Poker Hand Rankings
Every poker hand ranked from strongest to weakest, with examples and odds. A quick reference for hosts and players alike.
Quick answer: from strongest to weakest, poker hands rank Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, and High Card. This ranking applies to Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Seven Card Stud, and Five Card Draw - games with different rules, like Short Deck, Razz, or Omaha Hi-Lo, can rank hands differently.
Royal Flush
0.000154% · 1 in 649,740
Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10, all of the same suit. The best possible hand in standard poker - there's no way to beat it, only tie it with another royal flush of a different suit (which splits the pot).
Straight Flush
0.00139% · 1 in 72,193
Five cards in sequence, all of the same suit - any run except the Ace-high one, which counts as a royal flush instead.
Four of a Kind
0.024% · 1 in 4,165
Four cards of the same rank, plus any unrelated fifth card. Also called quads.
Full House
0.1441% · 1 in 694
Three cards of one rank plus two cards of another rank - a three-of-a-kind and a pair combined. Also called a boat.
Flush
0.1965% · 1 in 509
Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence. Ranked by the highest card if two players both hold a flush.
Straight
0.3925% · 1 in 255
Five cards in sequence, not all the same suit. The Ace can play high (10-J-Q-K-A) or low (A-2-3-4-5, sometimes called the wheel), but a straight can't wrap around the Ace - a hand like Q-K-A-2-3 doesn't count.
Three of a Kind
2.1128% · 1 in 47
Three cards of the same rank, plus two unrelated cards. Also called a set or trips depending on how the cards were formed.
Two Pair
4.7539% · 1 in 21
Two cards of one rank, two cards of another rank, plus one unrelated card.
One Pair
42.2569% · 1 in 2.4
Two cards of the same rank, plus three unrelated cards.
High Card
50.1177% · 1 in 2
No pair, no straight, no flush - just the highest single card, used to break ties when nobody has made anything else.
Odds shown are for a 5-card poker hand dealt from a standard 52-card deck (Stud/Draw-style odds). In community-card games like Texas Hold'em and Omaha, players make the best 5-card hand from more cards in total, which shifts the real per-hand odds somewhat higher than the figures above.
Which Games Use This Ranking
The ranking above is the standard one, and it's shared by more games than people usually realize:
- Texas Hold'em - best 5-card hand from 2 hole cards and 5 community cards.
- Omaha - best 5-card hand from exactly 2 of 4 hole cards and 3 of 5 community cards.
- Seven Card Stud - best 5-card hand from 7 dealt cards, no community cards.
- Five Card Draw - best 5-card hand from your dealt hand, after one or more draws.
A handful of other variants use a genuinely different ranking system rather than just a different way of dealing, worth knowing about even though they're outside the scope of this page:
- Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) - played with a 36-card deck; a flush beats a full house since flushes become rarer with the smaller deck.
- Razz and 2-7 Triple Draw - lowball variants where the lowest hand wins, and the two differ from each other in how straights, flushes, and Aces are treated.
- Omaha Hi-Lo - uses the standard high ranking above, but splits the pot with a qualifying low hand.
- Badugi - a 4-card, low-hand game with its own ranking system unrelated to the one on this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a flush beat a straight in poker?
Yes. A flush (five cards of the same suit) ranks higher than a straight (five sequential cards of mixed suits) in every standard poker variant, since flushes are statistically rarer than straights.
Is an Ace high or low in poker?
An Ace is usually high, ranking above a King, but it can also count as low in the straight A-2-3-4-5 (often called the wheel). It can't be used to wrap around, though - a hand like Q-K-A-2-3 is not a valid straight.
What happens when two players have the same hand, like two pair vs two pair?
Ties are broken by the rank of the cards involved, then by kickers (the highest unmatched cards) if the made hands are identical - for example, between two players who both have two pair, the higher pair wins first, then the second pair, then the kicker. If every card matches in rank, the pot is split.
What is a kicker in poker?
A kicker is an unmatched card that doesn't contribute to a hand's ranking category but is used to break ties between otherwise-identical hands - for example, two players who both have a pair of Kings would compare their next-highest card to decide the winner.
What are the odds of getting a royal flush?
In a standard 5-card poker hand, the odds of a royal flush are about 1 in 649,740 - by far the rarest possible hand. Those odds shift in games like Texas Hold'em and Omaha, where more cards are available to make the best possible 5-card hand, so the real per-hand odds in those games are somewhat higher.
Are hand rankings the same in Texas Hold'em and Omaha?
Yes - both games use the identical ranking order from Royal Flush down to High Card. What differs is how hands are built: Hold'em lets you use any combination of your two hole cards and the five community cards, while Omaha requires using exactly two hole cards and three community cards.
Do suits matter when hands are tied?
No - in standard poker, no suit outranks another. If two players have hands of identical rank down to every kicker, the pot is split evenly, regardless of suit.
Know the hands. Now run the game.
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