Having a hard time figuring out the poker combinations and who’s winning? We give you the official poker hands in order, easy to understand and explained.
What is a poker hand
A hand in poker is a combination of cards that is defined by the rules of the poker game. In classic poker, with no wild cards or side cards, a hand is a combination of five cards that a player makes up and compares with those of other players.
Vocabulary used in poker for card.
The color or suit of a card refers not to red or black, but to spades, clubs, diamonds or hearts.
The rank of a card refers to its hierarchical level in relation to the others.
[cjtoolbox name="Casino reward rotate"]Poker hand values and poker hand rankings
Here is the order of poker hands, ranked from highest to lowest. This order of values is for Texas Hold’em at high play height. If you want to play Low, then the values are simply reversed. Finally, in High/Low the winning hands are the best and the lowest.
- Royal Flush
- Straight Flush
- Four of a Kind
- Full house
- Flush
- Straight (Continued)
- Three of a Kind
- Double Pair
- Pair
- High card
Poker hands in order starting from the weakest.
1. High card, poker hands in order.
The strong card is a fairly common hand and is particularly useful, especially in a bluffing situation where it can be used to determine the winner.
Imagine two players who have no game and are both bluffing. At the end of the move, if neither of them has folded, they will have to be split. In this case, the player with the highest card wins the pot (the King in the example above).
This rule can also be used to break a tie between two players with the same deck.
2. Pair
A pair consists of two identical cards of different suits. In the example above, it is a pair of 9s.
In the event of a tie, for example 9♥-9♠ vs 9♦-9♣, the player with the higher value strong card wins the game. With his or her King, the player with the above hand can only be beaten, in even pairs, by another player with an Ace
3. Two pairs
These are two identical cards. In the example: pair of 9s and pair of jacks.
If one of the pairs is the same, the second pair is the tie breaker.
In case of two identical pairs, it is the strong card that breaks the tie (in the example above, the strong card being the 2♥, the chances of winning are slim…).
Note that in the – extremely rare – case where all the cards are identical, then the pot is split between the two players.
4. Three of a kind
A three of a kind is made up of 3 identical cards and 2 mismatched cards since a poker hand always consists of 5 cards.
There can be no ties with three of a kind since there are no six identical cards in a deck of poker cards.
5. Straight
A straight is made up of five cards in sequence but of different suits. This hand is also called a straight.
Note: Straight Aces > 2 > 3 > 4 > 5 are accepted in most games, but be sure to check with other players before the game begins.
In case of a tie, the straight ending with the highest card wins the pot. For example, 7♣-8♥-9♥-10♠-J♥ wins the game against 5♦-6♣-7♠-8♥-9♣. If both players have exactly the same cards, the pot is split between them.
[cjtoolbox name="Casino reward rotate"]6. Flush
A suit is 5 cards of the same suit (in this case hearts) that are not in sequence.
If two players have the same suit, the one with the highest card wins the game. In case of equal strong cards, the card of the lower rank is used to decide between the two players, and so on if the second card is also identical.
7. Full house
A full house is a hand consisting of three of a kind and a pair. This combination is made up of 3 matching cards and 2 more matching cards.
If two players have a full house, the player with the highest three of a kind wins the pot. Remember that it is impossible to have 2 identical three of a kind since there are no 6 identical tricks in the entire 52-card poker deck.
8. Four of a kind
The Four of a Kind is made up of 4 identical cards as the name suggests. Just for fun, we have used the famous four of Aces as an example.
If two players have four of a kind, the one with the highest number of four of a kind wins the game. Since there are not 8 identical cards, there can’t be a perfect tie.
9. Straight flush
A straight flush is five cards in a row AND of the same suit (in this case hearts).
If two players have the same straight flush (except for the suit), the player with the highest-finishing combination wins the game. In the event of a tie, which has a probability of close to zero, the pot is split between the two players.
[cjtoolbox name="Casino reward rotate"]10. Royal flush the last poker hands in order to win.
The royal flush is a straight flush that ends in an Ace.
It is 5 cards in a row, of the same suit (in this case hearts) and ending with an Ace. This is the strongest hand in poker and is absolutely unbeatable (but extremely rare).