Hand Rankings
Poker is played with a standard 52 card deck composed of four suits: spades, diamonds, hearts and clubs.
The ace is the highest ranking card, followed by the king, queen, jack, and then ten through deuce. In split-pot games, an ace is also used as the lowest ranking card for forming a low straight or a low hand. In such "split" games, aces are like two cards in one, simultaneously the highest and lowest ranking card in the deck. Because of this , an ace in your Omaha/8 or seven-stud hand is a decided advantage.
In draw poker and lowball, a joker (or bug ) is usually added to the deck. This is not really a wild card, but one that serves as an extra ace in draw poker., as well as a card that can be used to complete straights and flushes. In lowball, it is the lowest ranked card not in your hand, so if you held 8-5-3-A-Joker, the bug would be used as a deuce to make the low hand 8-5-3-2-A.
Hand rankings are arranged in order of probability. The rarer the hand, the more valuable it is, so the higher it is ranked. Here ae the rankings shown in decending order from highest to lowest:
Hand Rankings for Five Card Poker Hand Values for High |
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Royal Flush |
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| A royal flush is an ace high straight flush. I'ts the best possible hand in poker, and there are only four of them. You could possible go a lifetime and never get a royal flush. |
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Straight Flush |
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| This straight flush is made up of five sequenced cards, all of the same suit. In the unlikely event that two people have a straight flushm then the rank of the highest card decides the winner. |
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Four Of A Kind |
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| Four of a kind is a five card hand containing four cards of the same rank and a unrelated card. The higher the rank, the better the hand. |
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Full House |
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| A full house consists of three cards of any given rank with a pair of another rank is a full house. The rank of a full house is determined by the three cards, not the pair. |
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Flush |
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| Any five cards of the same suit make a flush. The cards do not have to be sequenced, if they were, you would have a straight flush. If there are two or more flushes at showdown, the winning hand is decided br rank order. |
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Straight |
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| Five swquenced cards, not on the same suit make a straight. If there's more than one straight, the high cards in each sequence determines the winning hand. A five high straight is also known as a "wheel" or "bicycle". |
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Three Of A Kind |
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| Three cards of the same rank plus two unrelated cards is called three of a kind. Sometimes you will hear players refer to them as "trips" or a "set". |
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Two Pair |
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Two cars of one rank, two cards of another rank and one unrelated card make two pair. If two players each have two pair, the player of the highest ranking pair is the winner. If each player has the same high pair, the rank of the second pair decides the winner. If both hold the same two pair, the rank of the side card determines the winner. |
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One Pair |
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| One pair is composed of two cards of the same rank plus three unrelated cards. If two players hold the same pair, the highest side card "kicker" determines the winner. |
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High Card |
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| High Card is a hand of five unrelated cards, with the rank order determining the winner. |
Five Card Poker Values for Low
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Note that suits and sequences are irrelevant for low. A flush or straight does not "break" a low poker hand. Aces are the lowest card when considering a low.
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Five High,
or
Wheel |
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Five High, or Wheel: The Five, Four, Three, Deuce and Ace. In the event of a tie: All Five-high hands split the pot |
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Six High |
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Six High: Any five unpaired cards with the highest card being a Six.In the event of a tie: The lower second-highest ranking card wins the pot. Thus 6, 4, 3, 2, A defeats 6, 5, 4, 2, A. If necessary, the third-highest, fourth-highest and fifth-highest cards in the hand can be used to break the tie. |
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Seven High |
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Seven High: Any five unpaired cards with the highest card being a Seven. In the event of a tie: The lower second-highest ranking card wins the pot. If necessary, the third-highest, fourth-highest and fifth-highest cards in the hand can be used to break the tie. |
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Eight High |
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Eight High: Any five unpaired cards with the highest card being an Eight. In the event of a tie: The lower second-highest ranking card wins the pot. If necessary, the third-highest, fourth-highest and fifth-highest cards in the hand can be used to break the tie.
An Eight High is the weakest hand that qualifies for low in games where the pot is split between the best high and low hands. |
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