In poker, a player’s goal is to build the best possible hand consisting of 5 cards during each round. These hands are compared using a standard ranking hierarchy system – the player with the highest-ranking hand wins the pot for that particular deal. The position of various possible hands is based on the probability of being randomly dealt from the deck.

General rules applied to evaluating poker hands:

Individual cards rank in the following order: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A. Aces are only considered low when at the bottom end of a straight (5 4 3 2 A). Individual card ranks, also known as high cards, are used to rate hands that contain no pairs or any other poker hands, or to be compared as kicker cards as the “tie breaker” of equal hands.

All suits have equal value. The purpose of suits in poker is mainly used to determine whether a hand fits a certain category (a flush or a straight flush). When two players play two identical hands such as a straight flush, and the ONLY difference is in the suit, they are considered to be tied, and the pot is split between them. An exception to the use of suits is that often a ranking called high card by suit is used to select a dealer in player dealt games.

All poker hands consist of 5 cards. On the occasion in certain games where players have more than 5 cards available at their disposal, the best 5 card combination is played by each player.

Poker hands first rank by type of hand, then followed by individual card rank. Individual card ranks are the “last case scenarios” of poker, where even a simple low end pair beats a single high card such as an ace. If you don’t have a categorized hand, odds are you’ll lose the pot. In cases where two hands are identical in the same category, card ranks are used as the “tie breaker”.

How Winning Poker & Hold 'em Hands Are Ranked

In poker, specific card combinations (or hands) out rank other hands – all of which are based on the frequency in which these combinations can appear. The following hands are the fundamental of any poker game, but are also used in a variety of other card games as well.

 • Straight Flush:

A straight flush is any 5 cards of the same suit in consecutive numerical order, such as 9 8 7 6 5. Since the suit has no distinguished value, straight flushes are compared by their highest card. An ace low straight flush, 5 4 3 2 A, consists of a 5 high straight flush; while an ace high flush - also known as a royal flush, A K Q J 10, is the highest ranking hand in a standard poker game.

• Four of a Kind:

Also known as quads, this poker hand consists of all 4 possible cards of any rank, as well as a 5^th unmatched card. Quad hands are ranked by the weight of the 4 matching cards. In certain community card games it is possible for two players to build the same quad. In these scenarios, the unmatched 5^th card becomes the deciding kicker card.

• Full House:

This poker hand consists of triples of one rank coupled with a pair of another. Normally the rank of a full house is determined by the weight of the triples but in community games like Hold ‘em, players are capable of building the same triples, and depending on the odds – even the accompanying pair as well. If the triples held by 2 players in a full house are identical then the deciding factor depends on the associate pair in the hand; if the pairs are identical as well, the pot is split between the two. For example if the community cards are A Q Q 9 4, and Player01 holds Q 9, while Player02 holds Q 4, since both players hold 3 Queens, Player01 would win the pot with a pair of 9s ranking over Player02’s pair of 4s. Full houses are often described as “Three full of Pair” or occasionally “Three over Pair”; a hand of K K K 5 5 would be called “Kings full of fives”, “Kings over fives”, or simply “Kings full”. Take note that “Three over Pair” is commonly used to describe the hand containing 2 pairs.

• Flush:

A poker hand consisting of all 5 cards holding the same suit such as Q 10 5 4 2 – all containing the same suit but not in sequenced ranking. If two players hold a flush (noting that all suits are equal) the flush with the highest ranking card determines the pot winner. If both hands consist of the same highest card as well, then the second highest card rank is used. Flushes are described by their highest ranking, for example a K 10 7 4 3 hand would be described as a “King-high flush”. If the hand resorts to the second high card decision then a hand such as A J 10 5 3 would be considered an “Ace-Jack-high flush” or simply an “Ace-Jack flush”.

• Straight:

A straight is form by any five consecutive ranking cards – regardless of suit. Two straights are weighed by the rank of the highest card of each hand, if both hands hold the same ranking high card, then the two straights are of equal value. Straight hands can be described by their highest card as “rank-high straight” or “straight to the highest-rank”. For example, a 9 8 7 6 5 run would be called a “Nine-high straight” or a “straight to the nine”. Similar to the straight flush, aces are played high and low but never interconnecting such as 3 2 A K Q.

• Three of a Kind:

Also called trips, set or a prile, is any hand built with 3 matching cards of any rank along with 2 other unmatched cards – used as kickers if necessary. In Texas Hold ‘em, a “set” refers specifically to trips consisting of a pocket pair and one matching card on the board. If any two hands are composed of the same trip rank then the side cards are used to determine win the pot.

• Two Pairs:

Any hand composed of any 2 cards of the same rank along with another 2 of the same rank, and a 5^th unmatched card. Two pair hands are weighed first by the higher ranking pair within the hand (known as the “top pair”), followed by the second pair then if necessary, the 5^th card acts as a kicker. Two pairs are commonly described by the higher pair first, followed by the secondary pair if required. For example A A 8 8 4 is said to be “Aces over eights”, “Aces and eights”, or simply “Aces up” if the pair of 8s are irrelevant to winning the pot.

• One Pair:

A poker hand that is composed solely of 2 matching cards of the same rank, plus 3 other unmatched cards - used as kickers in the case that 2 or more hands hold the same ranking pair.

• High Card:

Also considered a no pair poker hand, this hand consists of none of the mentioned hands above and is merely weighed by the highest ranked card. High card hands rank below all poker hands, and two competing high card hands are ranked first on the highest card, if the two are of equal value then the next corresponding high cards are compared, etc. High card hands are described by the one or two highest cards in the hand, such as "ace high", "ten-eight high", or by as many cards as are necessary to break a tie. Take note that the lowest possible high card hand is the seven-high (7 5 4 3 2) due to the fact that a hand such as 6 5 4 3 2 would result in a straight.