Without understanding the poker hand rankings, you won’t know whether your starting hand is strong or weak. Not knowing the strength of your starting hands can lead to errors when playing your poker hand. These errors can, and likely will, cause you to lose your money. Being able to quickly access a mental poker cheat sheet to know how your poker hand ranks will be of immense benefit.
There are ten different poker hands, starting with the highest-ranking Royal Flush to the lowly high card. Here is our simple poker hand rankings guide to help you learn and continue to improve your game. These hand rankings are not the correct rankings for Short Deck. The Short Deck hand rankings can be found here. Don’t forget to check out our poker probability cheat sheet to help you further understand the strength of your starting poker hands.
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Poker Hand Rankings
Knowing your Poker Hands and Poker Hand Rankings is one of the most important elements of learning to play poker.
While there is a lot to learn, whether you play live or online poker, understanding where your poker hand ranks is vital.
List of Poker Hands – Ranking (Highest to Lowest)
1. Royal Flush
Also known as an Ace high straight flush, the Royal Flush consists of the A, K, Q, J and 10, all of the same suit
2. Straight Flush
Five cards in a sequence, all of the same suit.
3. Four of a Kind
Four cards of the same rank plus 1 extra card.
4. Full House
Three-of-a-kind plus a pair.
5. Flush
Three-of-a-kind plus a pair.
6. Straight
Any five sequential cards. The suits do not matter.
7. Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank plus any 2 other non-paired cards.
8. Two Pair
Two different pairs plus one other card.
9. One Pair
Two cards of the same rank plus any 3 non-paired cards.
10. High Card
When your hand does not fill any other requirements. Ranked from the Highest card down to the Lowest.
Best Starting Hands in Poker
Knowing the strength of your starting hand in any game of poker is crucial to a strong poker strategy. Knowing the poker hand rankings will help you determine the strength of the cards you are dealt, whether you can hit that elusive royal flush or just another high card hand. To find out more about the basics of playing poker, visit our poker school.
Texas Hold'em
- AA, KK
- These two starting hands are the best in Texas Hold’em, but it’s not often you’ll get dealt aces or kings straight away. However, it’s important to bear in mind that aces or kings don’t play well against multiple opponents – especially when playing kings – as you’ll likely lose to anyone starting with a single ace.
- QQ, JJ, AK
- Those with queens and jacks generally have the best starting hand in Hold’em. AK (suited or unsuited) dominates most other hands and offers great potential when it isn’t a made hand, while queens and jacks may struggle against a player holding aces or kings.
- TT, AK, AQ, AJ, KQ
- Starting hands like AQ and AK are very strong against weaker ace combinations. It’s recommended to raise preflop with any of these hands, although you have to be careful as their strength depends on the other players and your position in the game.
Omaha
- AAKK, AAJ10
- Any hand featuring a pair of aces with a card from ten to king is the best hand in Omaha, or PLO (Pot-Limit Omaha) poker. You should look to raise and reraise with these hands and go all-in before the flop if possible.
- KKQJ, JJQK
- High pairs (TT-KK) with sequential cards do particularly well in heads-up. However, it’s expected that you’ll find at least one player with aces in Omaha poker, so you shouldn’t do too much before the flop with one of these hands.
- 8876, 7789
- Middle pairs with sequential cards are particularly strong as they pull value from coordinated draws, or made hands on the flop. You should limp in with these hands or call a raise if there are other potential callers.
- AKQJ, KQJ10
- These hands are strong but are easily dominated before the flop – especially by high pairs. It’s important to play these cards carefully, and consider calling a raise in late position.
Poker Tips for Beginners
- Royal Flush
- The Royal Flush, also known as an Ace high straight flush, is the best hand in poker. Utilizing the A-K-Q-J-T all from the same suit, a royal flush beats everything. The only time this hand will not win is if another player has a Royal Flush in a different suit which will result in a tie.
- Straight Flush
- A Straight Flush beats every poker hand up to and including a Four of a Kind. A Straight Flush beats everything a Royal Flush would as long as the high card is of greater value than any other Straight Flush in the same hand. An ace can rank either high or low under high rules, but cannot rank both high and low simultaneously. If you have an Ace high straight flush, it is a Royal straight flush. Under deuce-to-seven rules, an ace always ranks high. Under ace-to-six low rules, an ace always ranks low. Every Straight Flush is ranked by its highest-ranking card.
- Four of a Kind
- Four of a Kind, also known as Quads, contains four cards of one rank and one other card (the kicker). It ranks below a Straight Flush and above a Full House. Each Four of a Kind is ranked by the rank of its quadruplet and then by the rank of its kicker. If multiple players have a Four of a Kind the kicker will be used to determine the winner. If the kickers are of equal rank, the poker hands are tied.
