Poker Hands
Knowing the various poker hands and figuring out which one you have (and which ones you beat!) is a fundamental skill in all poker games.
In Texas Hold'em all poker hands are made with five cards.
Each poker hand belongs to a certain type. Within each type hands are sorted by the ranks of the cards. So for example a pair of kings beats pairs of 2s. Each type though beats all lower types no matter what the rank of the cards. So if you have a pair of 2s and a pair of 3s (two pair) that will beat someone who only has a pair a kings.
Here are the hand types from lowest to highest.
High card
This is the worst you can get, no pair, no straight and no flush. They are
ordered by the highest card on down, so if you have Ace-High:





that beats King-High





A pair
This is when you have two cards of the same rank.
So your pair of kings





would beat a pair of tens





Two pair
Just how it sounds, this is when you have two pairs. This is ordered by the
highest of your pairs first, so Queens and Sevens





would beat Jacks and Nines





Three of a kind
This is when you have three cards of the same rank, for example,
Trip Jacks:





Straight
This is when all your cards are in sequence. Remember that an Ace can be played
high or low. Straights are ordered by the top card in the sequence,
so a Seven-High Straight:





would beat a Five-high Straight:





Flush
A flush is when all your cards have the same suit. For example,
a King-High Flush:





Full house
A full house is when you have three of a kind and a pair. They are ordered first
by the rank of the three of a kind, so Nines over Deuces:





would beat a Sevens over Kings:





Four of a kind
Just like it sounds, four cards of all the same rank. This is the second highest
hand type in poker so it is pretty good! Also known as Quads.
For example:





Straight Flush
The best hand type is when all your cards are in sequence and they are all the
same suit. These are ordered by the top card in the sequence, so an
Ace-High Straight Flush (known as a Royal Flush) is the best
possible hand in poker:





For a more in depth look at hand rankings with more examples, please look at our Poker Hands section in help.