Poker Hand Rankings (Highest to Lowest)
Poker is a game of winning and losing, and it's ultimately the hierarchy of hand rankings that determines which player wins at showdown. Poker hand rankings determine the relative strength of different card combinations and decide which player takes down the pot.
These rankings apply across most poker variants, but that can change from game to game. On this page, we're focusing on Texas Hold'em (the most popular and common form of poker), PLO (Pot-Limit Omaha) and Short Deck (6+) Poker.
The ten poker hands, from highest to lowest, are:
- Royal Flush
- Straight Flush
- Four-of-a-Kind
- Full House
- Flush
- Straight
- Three-of-a-Kind
- Two Pair
- One Pair
- High Card
Read on to see the full list of poker hand rankings and download our FREE printable poker hand rankings chart or click the links below to quickly navigate to the relevant section:
- Poker Hand Rankings Explained
- How Poker Hand Rankings Work
- Common Poker Hand Ranking Questions
- Poker Hand Rankings by Game Type
- Learn More About Poker Hands
Poker Hand Rankings Chart - FREE Printable PDF Download
Download our FREE printable Poker Hand Rankings Guide as a PDF. We've collated all the information above in an easy-to-read poker cheat sheet of hand rankings, so you can quickly get to grips with which hands beat which in poker.
This is an essential resource for any new or beginner-level poker player. It will help you to quickly learn the basics of Texas Hold'em poker so you can evolve your game and start improving your strategy. The hand rankings cheat sheet shows you every hand in Hold'em, their order of value, a visual example of each hand and also a short description.
How to Download our Free Poker Hand Rankings Cheat Sheet PDF
- Click the image or the button to start.
- You'll then be taken to a PDF version of the hand rankings chart.
- Find the 'Download' icon in the top right of the PDF.
- Click that icon to start the download.
- Save the PDF, print it and use it to learn the hand rankings while you're playing at the tables.
Poker Hand Rankings Explained
Let's delve deeper into each hand in poker and explain the full hand rankings in detail. In this section, we'll talk you through each hand, tell you what it is, what it beats and what it loses to. Read on to develop your poker knowledge and get a better understanding of the fundamentals of the game.
#1. Royal Flush
| Cards Required | Total Combinations | Probability of Hitting Hand | Hand Beats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4 | 1 in 31,250 | Beats all other hands |
A Royal Flush is the best hand in poker and is made up of an ace, king, queen, jack and ten of all the same suit.
An example of a Royal Flush is A♦K♦Q♦J♦10♦, but it can be any suit, as long as all five cards are the same suit and the hand is made up of these value cards. Most people have heard of the pinnacle of poker hands - a Royal Flush. In movies, it's been popularized for its glamor and its prestige is justified. A Royal Flush cannot be beaten in poker, it is the best hand. As such, it's extremely rare and most recreational players only ever get a handful of Royal Flushes in their lifetime (playing Texas Hold'em - Royal Flushes are more common in formats like Short Deck).
#2. Straight Flush
| Cards Required | Total Combinations | Probability of Hitting Hand | Hand Beats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 36 | 1 in 3,571 | Beats all hands apart from a Royal Flush |
A Straight Flush involves five of the same-suited cards in consecutive rank order.
Not quite as prestigious and nowhere near as rare as a Royal Flush, a Straight Flush is the next best hand in poker. However, they are still very rare. A Straight Flush is the second best hand in poker and can only be beaten by a Royal Flush (or a higher Straight Flush).
#3. Four-of-a-Kind
| Cards Required | Total Combinations | Probability of Hitting Hand | Hand Beats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 624 | 1 in 588 | Beats all hands apart from a Straight Flush and a Royal Flush |
Four-of-a-kind is a hand where four cards all have the same value.
Four-of-a-kind, also known as 'Quads' is the third best hand in poker. It consists of four of the same value card, for instance four aces. It is a very strong hand and can only be beaten by Royal or Straight Flushes (or a higher four-of-a-kind), but is a lot more common.
#4. Full House
| Cards Required | Total Combinations | Probability of Hitting Hand | Hand Beats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3,744 | 1 in 38.26 | Beats all hands apart from Four-of-a-Kind, a Straight Flush and a Royal Flush |
A Full House is a strong hand in poker, and consists of Three-of-a-kind and a Pair.
