Poker Hand Rankings

Poker Hands

At every poker game, you are dealt two hole poker cards to start with which are solely visible to only one player. These cards are to remain hidden from other players. Along with the two-hole cards, five community cards are also dealt into the play.

People go gaga over a pack of poker cards to play this game because of the combination of strategic challenges with the psychological elements that it contains. It keeps you excited, thrilled, and scared while offering huge rewards upon getting poker-winning hands.

You must not just play your poker cards when playing poker; you must also analyze and respond to your opponents. It is not just a strategy game, but it's also a social and human one as well.

But before you learn to examine your opponents with poker-winning hands, you need to be armed with a perspective that will get you one foot in the door, and eventually help you win the game. If you get the basics right, you could go a long way and possibly make this amazing game a full-time job.

Now it is time to get some perspective on the game. Here you will learn about poker winning hands, the poker chart, poker order, poker pairs, and poker hand rankings. Basically, all the fundamental basics of poker. So gear up for your crash course.

What are Poker Hands?

Like other card games, Poker has its own variants and based on the variations, the Poker combinations can differ. Regardless, the player with the best or the highest Poker Hand emerges as the winner.

So, what exactly are Poker Hands?

As per its rules, the main objective in Poker is to create the best 5-card combination and that combination is called Poker Hands. Poker combinations are revealed during showdown, which decides the winner.

When it comes to determining a Poker Hand, the patterns play a crucial part. The best hands in Poker are where the patterns are similar. As for the card rankings, Ace is considered the highest-valued card, whereas 2 is the lowest.

It is important for you to know that there are 10 different hands that can be played in a game of Poker. However, since different factors are involved, these poker winning hands carry a certain amount of effectiveness and are accordingly ranked from highest to the lowest.

What do Hands Mean in Poker?

Hands in Poker determine where you stand in the game as compared to your opponents. There are strong hands and there are weak hands. Having a weak hand does not necessarily mean that you need to fold right away.

There will be 3 more cards unveiled for you to form a combination. However, if the situation does appear bleak, it is best advised to fold than to move forward in the game hoping for things to get better.

How Poker Hand Rankings Work!

At every poker game, you are dealt two hole cards to start with which are solely visible to only one player. These cards are to remain hidden from other players. Along with the two-hole cards, five community cards are also dealt into the play.

When all the players have been dealt their hole cards and the community cards are dealt, the game starts. Each person reviews their own poker hands according to their poker hand rankings and chooses to either raise, fold, check, or go all in.

From the best poker hand rankings to a poker hierarchy that is only good for a bluff, every card has its place and purpose.

Poker Sequence from Highest to Lowest

When playing a game of poker it is crucial for you to know the various poker hands and poker hierarchy. When making a hand, it should fall under the below-mentioned poker card rankings. But if another player's hand is on a poker order that is lower than yours, you are sure to win.

The poker hands in the poker sequence rank from strongest to weakest, with the Royal flush being the strongest hand in the poker hand rankings and the High Card hand being the weakest on the poker charts.

