List Poker Hands Order Best

Print out this free poker hand rankings chart – and always know the best winning poker hands. Poker hands are ranked in order from best to worst. Royal Flush An ace high straight flush. Straight Flush Five consecutive cards in the same suit. Four of a Kind Four cards of the same rank. Aug 13, 2019  Poker's best hand is a royal flush, which consists of an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten of the same suit. Royal flushes are unbeatable and extremely rare. One pair beats no.

Table Of Contents

Do you want to know what beats what in poker? Use the official poker hands rankings chart and seem them from best to worst!

Whether you play live at your local casino or card room, you have your home game going, or you prefer the online action at websites like PokerStars, 888Poker, or partypoker, you need to learn the order of poker hands from best to worse.

Use the list of poker hands below to know beats what in poker.

Commit this poker hands ranking list to memory today and print it if you need it (there's a button for it at the bottom). Knowing the correct poker hands rank is key to start making winning poker hands.

Poker Hands From Best To Worst

Poker Hands From Best To Worst

1. Royal Flush10JQKAThe best possible hand in Texas hold'em is the combination of ten, jack, queen, king, ace, all of the same suit
2. Straight Flush56789Five cards of the same suit in sequential order
3. Four-Of-A-Kind3333KAny four numerically matching cards
4. Full HouseJJJKKCombination of three of a kind and a pair in the same hand
5. Flush2459KFive cards of the same suit, in any order
6. StraightA2345Five cards of any suit, in sequential order
7. Three-Of-A-Kind77745Any three numerically matching cards
8. Two Pair99KK4Two different pairs in the same hand
9. One Pair10103QKAny two numerically matching cards
10. High CardK248QThe highest ranked card in your hand with an ace being the highest and two being the lowest
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Not Sure What Beats What in Poker?

Many consider poker less of a gambling game than other casino games. For that to be true, players need to improve their understanding of game play and the strategy required to be a winning player.

The first step toward learning how to play poker is to learn the poker hand rankings.

Most poker players have these rankings memorized, which allows them to think about other things at the table when deciding the best way to play their hands.

The good news is these hand rankings tend to be the same among a wide variety of poker variants, whether it is Texas Hold'em, Omaha, seven-card stud, or other games.

All of those games use the same traditional poker hand rankings that were first developed way back in the 19th century when five-card draw first started to be played.

On this page, you find a complete list of poker hand rankings going from the highest possible hand (the Royal Flush), down to the lowest hand in which there is no pair among the five cards.

Hand rankings in poker correspond to the likelihood of making such hands.

A royal flush, consisting of the cards ranked ace through ten all being the same suit, is extremely rare — in fact, some players go their entire lives without making a royal flush.

A regular straight flush with any five consecutive cards of the same suit is a little less rare, four of a kind occurs slightly more frequently, and so on.

Notice that a full house is ranked higher than a flush.

That's because a full house comes just a little less frequently than a flush, thereby making it the higher-ranked hand of the two.

Additional readings for beginners:

  • Poker Tips: A collection of tips 'to bring your game from 'meh' to amazing' created to help beginners become better players.
  • Texas Hold'em Strategy: a complete manual to read as soon as you start to remember what beats what in poker.
  • Poker starting hands chart: the only article you need to read to learn how to use your cards to the fullest.

Understanding Winning Poker Hands

Players new to the game of Texas hold'em often struggle, at least at first, with what the best poker hands are.

Once they have read this easy-to-digest guide that will no longer be the case.

The aim of Texas hold'em is to make the best five-card poker hand at showdown.

You can win without having to show your cards if you force someone to fold before the river. Nonetheless, for the purpose of this article, we'll pretend that we've gone to showdown and need to know what beats what in poker.

Winning Poker Hands: What Are The Best Hands In Poker?

First up is the weakest possible holding you can make in poker, a hand that can still win you the pot, although the likelihood of that happening decreases in a pot involving multiple players.

We are of course talking about high card.

As the name suggests, you don't even hold a pair here and instead are using the highest card among the five you are playing.

Example:

You have and the board has come .

Your best five-card hand would be where you would hold queen-high.

Next up is one pair, one of the more common Texas hold'em hands and one that will win you plenty of pots.

Example:

You have and the board comes .

Your five-card hand is — you have a pair of aces. Nice poker hand!

