Poker Hand Rankings

In Texas Hold'em, you're always attempting to create the best 5-card hand. In games where you are working with more than five cards (7-stud, Omaha, hold'em, etc), you disregard other cards. Also note that in casino games, suits have no value in ranking hands. So, for instance, if two players have royal flushes, they split the pot. A spade royal flush does not beat a club royal flush.

The following lists the rank of hands from the highest to the lowest.

Straight Flush/Royal Flush

A straight flush contains five consecutive cards of the same suit. For example:

An ace can serve as the start or the end of a straight flush (A-2-3-4-5 or 10-J-Q-K-A). A royal flush is shorthand for a straight flush from 10-Ace and is the best possible hand in poker:

Four of a Kind

This hand contains four cards of the same rank:

Full House

This hand contains three cards of one rank and two of another. For example:

In the hand shown of above, you'd say you have "jacks full of twos." In a case where two players have full houses, the one with the higher 3 of a kind wins. So jacks full of twos beats fours full of queens.

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