you and your opponent both hold a Straight, the player with the highest number of cards wins.
If both players have a Full House, the player with the higher 3-cards ranked out of the five wins. The values of the highest card on the two left will not count.
If you both hold a Four of a Kind, the players whose cards are higher win. A player with Four Aces will always beat another player with the same poker hand.
If all players hold a High Card, it is the highest High Card that wins the hand. However, if two players have the same high card, two must compare their second-highest card and the person with the second-highest card that wins the hand.
If two players have Three of a Kind, the person with the highest Three of a Kind values wins.
However, it is also possible for two players to have the same 5-card hand. In this scenario, the players would split the pot equally.
This scenario is likely to happen when two or more players have the same high card and when the board is paired twice.
What Are the Hands in Poker in Order?
We have already listed all poker hands in order, but here is poker hands cheat sheet for future reference:
- Royal Flush
- Straight Flush
- Four of a Kind
- Full House
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a Kind
- Two Pair
- Pair
- High Card
The game also involves lots of other Poker Terms, so be sure to read an earlier blog we wrote for a heads-up on what everything means.
What is a Poker Hand?
A poker hand is the cards you are dealt, and as professional poker players will tell you, poker hands have their very own poker hand nicknames. You will receive five playing cards, and each card has a rank. Your poker card hands are vital to winning the bet. You will need to create a hand according to the paytable to try and beat your opponent.
What Poker Hands Beat What?
You can use our hand of poker chart above to see what poker hands beat each other as they are ranked in order from best to worst. However, here are which poker hands beat what in the form of bullet points:
- A Royal Flush beats every other hand possible.
- A Straight Flush beats all hands except a Royal Flush.
- A Four of a Kind beats all hands except a Royal Flush of Straight Flush.
- A Full House beats a Poker Straight. The only hands that can beat a Full House are the three listed above.
- A Flush will not beat a Full House, but it will beat an opponent with a Straight.
- A Poker Straight beats your opponent with a Three of a Kind, Two Pair, Pair or High Card. It will not beat any hands that have a Flush or better.
- Three of a Kind will beat Two Pairs, One Pair and High Card.
- Two Pairs beat One Pair.
- One Pair beats High Card.
- High Card does not beat anything.
Can Anything Beat 4 Aces?
Four Aces can only beat another player who has Four of a Kind. If two players have Four of a Kind, the winner will be the one with the highest ranked cards, so four Aces will always win.
Four Aces can still not beat a Straight Flush or a Royal Flush.
Poker Hands Fact for the Road
We hope by now that you have a good understanding of the hands of poker and are ready to go and beat your opponents!
Poker is a game that takes time to learn. The most famous players in the world didn’t become famous overnight! You’ll also need to lose a few poker hands to win a few. As they say, practice makes perfect.
Here’s a fun poker fact to leave you with; there are 156 different kinds of full houses in a standard 52-card deck. There are also 3,744 different full house card combinations.
Good luck!
