What is a Straight Flush in Poker?

A Straight Flush represents the best combinations of five cards with the rarest. The hand consists of consecutive cards that have the same suit and includes the very rare Royal Flush.

What does a Straight Flush look like?

A Straight Flush is any hand where the cards have consecutive rankings and the same symbol (suit). Some examples would be:

K♠, Q♠, J♠, 10♠, 9♠
9♥, 8♥, 7♥, 6♥, 5♥
Q♣, J♣, 10♣, 9♣, 8♣
5♦, 4♦, 3♦, 2♦, A♦

How does a Straight Flush rank?

A Straight Flush ranks as the top winning poker hands. In fact, a Straight Flush can only be beaten by another Straight Flush and a Royal Flush. The ranking is based on the highest card in the combination.

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.

For example, a 5♥-6♥-7♥-8♥-9♥ (Hearts) hand will lose to a 7♥-8♥-9♥-10♥-Jack♥ (Hearts) hand. The suit of the Straight Flush is irrelevant, unless used to break a tie. The strongest hand in poker is called a Royal Straight Flush, or just a Royal Flush, and it is made out of 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of a matching suit.

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

A Straight Flush is the second strongest hand you can get in poker. If you land it, you can be reasonably confident you have the best chance of winning that hand.

However, if you have a low high card, such as a 5, then you will need to be wary that another player could hold a stronger Straight Flush. So, some mild caution is needed here.

In a similar approach to playing a Royal Flush, make sure you don’t bet too high when attempting to lure opponents in to increase the pot. One thing you don’t want to do is scare them off.

Draw them in with bets that keep building the pot but don’t frighten players. The deeper you go into the hand, the bolder you can get with your betting to ensure you maximize the winnings on the hand.

Straight Flush Probabilities

By calculating the poker hands odds, players can get an idea of how rare and valuable a Straight Flush is.

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

Number of ways to draw the hand (not including different suits)	Number of ways to draw the hand (including different suits)	Odds of getting a Straight Flush	Probability of getting a Straight Flush
9	36	1 / 72,192	0.00139%

The odds of being dealt the Straight 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.

FAQS

A Straight Flush is a hand of five cards of the same suit that have sequential rankings. For example, 2-3-4-5-6 of Hearts, and 8-9-10-Jack-Queen of Spades, are both Straight Flush hands.

A Straight Flush can be beaten by a higher-ranking Straight Flush. The poker hand values here are based on the rank of the cards. In the example provided above, the 8-9-10-Jack-Queen hand beats the 2-3-4-5-6, despite the fact that both of them are Straight Flushes.

The Straight Flush will beat all other poker card hands. It is better than Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, and so on down the poker hands list.

You will most likely win most hands where you have a Straight Flush. The only thing to consider is the possibility of the opponents making a higher Straight Flush with the available community cards.

The strongest Straight Flush hand is Ace high followed by King high, Queen high, Jack high, and so on.