Poker Hand Rankings: What Beats What

Every form of poker you are likely to play at home uses the same ladder of five-card hands. Learn it once and you can sit down at a Texas Hold'em game, a round of Five Card Draw or a Seven Card Stud night with confidence.

This guide lists every hand from strongest to weakest, explains how ties are broken, and shows how rare each hand really is. There is a printable chart at the end to keep on the table.

The ten poker hands, from best to worst

A poker hand is always the best five cards a player can make. Suits are all equal: a flush in spades is no better than a flush in hearts.

Rank	Hand	What it is	Example
1	Royal flush	A, K, Q, J and 10, all of the same suit. The best possible hand.	A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠
2	Straight flush	Five cards in sequence, all of the same suit.	9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥
3	Four of a kind	Four cards of the same rank, plus one other card.	Q♣ Q♦ Q♥ Q♠ 4♦
4	Full house	Three cards of one rank and a pair of another.	8♠ 8♦ 8♥ 3♣ 3♠
5	Flush	Any five cards of the same suit, not in sequence.	K♦ J♦ 9♦ 6♦ 2♦
6	Straight	Five cards in sequence, in more than one suit.	10♣ 9♦ 8♠ 7♥ 6♣
7	Three of a kind	Three cards of the same rank and two unrelated cards.	7♠ 7♥ 7♦ K♣ 2♠
8	Two pair	Two different pairs and one other card.	J♥ J♣ 5♠ 5♦ A♣
9	One pair	Two cards of the same rank and three unrelated cards.	10♠ 10♥ K♦ 6♣ 3♥
10	High card	None of the above. The highest card plays.	A♦ Q♠ 9♣ 6♥ 3♦

Squirrel tip: Quick memory aid: a flush beats a straight, and a full house beats a flush. These are the two orderings new players most often get wrong.

The ace: high or low

The ace is normally the highest card. It can also count low, but only in the five-high straight A-2-3-4-5, known as the wheel. A straight cannot "wrap around the corner", so Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.

How ties are broken

When two players hold the same type of hand, compare the cards in this order:

Straight and straight flush: the hand with the highest top card wins. 6-5-4-3-2 beats the wheel (5-4-3-2-A).
Four of a kind: the higher four wins. If the four are shared (for example on the board in Hold'em), the fifth card, the kicker, decides.
Full house: the higher three of a kind wins; if those match, the higher pair wins.
Flush and high card: compare the highest cards; if they match, the next highest, and so on down all five. A-K-4-3-2 beats A-Q-J-10-8.
Three of a kind: the higher three wins, then the kickers.
Two pair: the higher top pair wins, then the second pair, then the kicker. Q-Q-6-6-J beats Q-Q-6-6-10.
One pair: the higher pair wins, then each kicker in turn. 8-8-9-5-3 beats 8-8-9-5-2.

If two hands are identical card for card, it is a tie and the pot is split equally. Suits are never used to break a tie.

Common mix-ups

"Trips" and a "set" are both three of a kind. In Texas Hold'em, a set means a pocket pair matched by one card on the board; trips means one card in your hand matched by a pair on the board. They rank exactly the same.
Only five cards count. In Hold'em you choose the best five of seven. A sixth or seventh card never adds to your hand.
The board can play. If the five community cards are your best hand, you share the pot with anyone else who cannot beat them.
Wild cards change the top of the ladder. If jokers or deuces are wild, five of a kind becomes possible and beats a royal flush. Agree this before the first deal.

How rare is each hand?

Hands rank in order of how difficult they are to make. These are the exact chances of being dealt each hand in your first five cards from a full 52-card deck.

Hand	Ways to make it	Chance	Odds against
Royal flush	4	0.00015%	649,739 to 1
Straight flush	36	0.0014%	72,192 to 1
Four of a kind	624	0.024%	4,164 to 1
Full house	3,744	0.14%	693 to 1
Flush	5,108	0.20%	508 to 1
Straight	10,200	0.39%	254 to 1
Three of a kind	54,912	2.11%	46.3 to 1
Two pair	123,552	4.75%	20.0 to 1
One pair	1,098,240	42.26%	1.37 to 1
High card	1,302,540	50.12%	1.00 to 1
Total	2,598,960	100%

In Texas Hold'em you see seven cards, so strong hands appear far more often. Our guide to poker odds and probabilities has the Hold'em figures and the starting-hand chances.

Free printable hand rankings chart

Download our one-page poker hand rankings chart (PDF), print it and leave it on the table for new players. It saves a lot of "does a flush beat a straight?" on the night.

Ready to play? Our guide on how to play Texas Hold'em takes you through a hand from the deal to the showdown.

Next step: Knowing what beats what is step one. Knowing which starting hands are worth playing is step two: the Poker Whizz Wheel rates all 169 Texas Hold'em starting hands and shows when to play them from early, middle or late position.