Hands	Definition	Examples	What it Beats?	What Beats this Poker Hand?
Royal Flush	The Royal Flush is one of the unbeatable poker hands rankings in the poker sequence that will help you win the game, and you can male one with five cards ranging from 10 to Ace of the same suit. For eg- Ace, K, Q, J and 10 of the same suit make a Royal Flush. Since it is the fist on the poker sequence list, there are very few other poker winning hands that can beat it.		Royal Flush defeats all other hands in poker, including Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pairs, A Pair, and High Card.	Only another royal flush can tie with this poker hand, as no other poker hand can defeat a royal flush.
Straight Flush	A straight flush comes next in the poker sequence where you need to have a hand with five cards of the same suit in consecutive order. The poker card rankings have to be in consecutive order and of the same suit or it does not count in the poker hierarchy.		Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pairs, A Pair, and High Card are all defeated by the Straight Flush.	A Straight Flush loses to a Royal Flush or other straight flushes with high-ranking cards.
Four of a Kind	When your poker winning hands contain four cards of the same poker hand rankings, it's called Four of a Kind. For example- If you have a King of all 4 suits, the poker combination is known as four of a kind. This poker sequence is also sought after since it is better than the other poker-winning hands on the poker hand rankings list.		Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pairs, A Pair, and High Card are all defeated by Four of a Kind.	Four of a Kind is defeated by a Royal Flush and a straight flush.
Full House	A Full house is when players have poker-winning hands that consist of a poker pair as well as three of a kind in any poker order. This poker sequence falls fourth on the poker hand rankings list.		Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pairs, One Pair, and High Card are all defeated by Full House.	A Full House loses to a Royal Flush, Four of a Kind, and straight flush.
Flush	If you have 5 cards of the same suit, but not in a poker sequence, it is called a Flush. For example- any five cards from the hearts suit make a flush.		Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pairs, One Pair, and High Card are all defeated by flushes.	A Flush is defeated by a Royal Flush, Four of a Kind, Straight Flush, and a Full House. The Flush with the highest value card, when there are more than two players holding a flush, is the best poker hand. The value of each suit is the same.
Straight	5 cards in a sequence, irrespective of the suit, is called a Straight hand.		Three of a Kind, Two Pairs, One Pair, and High Card are all defeated by Straight.	A Straight is defeated by a Royal Flush, Four of a Kind, Straight Flush, Full House, and Flush.
Three of a Kind	Three of a kind is when you have three cards of the same rank to make poker winning hands.		Two Pairs, One Pair, and High Card are all beaten by Three of a Kind.	Three of a Kind is defeated by Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, and Straight.
Two Pair	Poker pairs have a whole thread on Reddit and twitter. So, remember that when you have two different poker pairs in your poker winning hands, it's called a Two Pair. 2 Jack or different suits and 2 Ks from different suits, etc are all perfect examples of a Two Pair in Poker pairs.		One Pair and a High Card lose against Two Pairs.	Two Pair is defeated by Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, and Three of a Kind.
Pair	When you have two cards of the same rank, that hand is called a Pair or a poker pair.		High cards and other pairs with low rankings can be defeated by a pair or one pair.	One Pair is defeated by royal flushes, straight flushes, four of a kind, full houses, flushes, straights, three of a kind, and two pairs.
High Card	If you haven’t made any of the poker hands mentioned above, the highest poker ranking card will be considered. This hand is called the High Card.		Only the other high card with the lowest card ranking in a poker hand can defeat another high card.	Any hands, from Royal Flush to One Pair, can defeat High Card. Only the other High card with a low ranking can defeat it.

20 Best Starting Poker Hands Ranked to Make Your Winning Poker Sequence

The topic of the best poker hands has been contested by poker hierarchy savvy intellectuals, players, and general novices!

Although there exists a set poker sequence for all the poker hand rankings available, there is still a lot of discussion about the various poker hands that exist out there. So without stepping on any toes, let us tell you what we know about the 20 different hands that exist in poker hierarchy.

Pocket Aces	A combination of A♠ and A♥ is called pocket aces. These poker-winning hands are considered the best amongst the starting poker hands. It is the best hand among 169 separate possible poker hands in a game of Texas Hold'em poker.
Pocket Kings	K spades and K clubs make up this pair. Pocket Kings is also known as "ace magnets". Every poker player's eyes will light up when they see a pair of Kings, and your goal should be to get as many chips into the pot as possible before the flop.
Pocket Queens	This is the third-best starting hand. Queens are likely to win 54% against ace-king suited because that particular hand has two overcards to queens.
Pocket Jacks	This starting hand is also known as fishhooks, jacks are one of the most complained-about hands in poker. In no-limit Texas Hold'em, they're the fourth-best starting hand — or fifth if you consider ace-king to be more valued. However, amongst all the poker hands, this hand has created the most problems for poker players over the years.
Ace-King Suited	This best non-pair is also known as big slick. It is best played in pots with multiple players.
Pocket Tens	These are another premium pair that could make you confident about your poker hands positioning in the poker hand rankings you have been dealt. The Pocket tens are the highest of the middle pairs in the poker game, but not strong enough to beat the photo cards, thus dealing with them is always tough. These may be the least played poker sequence amongst the poker hand rankings, but it is still a good pair to have on you when you are at the table.
Ace-King Offsuit	From all the poker hands, this one has at least a 45-50% chance of helping you win. When it is your turn, regardless of your position, you should always raise with this hand preflop.
Ace-Queen Suited	These poker hand rankings have a lot of post-flop playability. You can pair it with a K and J to make a full house poker.
Pocket Nines	This hand is worth playing preflop. It is usually a good hand to have.
Ace-Jack Suited	This hand is considered very strong amongst the poker hands to have post-flop and can be paired with several other cards to create a hand.
King-Queen Suited	This poker hand can be paired with other cards to create strong pairs.
Ace-Ten Suited	This poker hand has great potential. It has the potential to turn into straight, pair, or flush poker hands.
Ace-Queen Offsuit	These poker hands can club with a lot of options and might help you win.
Pocket Eights	This pair is great, but you will have trouble using it properly if an overcard or two comes on the flop.
King-Jack Suited	This pair goes well with straights, flushes, and pairs, just like every K J pairing.
King-Ten Suited	Like every other K 10 pairing, this hand can be a straight, flush, or pair.
Queen-Jack Suited	This combination can hit flushes, pairs, and straights as well.
Ace-Jack Offsuit	Although a powerful pair, it can still fold against an AK and AQ combination.
King-Queen Offsuit	This combination can also hit straights on the flop.
Queen-Ten Suited	This hand can also be used to create straights and poker pairs.