- Full House
- A Full House – also known as a Full Boat, a Boat, Full Hand or Tight – contains three cards of one rank and two cards of a second rank. A Full House ranks below Four of a Kind and above a Flush. Each Full House is ranked first by the rank of its triplet and then by the rank of its pair.
A Full House consisting of 8-8-8-7-7 (called Eights full of Sevens, or Eights over Sevens) would rank higher than an 8-8-8-6-6 or 4-4-4-J-J Full House, but lower than Q-Q-Q-6-6 or 8-8-8-9-9 Full House. If 2 Full House’s have both the triplet and the pair the same, the poker hand is tied. - Flush
- A Flush contains five cards of all of the same suit, but not of sequential rank. It ranks below a Full House and above a Straight. Each Flush is ranked first by its highest-ranking card, then by its second highest-ranking card, and so on. Flush hands that differ by suit alone are of equal rank. A flush consisting of K-Q-8-7-3 beats a flush K-Q-8-6-5 but loses to the flush A-6-5-4-2.
If 2 or more players both have a flush, the winner of the hand will be determined by the rank of the cards starting with the highest card. If every card of the flushes are the same the hand is tied. - Straight
- A Straight hand contains five cards of sequential rank, but not all of the same suit. It ranks below a Flush and above Three of a Kind. Each Straight is ranked by its highest-ranking card. Straight hands that differ by suit alone are of equal rank. An ace-high Straight is known as a Broadway Straight, while a five-high Straight (5-4-3-2-A) is called a Wheel or Baby Straight.
- Three of a Kind
- Also known as Trips or a Set, Three of a Kind contains three cards of one rank and two other non-paired cards (called kickers). It ranks below a Straight and above a Two Pair. Each Three of a Kind is ranked by its triplet, then by its highest ranked kicker and finally its lowest ranked kicker.
- Two Pair
- Two Pair is a hand that contains two cards of one rank, two separate cards of a second rank, and one card of a third rank (the kicker). It sits below Three of a Kind and above One Pair. Each Two Pair is ranked first by its highest-ranking pair, then its lowest-ranking pair and finally the kicker. Two Pair hands that differ by suit alone rank equally.
- One Pair
- One Pair contains two cards of one rank and three cards of three other ranks (the kickers). It ranks below Two Pair and above High Card. Each One Pair is ranked first by its pair, then by its kickers in descending rank order. If 2 players have the same pair and kickers the poker hands are equal.
- High Card
- High Card is the name for any hand that does not fit into any other category. The weakest hand you can have in poker, the High Card hand is ranked by its cards in high to low rank order. Certain games have specific rules for High Card hands. Under Deuce-to-Seven low rules, a Seven-Five-high (7-5-4-3-2) hand is the best possible. Under Ace-to-Five low rules, Straights and Flushes are not possible, making them (5-4-3-2-A) High Card hands the lowest.
FAQs
Most forms of poker do not consider suit as a factor in determining the poker hands. For the games that do put a value on suits they are usually ordered Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. If you are unsure if the suit makes a difference in your game, just ask the dealer before you start playing.
Playing by standard rules with a standard deck of cards, the Royal Flush is the best hand in poker. It consists of an Ace, King, Queen and Jack, joined by a Ten – all of which are in the same suit. Of course it never hurts to ask for clarification before you start playing.
In most versions of poker a Poker Hand is a set of five playing cards, according to the rules of the game. Each poker hand has a rank that is compared against the other hands to decide who wins.
A flush is a hand that contains five cards of all the same suit. These cards will not be of sequential rank, if they were you would have a Straight Flush. The Flush ranks below a full house and above a straight.
The cards are ranked from high to low: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and Ace. Ace, which is usually considered high, can be high or low, but almost never both in the same hand.
The worst starting hand depends on the number of people at the table. In general, a 2-7 off suit is considered to be the worst starting poker hand. With 4 cards to a flush or straight and a low pair as the upside, this is just a bad hand.
One of the most important factors of a strong poker strategy is understanding your starting hand. Without that basic understanding you won’t know whether to play aggressively or to play it safe. You should also play for the long term where possible – meaning, you should consider how your starting hand could evolve as the hand progresses and act accordingly.
The main goal of poker is to win chips. There are no prizes for the player who wins the most wagers or those who are the most ambitious when playing. Knowing this should only further impress the importance of understanding poker hand rankings and when to fold or play.
Poker hands are generated using a computer algorithm, which ensures that the cards dealt are random. In Texas Hold’em poker, each player is dealt two cards face down before the flop; in Omaha poker, each player is dealt four cards face down before the flop.
‘Dealer’s choice’ refers to a game in which the dealer designates the variant to be played and sets the stakes. This often depends on the number of players and will outline any special variants or unusual rules outside of the usual components of a poker game.