Poker Hands & Rankings: What Beats What

Every poker hand, ranked strongest to weakest — with clear examples, the tie-break rules that decide close pots, and the real odds of each hand.

Knowing exactly what beats what is the single most important thing in poker. Below is the complete list of poker hands, ranked from the strongest (royal flush) to the weakest (high card). These rankings are identical in Texas Hold'em, Omaha, seven-card stud and almost every other common poker variant.

Quick tipA hand is always made from your best five cards. In Texas Hold'em you choose the best five from your two hole cards plus the five community cards. You never use more than five cards, and the other cards simply don't count.

Poker hand rankings (strongest to weakest)

  1. Royal Flush

    A♠K♠Q♠J♠T♠

    The best possible hand: A-K-Q-J-10, all of the same suit. Unbeatable.

    Odds (any 5 cards): 1 in 649,740

  2. Straight Flush

    9♥8♥7♥6♥5♥

    Five cards in sequence, all the same suit (here, 9 through 5 of hearts).

    Odds (any 5 cards): 1 in 72,193

  3. Four of a Kind

    Q♠Q♥Q♦Q♣4♠

    Four cards of the same rank — also called "quads."

    Odds (any 5 cards): 1 in 4,165

  4. Full House

    K♠K♥K♦5♣5♠

    Three of a kind plus a pair. "Kings full of fives" here.

    Odds (any 5 cards): 1 in 694

  5. Flush

    A♦J♦8♦5♦2♦

    Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence. Higher top card wins.

    Odds (any 5 cards): 1 in 509

  6. Straight

    9♣8♦7♥6♠5♣

    Five cards in sequence of mixed suits. Ace can be high (A-K-Q-J-10) or low (5-4-3-2-A).

    Odds (any 5 cards): 1 in 255

  7. Three of a Kind

    8♠8♥8♦K♣4♠

    Three cards of the same rank — "trips" or a "set."

    Odds (any 5 cards): 1 in 47

  8. Two Pair

    A♠A♥8♦8♣K♠

    Two different pairs. "Aces and eights" here.

    Odds (any 5 cards): 1 in 21

  9. One Pair

    J♠J♥A♦9♣5♠

    Two cards of the same rank. The most common made hand.

    Odds (any 5 cards): 1 in 2.4

  10. High Card

    A♦J♣8♥5♠2♦

    No pair, no straight, no flush — the highest card plays. "Ace high" here.

    Odds (any 5 cards): 1 in 1 (≈50%)

Hand-ranking rules everyone should know

  • Suits have no value. A flush in spades does not beat a flush in hearts — only the card ranks matter.
  • Higher cards break ties within a category. Two flushes? The one with the highest top card wins; if tied, compare the next card, and so on.
  • Kickers decide many pots. If two players both have a pair of kings, the highest side card ("kicker") wins. This is why A-K is so much stronger than K-2.
  • The wheel. A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight (the "wheel"); the ace plays low. A-K-Q-J-10 is the highest ("Broadway").
  • Aces are both high and low for straights only — but A-2-3-4-5 ranks below 2-3-4-5-6.

How often do these hands actually happen?

Premium hands are rare — that's exactly why they're worth so much. On any random five cards you'll make a pair almost half the time, but a flush only about once in 500 hands and a straight flush roughly once in 72,000. Understanding these frequencies stops you from over-valuing big hands that simply don't come along very often.

Free cheat sheetWant a printable version to keep next to you while you play? Grab our free poker hand rankings cheat sheet.

Putting it to work

Once the rankings are second nature, the real skill begins: figuring out how likely your hand is to be best by the river. That's where odds come in — start with our poker odds calculator to see how any two hands stack up, then learn to count pot odds so you know when a call is actually profitable.