One place higher up on the poker hands chart is two pair.

Example:

You have and the five community cards are .

Your best five-card hand at showdown is or two pair, tens and nines.

One note of warning on this specific poker hand: if you are verbally declaring your hand, try to announce the higher pair first as to help avoid confusion.

Good Poker Hands

Now we're getting into the realm of the best poker hands because once you make three-of-a-kind (sometimes called a set or trips), you are much more likely to win the pot than with any of the previously mentioned hands.

Example:

Your five-card poker hand is — you have three-of-a-kind kings, often a very powerful hand in hold'em.

To beat three-of-a-kind you're going to need at least a straight.

A straight is five consecutive cards where at least one of them is a different suit from the others.

Example:
Should your hand read you would hold a six-high straight.

If someone held a seven-high straight, then that player would win the hand.

There are two straights that have nicknames that are worth remembering.

A wheel is a straight that runs from ace-to-five, and a Broadway straight — the strongest straight — runs from ten-to-ace.

A flush is one of the most powerful Texas hold'em hands because it is only beaten by a handful of others.

Any hand that that has five cards of the same suit is a flush.

Aces are always high when it comes to flushes, which means a hand such as beats .

There are few hands that can beat a flush — one that does is a full house. Also called a 'boat,' a full house is when your five-card hand is made up of three of a kind plus a pair.

Example:

With you have kings full of deuces, while is fives full of queens.

When it comes to full houses, the higher three of a kind determines which hand wins, so in this case 'kings full' would beat 'fives full.'

The Stronger Hands in Poker

The next three holdings are so rare that if you hold them, you can almost guarantee that they are winning poker hands.

Four of a kind is the minimum holding you'll need to beat someone with a full house.

Again, as the name suggests, four of a kind means having four cards of the same rank.

Example:

is four-of-a-kind tens and an extremely powerful holding.

Your only way to beat four of a kind, or 'quads' as they are often called, is to hold either a straight flush or a Royal Flush.

The former is five consecutive cards all of the same suit, so would be an eight-high straight flush and practically unbeatable.

All Poker Hands In Order

If you manage to make (or the same holding in any of the other three suits), you have a Royal Flush and the only way to lose the hand would be to fold by accident!

Poker Hands Probability

If you are into numbers (most poker players are), you might be wondering about the probability of poker hands.

We said that she platers might go entire lives without ever getting the highest hand in poker but, looking at the numbers, what are the odds of a Royal Flush?

In this section of our complete analysis of the poker hand ranking and what beats what in poker, you get a clear overview of the probability of poker hands.

How to calculate the probability of poker hands?

When you know that there are 52 cards in play and 2,598,960 possible combinations, the calculation is easy.

You just need to divide the number of possibilities to build a specific poker hand by the number of total poker hands.

Hands

Let's run a few examples:

What are the odds of a Royal Flush? 0.000,001,539
(4/2,598,960)

What are the odds of a Straight Flush? 0.000,015,39
(40/2,598,960)

Use the table below to calculate the probabilities of all poker hands.

Poker HandNo. WaysProbability
Royal Flush40.000,001,539
Straight Flush400.000,015,39
Four-of-a-Kind6240.000,240,1
Full House3,7440.001,440,58
Flush5,1080.001,965,4
Straight10,2000.003,924,65
Three-of-a-Kind54,9120.021,128,45
Two Pairs123,5520,047,539,02
One Pair1,098,2400,422.569.03

Absolute Value vs. Relative Value of Poker Hands

It should be noted also that while poker hand rankings never change, sometimes circumstances can make a good hand less valuable and a poor hand more valuable.

In other words, when it comes to poker hands there's a difference between absolute value (reflected in the list of poker hands above) and relative value.

For instance, in a game of Texas hold'em, if you have two pair that might seem like a good hand.

But if your opponent keeps betting into you and it's possible he could have a straight or flush, your two pair is no longer looking so good.

Meanwhile, if you have just one pair but your opponent keeps checking to give you a free play at the pot, you might well have the strongest hand and should bet your hand.

The 'absolute' value of your hand may not be great, but in that case the 'relative' value very well could be.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that in some games like razz, deuce-to-seven triple draw, Badugi, and others you might encounter when playing online poker, the hand rankings listed below do not apply.

These hand rankings are for regular or 'high-card' games, not 'lowball' games with alternate hand rankings.

