What is a Royal Flush in Poker?

A Royal Flush is a poker hand made out of 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, all of the same suit. It is the best out of all the poker hands that can be created in a standard game of poker and it is also the rarest one.

• How does a Royal Flush rank?
• What beats a Royal Flush? (Chart)
• How should you play a Royal Flush in Hold’em?
• Royal Flush probabilities

How does a Royal Flush rank?

The Royal Flush is the strongest of all poker hands. It wins over all other combinations and guarantees success when going to a showdown. It is also known as the "absolute nuts" since it cannot be beaten. Learn more about poker nicknames here.

What Beats Full House?

Rank	Hand Names	Example	Hand Description
1	Royal Flush	10 J Q K A	10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace all in the same suit.
2	Straight Flush	4 5 6 7 8	Five cards in a row, all in the same suit.
3	Four of a Kind	10 7 7 7 7	The same card in each of the four suits.
4	Full House	K K K J J	A pair plus three of a kind in the same hand.
5	Flush	6 8 Q 3 10	Five cards, all in one suit, but not in numerical order.
6	Straight	10 9 8 7 6	Five cards in numerical order, but not of the same suit.
7	Three of a Kind	2 J K K K	Three of one card and two non-paired cards.
8	Two Pair	Q 4 4 A A	Two different pairings or sets of the same card in one hand.
9	One Pair	7 8 Q 5 5	One pairing of the same card.
10	High Card	2 3 7 Q K	No matching cards.

In poker variants without community cards, it is possible for more than one player to get Royal Flush hands. In this case, the ranking is based on the suit, in alphabetical order. Clubs is the lowest, followed by diamonds, hearts, and then spades. As a result, a Royal Flush of spades is the highest hand in poker.

How should you play a Royal Flush in Texas Hold’em?

Hitting a Royal Flush is the dream hand of any poker player. If you manage to land one, then you know for certain that nobody has a superior hand to yours. The trick to playing a Royal Flush is managing to lure other players in to increase the pot. This will allow you to maximize your winnings from that hand.

You’ll need to be careful though, raise the bet too high and you’ll arouse suspicion, which could risk players folding before you can get more chips out of them or take them to a showdown.

Royal Flush Probabilities

Given the fact that Texas Hold'em is the most popular variant, we will focus on the probabilities of getting a Royal Flush when playing this type of poker game.

In this instance, we will focus on the odds of being dealt the Royal Flush on the flop. Meaning a player will have five cards – consisting of their two hole cards and the three flop cards.

The odds of being dealt the Royal Flush on the flop is only the tip of the iceberg. For more on odds, including the probability of winning any given hand on the flop, turn, and/or river, have a play with our poker odds calculator.

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