One of the first steps towards learning how to play poker is to learn the poker hand rankings. If you want to know what beats what in poker, you can use our OFFICIAL poker hands rankings chart and see all poker hands ranked from best to worst!
While this may seem obvious, it’s easy to get your flushes mixed up with your straights, and not remember that a straight flush beats four-of-a-kind. In particular, poker hand rankings is not something that new players to the game are going to instantly know. However, it’s such an important aspect of the game and is vital to learn.
So, here is our full, definitive guide to poker hand rankings.
Poker Hand Rankings – Download our FREE printable PDF guide
Download our FREE printable Poker Hand Rankings Guide as a PDF. We’ve collated all the information above in an easy-to-read poker cheat sheet of hand rankings, so you can quickly get to terms with what hands beat what in poker.
This is an essential resource for any new or beginner-level poker player. It will help you to quickly learn the basics of poker so you can evolve your game and start improving your strategy.
Understanding the Deck
How Many Cards Are in a Standard Deck?
A standard deck of playing cards contains 52 cards. These 52 cards are divided equally among four suits: hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. Each suit consists of 13 cards, including numbers 2 through 10, and the face cards (Jack, Queen, King), plus the Ace.
These are all used in a game of poker and, in contrast to games like Blackjack where multiple decks are used, just one deck of cards is used in poker.
Are Jokers Included in a Standard Deck?
No, jokers are not part of a standard poker deck. While many decks include two jokers, they are typically not used in poker games.
Card Values and Their Importance in Poker
Are All Suits Equal in Poker?
Yes, in poker, all suits are equal. Unlike some card games, suits do not have a ranking order. However, suits play an important role in forming specific hands, such as flushes or straight flushes.
Aces are unique in poker because they can be both high and low. As the highest-value card, an Ace can top a straight like 10-J-Q-K-A. Alternatively, it can act as the lowest card in a “wheel” straight (A-2-3-4-5).
Poker Hands Ranked in Order Best To Worst
Royal Flush
A Royal Flush is the best hand in poker and is made up of an ace, king, queen, jack and ten of all the same suit. An example of a Royal Flush is A♦K♦Q♦J♦10♦, but it can be any suit, as long as all five cards are the same suit and the hand is made up of these value cards. Most people have heard of the pinnacle of poker hands – a Royal Flush. In movies, it’s been popularised for its glamour and its prestige is justified. You CANNOT beat a Royal Flush in poker, it is the best hand. As such, it’s extremely rare and most recreational players only ever get a handful of Royal Flushes in their lifetime (playing Texas Hold’em).
Straight Flush
Not quite as prestigious and nowhere near as rare as a Royal, a Straight Flush is the next best hand in poker. A Straight Flush involves five of the same-suited cards but they don’t have to be the ace, king, queen, jack and ten. For this reason, they are far more common than Royals, but are still rare. A Straight Flush is the second best hand in poker and can only be beaten by a Royal Flush (or a higher Straight Flush).
Four-of-a-Kind
Four-of-a-kind, also known as ‘Quads’ is the third best hand in poker. It consists of four of the same value card, for instance four aces. It is a very strong hand and can only be beaten by Royal or Straight Flushes (or a higher four-of-a-kind).
Full House
A Full House is a strong hand in poker, and consists of three-of-a-kind and a pair. It beats other strong hands like Flushes and Straights, and only loses to 4-of-a-kind, Straight Flushes and Royal Flushes.
It doesn’t matter which way round it is (E.g. you could have two aces and three kings or three aces and two kings), either is a Full House. However, if two players both have a Full House, the one with the highest 3-of-a-kind wins. For example, A♥A♦A♠K♥K♦ is a stronger Full House than A♣A♠K♠K♣K♥ because the 3-of-a-kind is higher. If both 3-of-a-kinds within the Full House are equal, the winning hand will then be decided by the pair in the hand.
Flush
A Flush in poker is five cards that all have the same suit. Flushes are typically considered to be strong hands. They beat Straights, three-of-a-kind, two pair and one pair, but lose to Full Houses, 4-of-a-kind, Straight Flushes and Royal Flushes.
The suit of the flush doesn’t matter as all suits are equal, but as long as you have five cards that are all the same suit, for instance five diamonds, then you have a Flush. The strength of the Flush is determined by its highest card, followed by its second highest and so on. This comes into play if two or more players have a Flush.
Straight
A Straight in poker is five cards that have consecutive numeric values – for instance 2♣3♠4♥5♠6♦. Suit is irrelevant (unless all five cards are the same suit, in which case the hand becomes a Straight Flush), as long as five cards are in consecutive order. If the are two Straights in a hand, then the one with the highest cards wins.
3-of-a-Kind
In poker, 3-of-a-kind is three cards of the same value with two other random cards, for instance three kings, a two and a five. Three-of-a-kind is a decent poker hand in poker. If two hands have 3-of-a-kind, the highest numeric value of the 3-of-a-kind wins.
Two Pair
Two Pair in poker is two different numeric pairs and one other unpaired card. If two hands have Two Pair, then the winner is determined by the higher pair. If those are equal, it goes to the highest value of the second pair. If those are also equal, the tiebreaker is the kicker (the fifth, unpaired card).
One Pair
One Pair in poker is two cards of equal value combined with three unrelated cards. In matchups involving One Pair hands, the highest pair wins. If pairs match, the highest unpaired cards, or kickers, are compared.
High Card
When none of the above hands are formed, the hand is valued at its highest single card, making an Ace-high the strongest High Card hand. This is the most common hand and often the least likely to win in a showdown. The worst possible five-card hand in poker is 2♣3♠4♦5x7♣ (any suit). This hand is just seven high with the lowest possible kickers that don’t make a better hand.