Poker Hand Rankings F.A.Q.

What is the order of poker hands?

As shown in the poker hand rankings chart, the order of poker rankings (from the highest to the lowest) is: Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three-of-a-Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, High Card.

What is the best hand in poker?

The Royal Flush is the best hand in poker. To have a Royal Flush, you need an Ace, a King, a Queen, a Jack, and a 10. All the cards that compose the hand need to be of the same suit.

What beats what in poker?

As you can see in our poker hand rankings chart, the hands in poker follow a clear hierarchy.

In a game of poker, the hand rankings work as follows:

  • a pair beats a high card;
  • a two pair beats a one pair;
  • a three-of-a-kind beats a two pair;
  • a straight beats a three-of-a-kind;
  • a flush beats a straight;
  • a full house beats a flush;
  • a four-of-a-kind beats a full house;
  • a straight flush beats a four-of-a-kind;
  • a Royal Flush beats a straight flush.

The Royal Flush is the best hand in poker, so no one other hands beat this one.

What is a straight in poker?

You have a straight when all the five cards that compose your poker hand are consecutive ones. E.g. 5-6-7-8-9.

If the cards are of the same suit, you have a straight flush, which is a considerably stronger hand compare d to the simple straight.

What beats a straight in poker?

Although many see the straight as a stronger hand, there are many other poker hands that beat it.

The list of hands that beat a straight includes:

  • a flush;
  • a full house;
  • a four-of-a-kind;
  • a straight flush;
  • a Royal Flush.

What beats a flush in poker?

The list of hands that beat a flush includes:

  • a full house;
  • a four-of-a-kind;
  • a straight flush;
  • a Royal Flush.

What beats a full house in poker?

The list of hands that beat a full house includes:

  • a four-of-a-kind;
  • a straight flush;
  • a Royal Flush.

What is the highest suit in poker?

All the suits in poker have the same value. In some games, different suits can be assigned different values.

When that happens, the value is as follow (from the lowest to the highest): clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. In that case, spades is the highest suit.

How many poker hands are there?

The total number of poker hands in a game of poker is 2,598,960. Since a game of poker uses a 52-card deck of French cards, there are 2,598,960 different possible combinations (aka. poker hands).

What hands to play in poker?

The type of hands to play in a poker game depends on the game you play and other factors like your position in the hand, your stack, and the action at the table.

In a famous poker strategy article, professional player Jonathan Little shared which hands to play in poker and how to play marginal hands.

Can you make three pairs?

Although it is possible to hold a pair in your hand and then have another two pair appear among the five community cards, you can only use a total of five cards to make your poker hand, so you don't win anything for three pairs.

Which is better, a set or trips?

They are both essentially the same hand because they are both three of a kind.

The terminology 'set' is used when you have a pair as your hole cards and then catch another one of those cards on the board.

'Trips' is when there is a pair on the board and you have another of those cards as one of your hole cards.

Sets are easier to disguise than trips so many consider them to be a better hand, although they both rank the same.

What is a chopped or split pot?

If you and an opponent have the same five-card poker hand, then the pot is divided equally between you.

Poker

Say you have and your opponent has , and the board comes .

You both would be playing the same five-card hands in terms of their value (A-J-T-8-3), and so would split the pot.

If there is four of a kind on the board, who wins?

Because the aim is to make a five-card poker hand, whoever has the highest fifth card in this case wins.

If the board reads and you have in your hand and your opponent has , then you win because you hand is 7-7-7-7-A and your opponent's is 7-7-7-7-K.

You would also win even if your opponent holding was in this example.

List Of Best Poker Hands In Order

Are the suits ranked in Texas hold'em?

Hands Of Poker In Order

No, they are not. Some poker variants have different ranks for suits, but hold'em is not one of them.

Why did my 4-4-4-T-T lose to my opponent's 7-7-7-8-8?

List Best Poker Hands In Order

As mentioned earlier, it is the three-of-a-kind element of a full house that dictates the winner.

If you're new to the game and want a reference of all of Texas hold'em hands, you can keep this page open or you could always download and print our poker hands ranking chart and keep it next to you while you're playing poker.