You would think that with so many types of poker hands, there would be a higher possibility of hitting straights and flushes all the time. You would be right in that aspect. But surprisingly, the rarest hand that you can encounter in the poker hierarchy is the Royal Flush.

In fact, if you have played your fair share of poker, you will have made a bunch of Royal Flushes. But if you keep playing, you will notice that your opponent has made a Royal Flush while you still have a Full house. That is the fickle-mindedness of a poker game.

Since you just got a crash course on the various poker hand rankings as well as a list of poker hands, here, you are now prepared for a little insider knowledge about the best and worst hands in poker.

How to Remember Poker Ranking Charts?

Poker games take place in real time, meaning there is no room to use resources as reference in regards to Poker charts or Poker Hand Rankings. The only choice is to learn and remember the charts and rankings and use them to the best of your ability.

Not everyone finds this method convenient as the experience can be daunting and in the heat of the moment, you can end up mixing the details resulting in you ending on the losing side.

Nevertheless, there is no need to feel disheartened because there are easier ways to learn the rankings. People who are new to Poker often prefer to learn the rankings and charts byheart.

If you are not one of these people, read below to know how you can make the use of best available resources and absorb the data for better.

1. Mnemonic devices:

Mnemonic devices can help you get a hang of the poker hand rankings hierarchy within a few attempts. The strategy of using Mnemonic devices has been around for ages and has been taught in schools and colleges, too.

It is practically using the starting letter of each word, here poker cards ranking and charts, and using them to form a sentence. Once you memorise that sentence, remembering the rankings and charts will be like a walk in the park.

2. Separating low-value hands from high-value hands:

This method will use more effort on your part, but do try it if you are a numbers person. Here’s how it works – assign 0, 1, 2, and 3 to High Card, Pair, Two Pair, and Three of a Kind, respectively, which are considered the most beatable hands.

While assigning numbers to the high-value cards, just consider the number of letters in the words to make it easy. Flush contains five letters, so, you assign the number 5, 9 for Full House, 11 for Four of a Kind, 13 for Straight Flush, and 18 for Royal Straight Flush.

Now, you get 0, 1, 2, and 3 for low-value cards and 5, 9, 11, 13, and 18 for cards of high value.

3. Practice, practice, practice:

To acclimate yourself to the rules of Poker, it is imperative that you practice numerous times. You may get a hang of all its guidelines and rules, which includes the chart and rankings.

In the initial stages, you will get a few predictions wrong, but do not let it demotivate you.

How Do You Memorise Poker Ranges?

Before learning how to memorise poker ranges, it is important to know what they are. Poker Ranges are a collection of hand that a player could possibly have up to a point in a particular hand.

Poker range can then be narrowed down as the game progresses depending on betting patterns and betting action.

The process of memorising Poker Ranges can be quite overwhelming when you are new to the card game, but determined to win. Poker takes time to come to an end, which means one of your objectives should be to maintain accuracy over time. Ranges are only a medium to help you and should not be relied upon extensively.

One of the ways by which you can memorise the ranges is by comparing your opening range to what ranges your opponents may have. This will help you assess how your opponent might act under a certain situation.

When you understand your opponents’ move, you begin to develop a knack for remembering the ranges that you can incorporate in different scenarios.

Also, if you have physically created ranges using a solver technology, blindly memorising them can backfire. Instead, learn the meaning behind them; learn the ‘why’ in regards to a range appearing in a certain way. Getting a deeper understanding will help you to know the meaning of the why the ranges appear the way they do.

Finally, testing yourself constantly can be the key to you mastering the reading of ranges or placing you with many poker players who play just for the sake of it.

Poker Hands Ranked: Ties and Kickers

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What is a Tie in Poker?

In poker, a tie occurs when two or more hands are identical at the showdown, including kickers. When the players' hands are tied, the pot is split evenly at showdown, known as a “split pot.' For example, if both players get 7-7-8-9-10 as the poker hand, the pot is split.

What is a Kicker in Poker?

A kicker, sometimes known as a side card, is a card in a poker hand that does not contribute to the hand's rank but can be used to break ties between hands of the same rank. The hand K-K-10-8-4, for example, is classed as a pair of Kings.

The kickers are the 10, 8, and 4. This hand would beat any hand with no pair or a lower-ranking pair but would lose against any hand with a higher-ranking pair.

The kickers, on the other hand, can be used to break ties between other hands with a pair of Kings. K-K-A-7-9, for example, would win since the A kicker is higher than the 10, but K-K-10-8-3 would lose because its  3 is outranked by the 4.

