Every poker night has the moment. Cards hit the felt, someone announces "flush," someone else says "full house," and a third player at the end of the table asks which one wins. If that third player is you, no shame. Learn the order once and you'll never need the cheat sheet taped to the rail again.
Here's every poker hand ranked from best to worst, how ties get broken, and the mistakes that cost people pots at real tables.
Poker hand rankings, best to worst
These rankings apply to Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Five-Card Stud and most other standard "high" poker games. Every hand is exactly five cards.
- Royal flush – A-K-Q-J-10, all the same suit. The best hand in the game. You may see a few in your life.
- Straight flush – Five cards in a row, all the same suit, like 9-8-7-6-5 of hearts. A royal flush is technically just the highest straight flush.
- Four of a kind – Four cards of the same rank, plus one side card. Also called quads.
- Full house – Three of a kind plus a pair, like K-K-K-4-4. Said out loud as "kings full of fours."
- Flush – Any five cards of the same suit, not in order.
- Straight – Five cards in a row, mixed suits, like 8-7-6-5-4.
- Three of a kind – Three cards of the same rank. In Hold'em, a set if you hold a pocket pair, trips if two of them are on the board.
- Two pair – Two different pairs, like J-J-6-6 plus a side card.
- One pair – Two cards of the same rank.
- High card – Nothing made. Your best card plays, and you're usually hoping nobody calls.
Why the order is the order
The rankings aren't arbitrary. Rarer hands rank higher. Out of the 2,598,960 possible five-card hands in a 52-card deck, here's how many of each exist:
- Royal flush: 4
- Straight flush (not royal): 36
- Four of a kind: 624
- Full house: 3,744
- Flush (not straight flush): 5,108
- Straight (not straight flush): 10,200
- Three of a kind: 54,912
- Two pair: 123,552
- One pair: 1,098,240
- High card: 1,302,540
That's why a flush beats a straight even though straights feel harder to make. There are about twice as many ways to make a straight.
How ties are broken
Two players with the same type of hand is common. Here's how the winner gets decided:
- Straights and straight flushes: highest top card wins. A 10-high straight beats a 9-high straight.
- Flushes: compare the highest card, then the next highest, all the way down through five cards.
- Full houses: the three of a kind decides it first. Nines full of twos beats eights full of aces.
- Four of a kind, three of a kind, pairs: higher rank wins. If those match, the side cards (kickers) decide it.
- Two pair: compare the top pair, then the bottom pair, then the kicker.
Suits never break ties in Hold'em. If both hands are truly identical across all five cards, the pot is split.
Best five cards, not all seven
In Hold'em you have two hole cards and five on the board, but only your best five count. You can use both hole cards, one, or none. Using none is called "playing the board."
Example: the board runs 9-8-7-6-5 in mixed suits. Anyone holding a 10 has a 10-high straight and wins. If nobody has a 10, everyone still in the hand has the same 9-high straight and the pot gets chopped. Your pocket aces don't help. They're not in your best five.
Kickers: where most chips quietly leak
Say the board is A♦ 9♣ 6♥ 4♠ 2♦. You hold A♠ K♣. Your opponent holds A♥ Q♦. You both have a pair of aces, so it comes down to the next cards. Your best five: A-A-K-9-6. Theirs: A-A-Q-9-6. Your king kicker wins the whole pot.
That's the reason weak aces like A-4 are trouble at full-ring tables. When you make top pair, you're often outkicked by someone holding a better ace. If you want a reason to fold more hands before the flop, this is a good one.
Common mix-ups at the table
- "A flush beats a full house." No. Full house wins. On a board of K♠ Q♠ 7♠ 7♦ 2♣, a player with A♠ 3♠ has the ace-high flush, but a player with 7♥ K♣ has sevens full of kings and takes it.
- Wraparound straights. Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight. The ace plays high (A-K-Q-J-10) or low (5-4-3-2-A), never both at once.
- The wheel. 5-4-3-2-A is the lowest straight. A 6-high straight beats it.
- Six-card "flushes." Only five cards count. If you have six spades, your best five spades play.
- Folding a winner. In a live card room, the cards speak, but tabling your hand is what protects you. Turn both cards face up at showdown and let the dealer read it. Throwing a hand into the muck because you misread it is permanent.
Lock it in with reps
Knowing the list is step one. Reading the board fast, spotting the possible flush or straight, and knowing when your hand is good enough to bet comes from volume. If you want that volume without waiting on a live game, Advanced Poker Training lets you practice thousands of hands against realistic AI opponents and grades every decision. Our poker tools page has more resources for studying away from the table.
Once you can read hands, the next skill is knowing what a call is worth. Our guide on how to calculate pot odds in poker covers that. And for the day you lose with the second-best hand anyway, read up on what a cooler is.
For the folds that win you money
Most of good poker is letting second-best hands go before they get expensive. Our MUCK IT hoodie is for the player who knows that and doesn't need the table to see the cards to prove it.
Quick recap
- Best to worst: royal flush, straight flush, quads, full house, flush, straight, trips, two pair, one pair, high card.
- Rarer hands rank higher. That's why a flush beats a straight.
- Only your best five cards count, and you can use zero, one or two hole cards.
- Kickers break ties. Suits never do.
- Aces play high or low in a straight, but no wraparounds.
- At showdown, table your hand and let the dealer read it.
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