What Beats a Flush in Poker? Complete Hand Hierarchy
Four hands beat a flush in Texas Hold'em poker: a Full House, Four of a Kind, a Straight Flush, and a Royal Flush. A flush beats a Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, and a High Card.
The four hands that beat a flush
A flush is a strong hand — five cards of the same suit, in any order. Only four poker hands beat it, in this order from weakest-that-beats-it to strongest:
- •Full House — three of a kind plus a pair (e.g. KKK77). Beats any flush.
- •Four of a Kind (Quads) — four cards of the same rank plus a kicker (e.g. KKKK7).
- •Straight Flush — five cards in sequence, all the same suit (e.g. 5♥6♥7♥8♥9♥).
- •Royal Flush — A♣K♣Q♣J♣10♣. The unbeatable nuts. Comes once every 30,940 hands on average.
Common confusion: does a straight beat a flush?
No. A flush always beats a straight. A straight is five cards in sequence (e.g. 5-6-7-8-9 of mixed suits). A flush is five cards of the same suit. The flush is rarer (~0.20% vs straight's ~0.39% from random 5 cards), so it ranks higher.
What if two players both have a flush?
When both players have a flush, the player with the highest card in their flush wins. If the highest cards tie, the next-highest decides, and so on through all five cards. Suit does NOT matter — there is no 'spades beat hearts' rule in standard poker.
Hands a flush beats
A flush beats every hand below it on the rankings list:
- •Straight — 5 cards in sequence, mixed suits.
- •Three of a Kind (Set/Trips) — three same-rank cards.
- •Two Pair — two different pairs.
- •One Pair — two same-rank cards.
- •High Card — no pair, just the highest card.
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Frequently asked
Does a flush beat a full house?
No. A full house beats a flush. The standard hand ranking from highest to lowest is: Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight. A full house (three of a kind + a pair) outranks any flush.
Does an Ace-high flush beat a King-high flush?
Yes. When two players both have a flush, the highest card in each player's flush is compared. An Ace-high flush beats a King-high flush. If the high cards match, the next-highest card breaks the tie, and so on.
What is the highest possible flush?
An Ace-high flush of any suit (e.g. A-K-Q-J-9 all of one suit). The highest possible non-Royal-Flush hand is the King-high straight flush (K-Q-J-10-9 same suit). The Royal Flush (A-K-Q-J-10 same suit) is technically the highest straight flush.
Are some suits worth more than others?
No. In standard Texas Hold'em and most poker variants, all four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs) are equal in rank. If two players have identical hands, the pot is split. Some specific games (like split-pot variants) use suit-ranking but it's rare.
How often do you flop a flush?
When holding two suited cards, you flop a flush about 0.84% of the time (~1 in 119). You flop a flush draw (4 to a flush) about 10.9% of the time. The flush draw will complete to a flush by the river ~35% of the time.
Terms used in this article
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