Full Houses beat other strong hands like Flushes and Straights, and only lose to Four-of-a-kind, Straight Flushes and Royal Flushes. It doesn't matter which way round it is (E.g. you could have two aces and three kings or three aces and two kings) - both are Full Houses. However, if two players both have a Full House, the one with the highest Three-of-a-kind wins. For example, A♥A♦A♠K♥K♦ is a stronger Full House than A♣A♠K♠K♣K♥ because the Three-of-a-kind is higher. If both Three-of-a-kinds within the Full House are equal, the winning hand will be the highest Pair in the hand.
#5. Flush
| Cards Required | Total Combinations | Probability of Hitting Hand | Hand Beats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5,108 | 1 in 33 | Beats all hands apart from a Full House, Four-of-a-Kind, a Straight |
A Flush in poker is a hand that has five cards, all of the same suit.
Flushes are typically considered to be strong hands. They beat Straights, Three-of-a-kind, Two Pair and One Pair, but lose to Full Houses, Four-of-a-kind, Straight Flushes and Royal Flushes.
The suit of the Flush doesn't matter as all suits are equal, but as long as you have five cards that are all the same suit, for instance five diamonds, then you have a Flush. The strength of it is based on its highest card, followed by its second highest and so on. When two or more players have a Flush, this is the tie-breaker used to determine the winner of the hand.
#6. Straight
| Cards Required | Total Combinations | Probability of Hitting Hand | Hand Beats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 10,200 | 1 in 21.65 | Beats Three-of-a-Kind, Two Pair, One Pair and High Card |
A Straight in poker is five cards that have consecutive numeric values
An example of a Straight is 2♣3♠4♥5♠6♦. Suit is irrelevant (unless all five cards are the same suit, in which case the hand becomes a Straight Flush), as long as five cards are in consecutive order of value. If there are two Straights in a hand, then the one with the highest cards wins. A Straight is generally considered to be a strong hand, though shouldn't be overplayed on certain boards - with some being susceptible to losing to higher Straights or other stronger hands.
#7. Three-of-a-Kind
| Cards Required | Total Combinations | Probability of Hitting Hand | Hand Beats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 54,912 | 1 in 20.7 | Beats Two Pair, One Pair and High Card |
Three-of-a-Kind is a decent hand in poker, where you have three cards that have the same value.
For instance, A♥A♦A♠3♠4♥ would be Three-of-a-kind because there are three aces and two other non-connected cards. Three-of-a-kind is a decent hand in poker, but is still beaten by a lot of other hands. If two or more players have this hand, the Three-of-a-kind with the higher rank wins.
#8. Two Pair
| Cards Required | Total Combinations | Probability of Hitting Hand | Hand Beats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 123,552 | 1 in 4.26 | Beats One Pair and High Card |
Two Pair in poker is two different numeric pairs and one other unpaired card.
If two or more players have Two Pair, the winner is determined by the higher single Pair. If those are equal, it goes to the highest value of the second Pair. If those are also equal, the tiebreaker is the kicker (the fifth, unpaired card). Two Pair can be a strong hand if the board is not well connected, but is ultimately beaten by most other hands. One main advantage of Two Pair, though, is that it’s often better disguised than stronger hands like Straights or Flushes. These typically rely on multiple community cards, making them more visible to opponents, whereas Two Pair can be harder to spot.
#9. One Pair
| Cards Required | Total Combinations | Probability of Hitting Hand | Hand Beats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1,098,240 | 1 in 2.28 | Beats High Card |
One Pair in poker is two cards of equal value combined with three unrelated cards.
In matchups involving One Pair hands, the highest pair wins. If pairs match, the highest unpaired cards, or kickers, are compared. One Pair is not a great hand and folding should be strongly considered on connected boards, in multi-way pots or when facing a large bet. Every other hand beats it apart from weaker pairs and high cards.
#10. High Card
| Cards Required | Total Combinations | Probability of Hitting Hand | Hand Beats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,302,540 | 1 in 5.75 | Beats Lower High Cards |
High Card is where none of the five cards in a hand connect with one another to make another combination.
Having only High Cards is the worst possible poker hand. When none of the above hands are formed, the hand is valued at its highest single card, making an Ace-high the strongest High Card hand. This is a very weak hand and unlikely to win in a showdown. The worst possible five-card hand in poker is 2-3-4-5-7 (any suit). This hand is just seven high with the lowest possible kickers that don't make a better hand.
How Poker Hand Rankings Work
Poker hand rankings are a crucial concept in any poker game - used to determine the ultimate winner of each hand. What's interesting, as you'll later see in more detail, is that hand rankings sometimes change depending on the poker variant you're playing.