Rank Order Of Poker Hands

Useful Poker Tools

List Poker Hands Order Best
  • Poker Odds Calculator: Add your cards to the calculator to discover your chances to win the hand.
  • How to use PokerStars Tools to Your Advantage: As a beginner, this article can save your life! Let us show you how you can use all the tools available on the PokerStars client to become an outstanding poker player!
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On this site you can find all possible combinations of preflop hands that can occur in Texas Hold'em Poker. As a bonus you will also learn the nicknames of the different hands.

The hands are ranked from #1 to #169, where #1 is the best. This ranking is applicable when the poker table is full ring (9-10 people). The ranking is based on computer calculation results with all the players staying to the river card. It is not applicable to any real play.
If the hand is named XXs then it means the hand is suited, if XXo then the hand is off suit.


#1
AA


Pocket Rockets
American Airlines
The Hand
Bullets
Rocky Mountains

#2
KK


Cowboys
Kamikaze
King Kong
Cold Turkey
Kangaroos

#3
QQ

Hilton Sisters
Ladies
West Hollywood
The Bitches
The Witches
Double Date
4 Tits
Flower Girls

#4
AKs


Big Slick in a suit
Anna Kournikova
Santa Barbara
Mike Haven

#5
JJ


Jokers
Brothers
Hooks
Jackson Hole
SHIP
Gays Online

News »

January 10, 2007
A lot more nicknames added
November 29

More nicknames added

November 25
More nicknames added

November 11, 2006
Site complete with all possible hands.

November 7, 2006
Site was online for the first time.

#6
AQs


Big Chick
Little Slick
Anthony & Cleopatra

#7
KQs


Mamas and Papas
Newlyweds
Marriage
Royal Couple
Parents

#8
AJs


Ajax
Black Jack
Jack Ass
J-birds

#9
KJs


Kojak
King John
Hary Potter
Bachelor's Hand
Tucson Monster

#10
TT


TinTin
Tension
Twenty Miles

#11
AKo


Big Slick
Anna Kournikova

#12
ATs


Johnny Moss
Bookends

#13
QJs


Oedipus
Maverick

#14
KTs


Katie
Big Al

#15
QTs


Quint
Varkony
Gratitude
Greyhound

#16
JTs


Morgan

#17
99


Wayne Gretzky
German Virgin
Popeye's
Phil Hellmuth

#18
AQo


Big Chick
Little slick

#19
A9s


Rounders Hand
Driving the Truck

#20
KQo


Mixed Marriage
Othello

#21
88


Snowmen
Little Oldsmobile
Two Fat Ladies
Catnuts

#22
K9s


Canine
Pair of Dogs
Turner & Hooch
Pedigree
Fido
Sawmill

#23
T9s


Count Down

#24
A8s


Dead Mans Hand

#25
Q9s


Quinine

#26
J9s


Jeanine

#27
AJo


Ace Jack-off

#28
A5s


High Five

#29
77


Buggy Tops
Saturn
Sunset Strip
Hockey Sticks
Mullets
Walking Sticks

#30
A7s


Red Baron

#31
KJo


Kojak
King John
Jack-King-off
Harry Potter

#32
A4s


Sharp Tops
Amen
Tranny's

#33
A3s


Ash Tray
Baskin Robbins

#34
A6s


Mile High

#35
QJo


Maverick
Fred & Ethel

#36
66


Route 66
Kicks

#37
K8s


The Feast
Kokomo

#38
T8s


Tetris
Tenaciously

#39
A2s


Hunting Season
Arizona
Acey-Deucy

#40
98s


Oldsmobile

#41
J8s


Jeffrey Dalmer

#42
ATo


Bookends

#43
Q8s


Kuwait

#44
K7s


King Salmon
Kevin

#45
KTo


Katie
Woodcutter

#46
55

Presto
Double Nickels
Speed Limit
Sammy

#47
JTo


Morgan

#48
87s


RPM
Tahoe

#49
QTo


Quint
Greyhound

#50
44


Robert Varkonyi
Quint
Magnum
Colt 44
Sail Boats
Diana Dors

#51
33

Crabs
City Parks

#52
22

Quackers
Pocket Swans
Ducks
Barely Legal
The Strippers

#53
K6s


The Concubine

#54
97s


Grapefruit

#55
K5s


King of Nickels

#56
76s


America
Union Oil

#57
T7s


The Bowling Hand
Split

#58
K4s


Fork

#59
K3s


King Crab
Sizzler
Commander Crab

#60
K2s


White Men Can't Jump

#61
Q7s


Computer Hand

#62
86s


Eubie
Maxwell Smart

#63
65s


Ken Warren

#64
J7s


Dice Hand

#65
54s


Colt

#66
Q6s


#67
75s


Heinz 57 Sauce

#68
96s


Overtime
Soixante Neuf

#69
Q5s


Granny Mae (if spades)

