Download and print out our poker hands ranking chart, or save it to your phone. Keep it nearby when playing so that you always know the ranking of hands from best to worst.
Rank | Hand Name | Hand Description | Example | Probability | Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1. Royal Flush | 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace all in the same suit. |
|
probability: 1 in 649,737 |
combinations: 4 |
2 | 2. Straight Flush | Five cards in a row, all in the same suit. |
|
probability: 1 in 72,193 |
combinations: 36 |
3 | 3. Four of a Kind | The same card in each of the four suits. |
|
probability: 1 in 4,164 |
combinations: 624 |
4 | 4. Full House | A pair plus three of a kind in the same hand. |
|
probability: 1 in 693 |
combinations: 3,744 |
5 | 5. Flush | Five cards, all in one suit, but not in numerical order. |
|
probability: 1 in 508 |
combinations: 5,108 |
6 | 6. Straight | Five cards in numerical order, but not of the same suit. |
probability: 1 in 253 |
combinations: 10,200 |
|
7 | 7. Three of a Kind | Three of one card and two non-paired cards. |
probability: 1 in 46 |
combinations: 54,912 |
|
8 | 8. Two Pair | Two different pairings or sets of the same card in one hand. |
probability: 1 in 20 |
combinations: 123,552 |
|
9 | 9. One Pair | One pairing of the same card. |
probability: 1 in 1.36 |
combinations: 1,098,240 |
|
10 | 10. High Card | No matching cards. |
probability: 1 in 0.99 |
combinations: 1,302,540 |
Poker hands fall into one of ten categories. The highest is a royal flush, followed by a straight flush, then four of a kind, a full house, a flush, a straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and finally a high card.
The highest hands are the least common, with a royal flush and straight flush with the highest value cards, being exceedingly rare.
A deck of cards is divided into four suits. All card suits have the same value in most poker games, but there are rare exceptions. For example, if you’re splitting an uneven pot in a high-low game where you tied your hand with another player, the remaining chip can be given to the player whose suit ranks higher. Usually spades ♠ rank highest and clubs ♣ rank lowest.
The four suits can vary from country to country - German decks contains bells instead of diamonds ♦, for example - but traditionally the four suits are as follows (in descending order of usual value for games that rank suits):
Black suit, depicting a medieval weapon.
Red suit, showing a heart.
Red suit, represented by a geometric diamond shape.
Black suit, represented by a three-leaf symbol.
Once you have mastered poker hands, check out our other guides to help you become a better player.
It's possible that the best hand at the table (a pair of 9s, for example) will be held by more than one player. In this case, the tie is broken using a kicker.
Let's say two players at a five-card poker game have a pair of 9s, and this is the best hand of the round.
The hand goes to Player A, who has a pair of 9s with an A kicker (kicker meaning the highest card not involved in the pair), which beats player B's pair of 9s with a J kicker.
In the rare event that both players have the exact same hand, A, 9, 9, 7, 5 for example, the pot would be split.
The best hand in poker is a Royal Flush. It's made up of an ace, king, queen, jack and 10 in the same suit.
You can see the poker hand rankings above. A one pair beats a high card, a two pair beats a one pair, a three of a kind beats a two pair, a straight beats a three of a kind, a flush beats a straight, a full house beats a flush, a four of a kind beats a full house, a straight flush beats a four or a kind, a royal flush beats a straight flush. Nothing beats a royal flush.
You can beat a straight with a flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush and royal flush.
A full house is a strong hand, but you can beat it with a four of a kind, straight flush and royal flush.
A full house, four of a kind, straight flush and royal flush all beat a flush.
There is no highest suit in poker. They are all ranked equally.
There are 10 possible poker hands. The most valuable hand is a Royal Flush, a Straight Flush made of the highest value cards in the game.
The highest value poker hand is a Royal Flush, while the lowest is a high card. The full ranking order is royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, a full house, a flush, a straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card.
The ranking order of suits is spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. In popular poker games such as Texas Hold'em, there is no ranking of card suits, however suits are sometimes ranked in other games like Bridge.
The best hand in poker is a Royal Flush, which is the highest value straight flush. The worst hand in poker is a high card. The lowest possible high card five-card poker hand (if Aces are high) is 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 with no flush present.
If two poker hands are the same, the winner is decided by a kicker. A kicker is the highest value card outside of the pair/three-of-a-kind etc. For example, a pair of 8s with a K kicker beats a pair of 8s with a 10 kicker. If two hands are identical, the pot is split.