Best Poker Winning Hands

The best poker hand is usually defined by the strongest poker hand rankings there are. However, the best hand can change numerous times from flop to river. A great example of this would be when you have Pocket Kings and an A turns up in the flop. Suddenly your pocket kings don’t look like the best option for you. But big pocket pairs like pocket aces, kings, and queens are great to have when you want to dominate the rest of the starting poker hands.

If you ever catch yourself with a pair of pocket Aces, then congratulations, you have the best possible starting hand.

The Pocket Ace’s starting hand is the best because it can be used to dominate other hands like KK, QQ, and JJ so there’s huge potential to win a massive pot. So when you get this hand, you need to place a big bet unless the board is showing possibilities of a flush or straight.

Worst Starting Poker Hands

Poker players would rather fold than be caught dead with a 2-7 offsuit. This starting hand is considered the worst poker hand to start with even in Texas Hold’em because of the small pool of options available and the lowest possible straight that can be achieved.

This hand will not help you much because you can not have a straight draw, flush draw, and even if you wind up with a pair of 7s or a pair of 2s, you probably do not have the best hand.

If you ever end up with this hand, your best option is to fold.

Best Poker Winning Hands – What are the Best Hands in Poker?

The best Poker winning hands are unfortunately also the ones that are the hardest to come by – Royal Flush and Straight Flush. As one of the players on the table, it should be your aim to land a Full House because any all combinations ranked below it can be beat by Full House and the three other better combinations.

Again, having a Full House does not necessarily mean that you are in a safe place, as Royal Flush, Straight Flush and Four of a Kind can beat it.

Worst Poker Hands - What are the Worst Hands in Poker?

When it comes to selecting the worst Poker hands, the task is not easy since it varies from player to player. However, at the end of the day, the worst Poker hand is the one that a player plays out of their own accord.

Two-gappers:

Keeping aside the philosophical thoughts, there are certain hands that can see you in trouble. Something that you should definitely hope to avoid are two-gappers. It is inarguably one of the worst hands you could get, the immediate and the best decision is to fold.

Getting cards like King and a 10 or a Queen and a 10 can push you off course even when you are ahead in the betting game. Moreover, two-gappers can generate kicker issues, too.

7-2 offsuit:

Undisputedly considered as the worst hand in Poker, holding 2 and 7 can mean the vilest fate you could experience. Since there are five cards between the two, making pairs can become the most demanding leaving you no other choice but to fold.

What Beats What in Poker?

When you are playing real money poker, online or otherwise, knowing and learning the order in which poker hands beat each other can benefit a great deal.

Referring to sections above, you can get the poker hands rankings that you can learn and use them to your advantage while competing against other players.

One of the best aspects of Poker is that regardless of which variant you wish to play, the hand rankings apply to all in the same order.

Considering Royal Flush is the strongest combination, it beats all other 9 hands in the game and cannot be beaten by anything. Straight Flush, on the other hand, beats 8 rankings and can only be beaten by Royal Flush.

Ranked third, four of a kind beats 7 hands, including, Full House, which trumps 6 rankings listed under it. By following the poker chart, you can memorise what beats what in Poker. Once you get a hang of it, playing the card games will be easier than ever.

Play Online Poker & Earn Real Money Daily

Where can you practice and earn money online at the same time? 

Playing online poker is the most popular way to earn real money daily. There are a lot of games and regular tournaments available on the Spartan Poker website for novice and seasoned players alike. 

So take all that you learned about poker strategies and rules to get your game going. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, we hope that this information answered most of your questions and helped you understand the poker hand rankings and the poker card rankings a little better. It would be great to practice everything you have learned on the Spartan Poker website.

Advice: Never fold Aces pre-flop!

Poker Hand Rankings - Frequently Asked Questions

Q.1) What hands can win in poker?

In poker, the following hands can win, listed from highest to lowest: Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, and High Card.

Q.2) How many hands for poker?

In a standard 52-card deck, there are 2,598,960 possible unique five-card poker hands. 

Q.3) What is 13 unique cards?

This refers to a set of 13 cards in a poker hand, where each card is of a different rank and suit. This is common in games like Rummy, where players aim to create sets and sequences using the 13 unique cards.

Q.4) What is the sequence in poker?

A sequence in poker refers to five consecutive cards of any suit. Examples include 2-3-4-5-6 or 10-J-Q-K-A. Note that Ace can be both the highest card (A-K-Q-J-10) or the lowest card (A-2-3-4-5) in a sequence.

Q.5) What are the combinations in poker?

Combinations in poker refer to the various possible hands that can be formed using a specific number of cards. Common combinations include pairs, three-of-a-kind, four-of-a-kind, full house, flush, straight, and straight flush.

Q.6) What is the strongest combination in poker?

The Royal Flush is the strongest combination in poker. It consists of the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 of the same suit.