Poker Hands Table
| Rank | Hand | What it contains | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Five of a kind | Four equal ranks plus a wild card | Wild cards only |
| 2 | Royal flush | A K Q J 10, one suit | Straight flush, ace high |
| 3 | Straight flush | Five ranks in sequence, one suit | 9-high minimum |
| 4 | Four of a kind | Four equal ranks + kicker | Quads |
| 5 | Full house | Three of a kind + a pair | Triple ranks first |
| 6 | Flush | Five cards, one suit, any order | Suits never break ties |
| 7 | Straight | Five ranks in sequence, mixed suits | Wheel to Broadway |
| 8 | Three of a kind | Three equal ranks + two kickers | Trips or a set |
| 9 | Two pair | Two pairs + kicker | Higher pair ranks first |
| 10 | One pair | Two equal ranks + three kickers | About 42% of hands |
| 11 | High card | None of the above | Compare card by card |
Poker hand rankings answer one question with a fixed ladder: when two players show their cards, whose five cards win. The chart runs from the mythical top - five of a kind, possible only with wild cards - through the royal flush and straight flush, down through four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair and one pair, ending at high card, the hand with nothing that still gets compared card by card. The order is not arbitrary: every step up is a rarer combination, which is why the flush outranks the straight even though both are five generic cards.
Two conventions trip up newcomers. First, suits never matter for ranking: a flush in spades does not beat a flush in hearts of the same face values - if the ranks tie, the pot is split. Second, the asterisks on the chart mark hands that need wild cards or special rules to exist at all: in a standard 52-card game with no wilds, five of a kind is impossible, and a royal flush is simply the best straight flush, ace high - a category label poker kept because players loved the name.
How to use
- Read the ladder top down until your hand matches: five of a kind needs wild cards, a royal flush is the ace-high straight flush of one suit, and each step below (straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair) beats everything under it - there are no style points, only the category order.
- Break ties inside a category by ranks, never suits: two full houses compare the triple first (aces full of kings beats kings full of aces), two flushes compare cards from the top down, and if every rank matches exactly, the hands tie and the pot splits - the kicker rule that gives one-pair hands a second life.
- Count your outs against the rarity column: the royal flush is roughly one hand in 650,000, four of a kind about one in 4,000, while one pair lands in about 42 percent of dealt hands - the market price of each hand at the table is set by these odds, which is why cheap pairs fight expensive bluffs.
Frequently asked questions
Does a royal flush beat a straight flush?
Yes - because a royal flush is a straight flush, specifically the ace-high run of ten through nine-eight-seven-six in one suit. The chart lists it separately by tradition, not by category: within straight flushes the ace-high version is simply the highest, and any straight flush beats every four of a kind. The royal name carries no extra rules; it is marketing shorthand that survived because it sounds like the summit of the game, which it is.
Why does a flush beat a straight?
Frequency. A flush (five cards of one suit, any order) is mathematically harder to make in five cards than a straight (five ranks in sequence, any suits) - about 5,100-to-1 against roughly 2,500-to-1 from a random deal. Poker rankings follow scarcity, not elegance: the straight's 13-by-9 possible sequences outnumber the flush's 4-suit combinations once overlapping runs are counted. The same logic places full house above flush, and is the reason the chart's order never changes from game to game.
What is a kicker and when does it count?
A kicker is the unpaired card or cards that break ties within a category. Two players each holding a pair of nines compare their remaining highest card: ace kicker beats queen kicker. Kickers apply to one pair, two pair, three of a kind and four of a kind; they do not rescue a straight, flush or full house, where all five cards are already spoken for. In hold'em the board plays - if the best five-card hand is on the table, everyone ties and chops the pot no matter what hole cards they hold.
What beats what in five-card poker?
Read straight down the ladder: five of a kind (wild cards only) beats a royal flush, which tops straight flushes, then four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and finally high card - literally nothing, compared card by card. Two facts settle most disputes: the categories never reorder between poker variants, and inside every category only the face ranks matter, suits included never. A two-pair of aces and eights with a king kicker beats a two-pair of kings and queens with any kicker.