Every poker game, from a kitchen-table game to an online tournament, comes down to the same question at showdown: whose five-card hand ranks higher? The order of hands is fixed and shared across the most common variants, including Texas Hold'em, Omaha and seven-card stud. Learn it once and you can read any showdown.
The ranking at a glance
Hands are listed from strongest to weakest. The harder a hand is to make, the higher it ranks.
| Rank | Hand | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush | Ace, king, queen, jack and ten of one suit | A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ |
| 2 | Straight flush | Five cards in sequence, all of one suit | 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥ |
| 3 | Four of a kind | Four cards of the same rank | Q♣ Q♦ Q♥ Q♠ 4♦ |
| 4 | Full house | Three of a kind plus a pair | 7♠ 7♦ 7♣ K♥ K♣ |
| 5 | Flush | Five cards of one suit, not in sequence | A♦ J♦ 8♦ 6♦ 2♦ |
| 6 | Straight | Five cards in sequence, mixed suits | 10♣ 9♦ 8♠ 7♥ 6♣ |
| 7 | Three of a kind | Three cards of the same rank | 5♥ 5♠ 5♦ K♣ 9♠ |
| 8 | Two pair | Two different pairs | J♠ J♥ 4♣ 4♦ A♥ |
| 9 | One pair | Two cards of the same rank | 10♥ 10♦ K♠ 7♣ 3♥ |
| 10 | High card | None of the above; the highest card plays | A♣ Q♦ 9♠ 6♥ 3♣ |
A few rules that settle most arguments
Suits do not rank
In standard poker, spades are not better than hearts. Two flushes are compared by their highest card, then the next highest, and so on down. If every card matches in rank, the pot is split.
Only the best five cards count
In Hold'em you have seven cards available, two in your hand and five on the board, but only the best five make your hand. Sometimes the board itself is the best hand for everyone still in, and the pot is shared.
Kickers break ties
When two players hold the same pair, the highest unpaired card, the kicker, decides the winner. A pair of kings with an ace beats a pair of kings with a queen. The same idea applies to three of a kind, two pair and high-card hands.
Comparing full houses and two pair
A full house is ranked by its three of a kind first, so 8-8-8-2-2 beats 7-7-7-A-A. Two pair is ranked by the higher pair, then the lower pair, then the kicker.
The ace plays high or low in a straight
A-K-Q-J-10 is the highest straight. A-2-3-4-5, often called the wheel, is the lowest. The ace cannot wrap around the corner, so Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.
Why the order looks the way it does
The ranking follows how rarely each hand appears when five cards are dealt from a standard 52-card deck. There are many more ways to make one pair than to make a flush, and only four possible royal flushes in the entire deck. That is also why a flush beats a straight: there are fewer ways to collect five cards of one suit than five cards in a row.
Common mix-ups at the table
- Thinking three of a kind beats a straight. It does not; the straight ranks higher.
- Assuming a flush beats a full house. The full house is stronger.
- Counting six or seven cards as a hand. Only five ever play.
- Forgetting that lowball and hi-lo games use a separate ranking for the low half of the pot.
From rankings to decisions
Knowing the order is the starting point, not a strategy. The next step is understanding which starting cards are worth playing, which our article on pre-flop strategies for beginners covers, and how the rules shift between formats, explained in our look at the different types of Hold'em.
Before playing for real money, check that online poker is permitted where you live and stick to licensed sites. Play-money tables are a sensible place to practise reading hands at no cost.
Keep it a game: poker is for adults, and even strong hands lose. Bring a fixed buy-in, set a time to stop, and leave the table if you notice you are playing to recover losses.
Questions? Write to us.
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