Poker hand rankings
From best to worst: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. Rarer hands rank higher. In Texas Hold’em you play the best five cards out of your two and the five on the board.
Poker hands, best to worst
- Royal flushA, K, Q, J, 10, all the same suit.
- Straight flushFive cards in a row, all the same suit.
- Four of a kindFour cards of the same rank.
- Full houseThree of a kind plus a pair.
- FlushAny five cards of the same suit.
- StraightFive cards in a row, mixed suits.
- Three of a kindThree cards of the same rank.
- Two pairTwo different pairs.
- One pairTwo cards of the same rank.
- High cardNone of the above — your highest card plays.
Poker hand odds: how rare each hand is
The ranking follows the math. We counted every possible hand with the same evaluator that settles showdowns on FizzPoker: all 2,598,960 five-card hands, and all 133,784,560 seven-card Hold’em deals (two hole cards plus a full five-card board), each filed under the best five-card hand it contains.
| Hand | 5-card hands | 5-card chance | Hold’em chance | Hold’em odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 4 | 0.00015% | 0.0032% | 1 in 30,940 |
| Straight flush | 36 | 0.0014% | 0.0279% | 1 in 3,591 |
| Four of a kind | 624 | 0.0240% | 0.17% | 1 in 595 |
| Full house | 3,744 | 0.14% | 2.60% | 1 in 39 |
| Flush | 5,108 | 0.20% | 3.03% | 1 in 33 |
| Straight | 10,200 | 0.39% | 4.62% | 1 in 22 |
| Three of a kind | 54,912 | 2.11% | 4.83% | 1 in 21 |
| Two pair | 123,552 | 4.75% | 23.5% | 1 in 4.3 |
| One pair | 1,098,240 | 42.3% | 43.8% | 1 in 2.3 |
| High card | 1,302,540 | 50.1% | 17.4% | 1 in 5.7 |
5-card columns: exact counts out of 2,598,960 hands. Hold’em columns: how often seven cards (two hole cards and five on the board) contain that hand as their best, out of 133,784,560 deals.
Two things stand out. First, seven cards make every hand far more likely: a full house goes from 1 in 694 with five cards to 1 in 39 in Hold’em, and a royal flush from 1 in 649,740 to 1 in 30,940. Second, in Hold’em you finish with at least a pair 82.6% of the time, so a bare high card is less common than one pair or two pair. The official order still comes from the five-card counts, and every Hold’em game uses it.
These are odds for seeing all seven cards. For the chance of improving from the flop or turn, use outs and the rule of 2 and 4 or the full poker odds chart.
Which hand wins? Check any showdown
Pick the cards, or load an example. The tool finds each player’s best five cards, names the winner and says exactly which card decided it — the category, the kicker, or a split.
Which hand wins?
- Player 1WinsTwo Pair, Kings and Nines
- Player 2LosesTwo Pair, Kings and Nines
Player 1 wins with two pair, kings and nines
- Player 1 beats Player 2: Both have kings and nines, so the kicker decides: ace beats queen.
Highlighted cards are the player’s own hole cards used in the best five.
What beats what in poker
A higher category always wins, no matter the cards inside it: the lowest possible flush beats the highest straight. Within the same category, compare card by card. The questions players ask most:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does a flush beat a straight? | Yes. There are 5,108 five-card flushes but 10,200 straights, so the flush is rarer and ranks higher. |
| Does a full house beat a flush? | Yes. A full house ranks one place above a flush. |
| Does a straight beat three of a kind? | Yes. A straight ranks one place above three of a kind. |
| Does three of a kind beat two pair? | Yes. Three of a kind beats any two pair, even aces and kings. |
| Does four of a kind beat a full house? | Yes. Only a straight flush or royal flush beats four of a kind. |
| Does a straight flush beat four of a kind? | Yes. A straight flush beats everything except a higher straight flush. |
| Do two pair beat one pair? | Yes. Any two pair beats any single pair — even 3-3-2-2 beats a pair of aces. |
| Does an ace-high flush beat a king-high flush? | Yes. Flushes compare their highest card, then the next, down to the fifth. |
| Do aces full beat kings full? | Yes. Full houses compare the three of a kind first; the pair only matters if those match. |
| Does A-K-Q-J-10 beat 5-4-3-2-A? | Yes. The ace plays high in Broadway and low in the wheel, the lowest straight. |
Kickers, ties and split pots
When two players hold the same kind of hand, the higher one wins: a pair of kings beats a pair of queens, and a jack-high straight beats a ten-high one. When the made part is identical, the kicker — the highest card outside it — decides. Only five cards ever count, so a sixth or seventh card can’t break a tie.
On a K-9-9-4-2 board (each player’s own cards outlined), both players have two pair, kings and nines. Player 1’s ace outkicks Player 2’s queen, so Player 1 takes the whole pot. How each hand breaks ties:
- Pair, three of a kind, four of a kind: the rank of the set, then the kickers in order.
- Two pair: the top pair, then the second pair, then the kicker.
- Full house: the three of a kind first (aces full of twos beats kings full of aces), then the pair.
- Flush and high card: the highest card, then the second, and so on to the fifth.
- Straight and straight flush: the top card only.
If everything matches, the pot is split. The most common way is “the board plays”: the five community cards are the best hand for everyone still in, like a Broadway straight on the board. On FizzPoker, an odd chip left over from a split goes to the first winner to the left of the button.
Common mix-ups
- No wraparound straights. Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight; it’s ace high. The ace sits at one end or the other, never in the middle.
- The wheel is the lowest straight. A-2-3-4-5 is a five-high straight, so 2-3-4-5-6 beats it.
- Suits never rank. A spade flush doesn’t beat a heart flush; compare the cards, and if they match, split.
- Three pair isn’t a hand. With seven cards you can hold three pairs, but you play the best two plus the best remaining card as the kicker.
- You don’t have to use your hole cards. Your hand is the best five of seven — both hole cards, one, or none.
- Four to a flush is nothing yet. Four hearts and a spade is still judged as high card or whatever pair it makes.
New to the game itself? Start with how to play Texas Hold’em, keep the one-page cheat sheet next to you, and see which two-card hands are worth playing in the starting hands chart. The rankings stick fastest when you use them: play a few hands against bots and watch who wins each showdown.
Questions people ask
What is the order of poker hands from highest to lowest?
Royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. The same order applies in Texas Hold’em, Omaha and five-card draw — it follows how rare each hand is when you’re dealt five cards.
Does a flush beat a straight?
Yes. A flush beats a straight because it is rarer: of the 2,598,960 possible five-card hands, 5,108 are flushes and 10,200 are straights.
Is an ace high or low in poker?
Both, but only in straights. The ace is the highest card in A-K-Q-J-10 and the lowest in A-2-3-4-5 (the wheel, a five-high straight). It can’t be in the middle: Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight. Everywhere else, an ace is the highest card.
What happens if two players have the same hand?
Compare the five cards that make each hand, from the most important down: the pair or trips first, then the kickers. If all five cards match in rank, the pot is split evenly. Suits never break a tie, and cards beyond the best five never count.
Do suits matter in poker?
No. In Texas Hold’em, spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs are all equal. Suits only matter for making a flush; two identical hands in different suits split the pot.
What are the odds of a royal flush in Texas Hold’em?
If you see all seven cards (your two plus the five on the board), a royal flush comes 1 in 30,940 deals. Dealt exactly five cards, it is 1 in 649,740.
Where can I practice reading hands for free?
FizzPoker deals free No-Limit Texas Hold’em in your browser for 2–9 players, with no real money. At showdown the game names each player’s hand, so you see what beat what on every pot.