Poker hand rankings

For those new to poker, having a thorough understanding of the poker hand rankings is important. The ability to identify a poker hand and any potential draws quickly, gives you time to plan your strategy for gaining chips or to recognize that you may be behind and fold without extra cost to your bankroll or chip stack. If you don't learn the poker hand ranking first, you will find the pace of internet poker play overtakes your skill and bankroll, as you play hands that should be folded and vice versa.

It also helps to keep the game flowing if time is not spent staring at your pocket and the community cards, while you try to see if you have anything worth betting.


The hand rankings from the weakest to strongest, with the odds of them being dealt in the first five cards

High Card; ranks as the lowest of the winning poker hands. A single card of the highest value (with the ace counting high) is dealt 1 in every 2 hands.

One Pair; any two cards of the same rank, along with three other cards that do not combine with the rest, is commonly seen 1 in every 2.5 hands.

Two Pairs; the hand is two cards of one rank and two cards of another rank, with a fifth card of a different rank. These are dealt 1 in every 21 hands.

Three-of-a-Kind; three cards of the same rank, with two other cards that do not make a pair. You will see these nearly 1 in every 50 hands.

A Straight; is five cards not all the same suit, but in a numerical sequence and occurs 1 in every 250 hands.

An ace can be played at the top or bottom end of the straight, but not in the middle. So, Q-K-A-2-3, is not a straight, if you try to play it you may only be playing ace high.

A Flush; is five cards of the same suit, but not in sequence and is dealt 1 in every 500 hands.

A Full House;(Boat) made of any three-of-a-kind plus any pair is the next highest rank, and occurs 1 in every 694 hands.

Four-of-a-kind; (Quads) is the next highest ranking hand and will come out 1 in every 4,200 hands.

Straight Flush; is the highest of all hand rankings. It is made up of five cards of the same suit in numerical sequence. Any suited sequence is known as a straight flush, and will be dealt 1 in every 72,000 hands.

The highest straight flush in poker is known as a 'Royal' and occurs approximately 1 in 650,000 hands.

Note; the odds quoted commonly are for five cards being dealt without a draw.

Most poker hands are won and lost at the level of one pair, two pairs and three-of-a-kind in the Texas hold’em and five card stud variety of the game.

Seven cards in the bigger stud game and the nine cards available in ‘Omaha’ make for more high-level winning hands. Additionally games like 5 card draw will also frequently see bigger hands.

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