Poker hand rankings
3 min read · Updated 2026-09-26
Every poker game in this guide uses the same ten hands. A hand is always exactly five cards — in Hold'em you pick the best five from your two cards plus the five on the board. The rarer a hand is, the higher it ranks.
Best to worst
1. Royal flush:
A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠A-K-Q-J-10, all one suit.
2. Straight flush:
9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥Five in a row, all one suit.
3. Four of a kind:
Q♣ Q♦ Q♥ Q♠ 7♦Four cards of one rank.
4. Full house:
K♥ K♦ K♠ 4♣ 4♥Three of a kind plus a pair. Say it “kings full of fours”.
5. Flush:
A♦ J♦ 8♦ 6♦ 2♦Any five of one suit.
6. Straight:
10♣ 9♦ 8♠ 7♥ 6♣Five in a row, mixed suits.
7. Three of a kind:
7♣ 7♦ 7♠ K♥ 2♣Three cards of one rank.
8. Two pair:
J♥ J♣ 5♦ 5♠ A♥Two different pairs.
9. One pair:
10♠ 10♣ A♥ 8♦ 4♠Two cards of one rank.
10. High card:
A♣ Q♦ 9♥ 6♠ 3♣Nothing else — “ace high”.
How often you get each hand
The first column is the chance of being dealt the hand in five cards — the numbers the ranking is built on. The second is the chance a Hold'em player’s best five out of seven cards (two hole cards plus a full board) is that hand.
Straight flush excludes royal flushes; flush and straight exclude straight flushes.
| Hand | Dealt 5 cards | Best of 7 cards |
|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 1 in 649,740 | 1 in 30,940 (0.003%) |
| Straight flush | 1 in 72,193 | 1 in 3,591 (0.03%) |
| Four of a kind | 1 in 4,165 | 1 in 595 (0.17%) |
| Full house | 1 in 694 | 2.6% |
| Flush | 1 in 509 | 3.0% |
| Straight | 1 in 255 | 4.6% |
| Three of a kind | 1 in 47 | 4.8% |
| Two pair | 1 in 21 | 23.5% |
| One pair | 42.3% | 43.8% |
| High card | 50.1% | 17.4% |
Note — Why doesn’t the order change in Hold'em?: With seven cards, three of a kind is only a little more common than a straight, and high card is rarer than one pair. The ranking still follows the five-card odds — that’s the rule everywhere, so don’t let anyone argue otherwise.
Breaking ties
- Suits never count. Two flushes of the same ranks split the pot.
- Compare the part that makes the hand first, then the leftover cards (the kickers) from highest to lowest.
- Two pair: higher pair first, then the lower pair, then the kicker.
- Full house: the three of a kind decides first. Kings full of twos beats queens full of aces.
- Flush and high card: compare the highest card, then the next, down to the fifth.
- Straights: the top card decides. The ace can be low in A-2-3-4-5 (the lowest straight), but a straight can’t wrap around: Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.
You:
K♠ Q♣· Board:K♦ 9♣ 7♠ 4♥ 2♦Pair of kings with a queen kicker.
Opponent:
K♥ J♦· Board:K♦ 9♣ 7♠ 4♥ 2♦Also a pair of kings, but the jack kicker loses to your queen.
The board plays:
8♣ 8♦· Board:A♠ K♠ Q♦ J♣ 10♥The board is already a straight to the ace that nobody can beat. Everyone still in the hand splits the pot — even with a pair of eights.
Quick memory trick
Flush beats straight, full house beats flush. If you forget, remember that it’s easier to collect five cards in a row than five of one suit — and easier still to get three of a kind.