#70
64s


Revolution
The Rabbit

#71
Q4s


#72
Q3s


Bitch with Crabs
Gay Waiter

#73
T9o


Countdown

#74
T6s

Driver's License

#75
Q2s

Windsor Waiter

#76
A9o

Jesus
Chris Ferguson

#77
53s

#78
85s

Finky Dink

#79
J6s

Jack Sikma

#80
J9o

Emergency
9-11

#81
K9o

Sawmill

#82
J5s

Jackson Five
Motown

#83
Q9o

Quinine

#84
43s

Waltz Time

#85
74s

Barn Owl

#86
J4s

Done Hand
Jermaine
Flat Tire

#87
J3s

J-Lo
Bird Table

#88
95s

Dolly Parton
Hard Working

#89
J2s

The Jew

#90
63s

JFK
Three Dozen

#91
A8o

Dead Man's Hand

#92
52s

Two Bits
Quarter

#93
T5s

Dimestore
Woolworth
Five and Dime

#94
84s

Big Brother
George Orwell

#95
T4s

Roger That
Over and Out
Convoy
The Good Buddy

#96
T3s

#97
42s

The Answer
Lumberjack

#98
T2s

Texas Dolly
Terminator II

#99
98o

Oldsmobile

#100
T8o

Tetris

#101
A5o

High Five

#102
A7o

Red Baron

#103
73s

Dutch Waiter
Swedish Busboy

#104
A4o

Crashing Airlines

#105
32s

Hooter Hand
Jordan

#106
94s

San Fransisco

#107
93s

Jack Benny

#108
J8o

Jeffery Dalmer

#109
A3o

Baskin Robbins
Ash Tray

#110
62s

#111
92s

Twiggy

#112
K8o

The Feast
Dr Spoon
Kokomo

#113
A6o

Mile High

#114
87o

Tahoe

#115
Q8o

Kuwait

#116
83s

Raquel Welch

#117
A2o

Arizona
Big Balls
Hunting Season

#118
82s

Fat Lady and a Duck

#119
97o

Grapefruit

#120
72s

Beer Hand

#121
76o

Union Oil

#122
K7o

King Salmon

#123
65o

Ken Warren

#124
T7o

Split

#125
K6o

The Concubine

#126
86o

Maxwell Smart

#127
54o

Colt 45
Jesse James
Jane Russell

#128
K5o

Rotten Cowboy

#129
J7o

Dice

#130
75o

Filipino Slick
Heinz

#131
Q7o

Computer Hand

#132
K4o

Fork

#133
K3o

Commander Crab
King Crab

#134
96o

Percy

#135
K2o

Big Fritz

#136
64o

The Question

#137
Q6o

#138
53o

Bully Johnson

#139
85o

The Scag

#140
T6o

Sweet Sixteen

#141
Q5o

#142
43o

Waltz Time

#143
Q4o

#144
Q3o

Gay Waiter

#145
74o

Cambodian Slick

#146
Q2o

The Vesty

#147
J6o

Jack Sikma

#148
63o

JFK
Blocky

#149
J5o

Jackson Five

#150
95o

Dolly Parton

#151
52o

Quarter

#152
J4o

Kid Grenade

#153
J3o

Fortran

#154
42o

The Answer

#155
J2o

Bennifer

#156
84o

Big Brother

#157
T5o

Nickels and Dimes

#158
T4o

CB Hand
Roger That

#159
32o

Big Gulp
Hooter Hand
Mississippi Slick
Can of Corn

#160
T3o

#161
73o

Rusty Trombone

#162
T2o

Texas Dolly

#163
62o

Bed & Breakfast

#164
94o

Joe Montana Banana

#165
93o

Jack Benny

#166
92o

Montana Banana
Twiggy

#167
83o

Suzanna Banana
Sven
Raquel Welch

#168
82o

Sixty Nine

#169
72o

Death
The Big Man Hand
The Hammer

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