Poker Hand Rankings
All 10 Texas Hold'em hands from strongest to weakest, with probabilities, tie-breaking rules, and answers to the questions everyone asks (yes, a flush beats a straight).
Five things that trip people up
- • Flush beats a Straight. The most-confused ranking. A flush is 5 same-suit cards; a straight is 5 connected cards. Flush is harder, so it wins.
- • Ace can be high or low. A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight (the “wheel”). T-J-Q-K-A is the highest (“Broadway”).
- • Suits never break ties. Two flushes of equal high cards split the pot. Spades aren't worth more than hearts.
- • Kickers matter. AK on an A-7-2 board has top pair top kicker — beats any other pair of aces with a smaller kicker.
- • Full House = trips over pair. “Aces full of Twos” beats “Kings full of Queens” — compare the trips first.
Each hand explained
1. Royal Flush
649,739 : 1 odds · 0.000154% of all handsA Royal Flush is just the highest possible Straight Flush — A-K-Q-J-T all in one suit. There are exactly 4 of them in a deck (one per suit). Two players cannot make a Royal Flush at the same time in Texas Hold'em — if you have it, you've won.
2. Straight Flush
72,192 : 1 odds · 0.00139% of all handsFive connected cards in the same suit. The wheel (A-2-3-4-5) suited is the lowest Straight Flush; 9-T-J-Q-K suited is just below the Royal. When two players have Straight Flushes the higher top card wins.
3. Four of a Kind
4,164 : 1 odds · 0.024% of all handsAlso called 'quads'. Quad aces is the highest, quad twos the lowest. Two players with quads on the same board (rare) compare kickers; when both quads are different ranks, the higher rank wins regardless of kickers.
4. Full House
693 : 1 odds · 0.144% of all handsSpoken as 'X full of Y' where X is the trips and Y is the pair (e.g. 'Jacks full of Eights'). When comparing two Full Houses the trips rank first; if those tie, the pair rank breaks the tie.
5. Flush
507 : 1 odds · 0.197% of all handsFlushes beat straights — a common point of confusion. When two players hold a flush, compare the highest card; if those tie, the second-highest, and so on. Suits themselves never break ties in standard rules.
6. Straight
254 : 1 odds · 0.392% of all handsAce plays high or low — A-K-Q-J-T is Broadway (the highest straight); A-2-3-4-5 is the wheel (the lowest). The ace cannot wrap around (Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight). Higher top card wins ties.
7. Three of a Kind
46 : 1 odds · 2.11% of all handsTwo flavors in Hold'em: a 'set' (you hold a pocket pair that hits a board card — disguised, very profitable) and 'trips' (you hold one card matching a board pair — strong but readable). Higher trips wins; if equal, kickers break the tie.
8. Two Pair
20 : 1 odds · 4.75% of all handsCompare the higher pair first, then the lower pair, then the kicker. Two Pair is the most-dangerous made hand at low stakes — players overplay it and lose stacks to better holdings on connected boards.
9. One Pair
1.37 : 1 odds · 42.26% of all handsCompare pair rank first; if equal, three kickers break the tie in order. Most pots in Hold'em are won at showdown with one pair — knowing kicker strength matters more than people think.
10. High Card
0.99 : 1 odds · 50.12% of all handsSometimes called 'no pair'. Compare the highest card; if equal, the next-highest, and so on through all five cards. Surprisingly, high-card hands win plenty of pots when both players miss the board.
Frequently asked
Does a flush beat a straight in poker?+
Yes. A flush (5 cards same suit) beats a straight (5 connected cards mixed suits). The mnemonic: flush is harder to make — the probability of being dealt a flush by the river is about 0.2% vs 0.39% for a straight in 7-card Hold'em.
What beats a full house?+
Four of a kind, straight flush, and royal flush all beat a full house. Within full houses, the higher trips win — Aces full of Twos beats Kings full of Queens.
Is A-2-3-4-5 a valid straight?+
Yes — this is called 'the wheel' or 'bicycle' and is the lowest straight (5-high). The ace plays as a 1. The ace can also play as the highest card in T-J-Q-K-A (Broadway). It cannot wrap around (Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight).
If two players have the same hand, what determines the winner?+
Kickers — the unused side cards. For pairs and three-of-a-kind, the next-highest cards in your 5-card hand break ties in order. For straights and flushes, the highest top card wins. For full houses, the higher trips wins, then the pair. Suits never break ties in standard Texas Hold'em.
What's the difference between a set and trips?+
Both are three-of-a-kind. A set means you hold a pocket pair (e.g. 8♠8♥) and the board produces a third (8♦). Trips means you hold one card and the board provides a pair (you have 8♠4♣, board is 8♥8♦5♠). Sets are more disguised and tend to win bigger pots.
Are suits ranked in poker?+
Not in standard Texas Hold'em or Omaha. Two flushes of equal high cards split the pot — the suits themselves don't break the tie. Some niche games and tournament rules use spades > hearts > diamonds > clubs for special cases, but it's not a general rule.