Poker articles

Poker Hand Ranking

The poker deck consists of 52 cards that are ordered by poker card rank in the following order: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The same cards of different suits have the same poker card rank.

For example - the king of spades and the king of hearts both have the same value.

A poker hand consists of five cards. Any poker hand ranking in a higher category beats any hand in a lower hand ranking category. For example, any flush wins any two pairs. Between hands in the same poker hand ranking the rank of the individual cards decides which is better. For example, if both players have three of a kind, one of them Q's and the other J's, the Q's three of a kind would win.

Following is the ranking of poker hands ordered from highest(best) hand to lowest(worst) hand. Other instructions on online poker is available at poker4real.com

  • Straight Flush - 5 cards of the same suit in sequence
  • Example: A,K,Q,J,10 All spades
  • Probability: 1 in 65,000
  • Four of a kind - 4 cards of the same Rank
  • Example: Q,Q,Q,Q,4 Different kinds
  • Probability: 1 in 4,000
  • Full house - 3 cards of the same rank and 2 different cards of same rank
  • Example: J,J,J Of Different ranks K,K of different ranks
  • Probability: 1 in 700
  • Flush - 5 cards of the Same suit
  • Example: 5,7,Q,J,A All spades
  • Probability: 1 in 500
  • Straight - 5 cards in sequence, but not of the same suit
  • Example: 10,9,8,7,6 Not the same suit
  • Probability: 1 in 250
  • Three of a Kind - 3 cards with the same rank
  • Example: 10,10,10,7,5 Different suits
  • Probability: 1 in 50
  • Two Pairs - 2 cards with the same rank, and 2 different cards with same rank
  • Example: K,K,5,5,Q Different suits
  • Probability: 1 in 20
  • One Pair - 2 cards of same rank
  • Example: 4,4,7,J,Q Different suits
  • Probability: 1 in 2.3
  • Nothing - Different Cards of Different Suits
  • Example: 9,4,7,J,Q Different suits
  • Probability: 1 in 2

When you get a hand of poker, first consider what is the probability that someone else has a better hand than yours and also think about how highly ranked your hand is. If you want to learn the origin of poker ranking hands visit our page


Jason Steyer - Gambling Columnist