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Published: 4th August 2008 Written by How to Play Poker
Updated: 10th December 2023

Basic guide to winning with the best poker hand rank

guide to Poker Hand Rankings Texas Hold em

In rank order the poker hands below show the strongest hands to weakest. Always remember that the highest card wins in most cases and a flush involves five cards of the same suit and a straight is any five consecutively  numbered cards.

Poker Hand Rankings Texas Hold em

Royal Flush:

A consecutive hand ‘straight’ starting from the 10 through till the ACE all in the same suit ‘flush’ this is the highest ranked hand in poker.

10-J-Q-K-A

Royal Flush - Best Poker Hands

Straight Flush:

Any consecutive cards ‘straight’ in the same suit ‘flush’. In the situation where there are two sets of ‘straight flushes’ present at the table, the player with the highest card wins.

9-10-J-Q-K

Straight Flush - Best Poker Hands

Four of a Kind:

Any four cards of the same index. In the situation where there are two sets of ‘Four of a kinds’ present at the table, the player with the highest cards wins.

Example: A-A-A-A

Four of a Kind - Best Poker Hands

Full House:

Basically this is a three of a kind and a pair utilizing all five cards, In the situation where there are two sets of ‘Full Houses’ present at the table, the player with the highest cards wins.

Example: K-K-A-A-A

Full House - Best Poker Hands

Flush:

Any five cards of the same suit. In the situation where there are two sets of ‘flushes’ present at the table, the player with the highest card wins.

Flush - Best Poker Hands

Straight:

Any five consecutive cards. In the situation where there are two sets of ‘straights’ present at the table, the player with the highest card wins.

Example: A-2-3-4-5

Straight - Best Poker Hands

Three of a Kind:

Any three cards of the same index. In the situation where there are two sets of ‘three of a kinds’ present at the table, the player with the highest cards wins.

Example: A-A-A

Three of a Kind - Best Poker Hands

Two Pairs:

Any two sets of the same ‘pair’. In the situation where there are two sets of ‘Two pairs’ present at the table, the player with the highest cards wins.

Example: K-K-A-A

Two Pairs - Best Poker Hands

Pair:

Any two cards of the same index. In the situation where there are two sets of ‘pairs’ present at the table, the player with the highest cards wins.

Pair - Best Poker Hands

High Card:

When nobody has any of the above hands there is always a winner in poker, it then resorts to the highest card at the table wins starting from:

A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7…

High Card - Best Poker Hands

The above poker hand rank guide is true for most versions of poker including Texas Hold’em, wild cards can also be thrown in which mixes other versions of the game up, also other poker games may make slight variations of poker rank by deviating the rules slightly where at times straights can be of a higher value than flushes all which is game specific.