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Rank of Poker Hands


The game of poker has many variations but rank of poker hands always remains the same. A poker hand is always made up of 5 cards. The value of cards ranked highest to lowest are ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, ace (aces count low or high).

Poker hands are ranked in order of probability of being dealt a five-card combination from the standard deck of 52 cards. There are 2,598,960 combinations of five-card hands possible to be dealt. The number of possible ways to be dealt a given hand are given below.

A highest card hand is the commonest and easiest to get dealt hence it is worth the least with 1,302,540 combinations, conversely a royal flush has only 4 combinations making it very rare and valuable.

The rank of poker hands from best to worst

Royal straight flush or Royal Flush … The highest value 5 card straight and all of the same suit.

eg. 10, Jack, Queen, King & Ace of clubs

Straight Flush … 5 cards in sequence (straight) but also all in the same suit.

eg. 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 of diamonds – 7 high straight flush

Four of a kind … Four Cards of the same denomination.

eg. 10, 10, 10, 10, Q – quad tens

Full House … Three cards of one denomination and a pair (two of another)

eg. K, K, K, 6, 6 – full house kings full of sixes – tied hands are decided first by the best three of a kind then the best pair

Flush … Five cards all in the same suit but not in denomination sequence

eg. Kh, 10h, 7h, 6h, 3h – a king high flush

Straight … Five cards in denomination sequence of any suit

eg. 56789 – straight nine high

Three Of A Kind … Three cards of the same denomination also known as Trips

eg. 8, 8, ace, 9 – trip 8’s

Two Pairs … Two pairs of the same denominations – If tied with the same the higher pair then the highest low pair wins, if these are tied then highest other card (or kicker) decides it.

eg. QQ, 77, 2 – two pairs queens and 7’s

One Pair … One pair of the same denomination

eg. Kd, Kh, Ace, 7, 4 – A pair of Kings

High Card … If none of the above hands are made then the highest card wins.

eg. Q, 5, 2, 7, 8 – is a Queen high beaten by K, 5, 3, 7, 8 a king high