![]() ![]() The rank of the highest-ranking pair determines hand strength. Two pairĪ poker hand that features two cards of one rank (a pair) and two cards of another rank is known as two pair – 10♥ 10♣ 3♣ 3♠ 9♥ is “two pair, tens and threes” or “two pair, tens over threes” or “tens up”. Often it is the kickers which make one three of a kind stronger than another. ![]() Meanwhile, if only one of our hole cards is a queen and two more appear on the Flop, we again have three of a kind, but this time it’s known as trips. If we are dealt a pair of queens, for instance, and the Flop brings another queen, we have a set of queens. Note that there is a distinction between a Set and Trips. This could be 3♦ 3♠ 3♣ Q♠ 6♥ (“three of a kind, threes”, “trip threes” or a “set of threes”). Three of a kindĪnother self-explanatory hand ranking, three of a kind, known as a Set or Trips, contains three cards of the same rank. When an Ace is low, we have a five-high straight, such as 5♣ 4♥ 3♦ 2♠ A♥, and this can be called a Bicycle, or a Wheel. 9♣ 8♠ 7♠ 6♥ 5♥ is a “nine-high straight” and A ♣ K♦ Q♣ J♦ 10♥ is an ace-high straight, which is known as a Broadway Straight. StraightĪ straight features five cards of sequential rank, but not all from the same suit. As usual, the highest-ranking card, and subsequent cards in order, determines strength (see What Beats What). FlushĪ flush consists of five cards from the same suit that are not in full sequential rank. The ranking of the three-card portion of a full house – as opposed to the two-card element – determines poker hand strength. Thus, 4♣ 4♠ 4♦ 5♣ 5♥ is a “full house, fours over fives” or “fours full of fives”. Full HouseĪ full house – which also has other names, such as a “full boat” or a “boat” – is a two-part hand that features three cards of one rank and two cards of another. Again, card ranking is key, with J♣ J♠ J♦ J♥ Q♥ (“four of a kind, jacks”) beating 9♣ 9♠ 9♦ 9♥ Q♥, for instance. ![]() The second highest ranking poker hand, four of a kind – often referred to as “quads” – is, not surprisingly, made up of four cards of the same rank, plus the highest remaining card (the “kicker”). Given that an Ace can be either high or low, the highest straight flush is Ace-high, as in A♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥ 10♥ (Royal Flush), while the lowest is 5♦ 4♦ 3♦ 2♦ A♦ – a five-high straight flush. The highest ranked card determines the ranking of hands, so the hand above beats 10♣ 9♣ 8♣ 7♣ 6♣ which in turn beats 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥ 4♥ and so on. This powerful hand consists of five cards from the same suit which are ranked sequentially, for example J♥ 10♥ 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ (a “jack-high straight flush”). Those who are aware of poker but don’t play might believe that four of a kind (see below) is the top ranking category, but it is, in fact, the straight flush that sits at the top of poker hand rankings. The odds of being dealt a Royal Flush are 0.00015% – to put this in perspective, if we played 20 hands of poker per day, every day, we could expect to average a royal flush every 89 years… Straight Flush Given that there are just four suits, this magical hand has a mere four combinations from a total of almost 2.6 million. Essentially the poker equivalent of a ‘hole in one’ in golf, it would not be unusual for a poker fan (especially in the pre-internet era) to never be dealt a royal flush. The Royal Flush is a very specific form of straight flush (see below), being A♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥ 10♥ of the same suit, and it is the strongest poker hand. ![]()
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