Most variants, including the most conventional form of poker - Texas Hold'em, adopt the same ranking system you've seen above. However, games like Short Deck Hold'em have different rankings based on the fact some hands are more or less likely to be made compared to other formats.
How Poker Hands Are Ranked
In conventional poker variants, poker hands are ranked based on two factors. These are the card value (for instance a 10 is higher than a 3) and suit.
Card Value
Aces are typically the best cards to have in a hand. They are the highest value card in the deck but are commonly counted as 'low' cards as well, meaning you can use them to form the low part of an ace-to-five Straight. Next comes kings in the value ranking, followed by queens, jacks and then the conventional numeric values down from 10s to 2s.
Suit
When discussing suits, we first must emphasize that no one suit is stronger than another in Texas Hold'em - all suits are equal. However, suit is still a ranking factor, just in a different sense. If your best possible five-card hand consists of five cards of the same suit, you make a Flush, which is a strong hand in poker.
Five-Card Hand Principle
When we talk about the best five-card hand, it's important to know where that comes from. Each player in Texas Hold'em holds two hole cards that are unique to them. There is then also five community cards in the middle that can be used by all players at the table. Taking all seven cards into account (two hole cards + five community cards), each player's hand is then determined by the best possible five-card combination they can make from all seven cards.
This concept differs with other variants like Badugi and Stud (where there are no community cards), but is relevant across poker games like Texas Hold'em and Short Deck. Other games use a similar concept with niche differences, such as Pot-Limit Omaha where players get four hole cards but must use exactly two hole cards and three community cards to form their best five-card hand.
What Happens When Two Players Have the Same Hand?
Hand rankings in poker are simple once you get used to them, but what happens when two or more players have the exact same hand?
This is where things can get a little more complex. For most hands, though, it's simply a case of determining which player has the highest value hand. So a Straight vs a Straight is the same hand, but if Player A has an ace-high Straight and Player B has a king-high Straight, Player A wins because their Straight is a higher value. The same concept is applied across all other hands, including Flushes, Pairs and Three-of-a-kinds.
If multiple players have the same hand with the exact same value, for instance when the best five-card hand comes from the five community cards, the pot is split equally between the remaining players in the hand.
To learn more, check out our dedicated guide on Tied Poker Hands.
Common Poker Hand Ranking Questions
Still have some questions about hand rankings in poker? No problem. Below are some of the most common queries players have about poker hands, so we'll give you a clear, definitive answer for each.
What is the Highest Poker Hand?
The highest (or best) Texas Hold'em poker hand is a Royal Flush. These are extremely rare in poker, and many players have played for years without ever making one. There are four possible combinations of a Royal Flush, which consist of an ace, king, queen, jack and ten all of the same suit.
Does a Flush Beat a Straight?
In Texas Hold'em poker, a Flush beats a Straight, as it's higher in the hand rankings. This is determined by math and the probability of making each hand - so a Flush is less common and more difficult to make than a Straight, and is therefore higher in the rankings.
Does a Full House Beat a Flush?
A Full House beats a Flush in Texas Hold'em poker. Like the previous example, Full Houses are less common than Flushes, so if Player A has a Full House and Player B has a Flush at showdown, Player A will win the pot.
Can Two Players Have the Same Poker Hand?
Yes, players can have the same poker hand. This is actually way more common than people think, as hands like Straight vs Straight or Two Pair vs Two Pair are seen frequently in Texas Hold'em. Having the exact same hand, such as the same valued Straight also happens from time to time. If, for instance, the five community cards make up each player's best five-card hand, then all remaining players at showdown will have identical hands and the pot will be split.
Want to delve deeper into what hands beat what? Check out our full guide on 'What Beats What in Poker?'
Kickers in Poker
Kicker is a common term in poker, but what are kickers and why are they important?
Kickers are used as a tie-breaker if two or more poker hands are the same. For instance, let's say one player has two pair - aces and kings, and another player has the same two pair. You then look to the fifth (and final) card to determine the winner of the hand. If the fifth card, the kicker, is also the same, then the pot is split between the remaining players.
There can be up to three kickers in a Texas Hold'em poker hand. You always start with the highest-valued card that isn't used in another hand combination (E.g. a card that isn't a part of a Pair or Three-of-a-kind), then the next highest, then finally the third highest.
Read our full guide on Kickers in Poker to find out more.
Probabilities in Poker
Poker is all about the equity involved in each hand, and how best to capitalize on your holding's value by the river.
So understanding the numbers, odds and probabilities behind the most popular hands in the game is crucial if you want to be a successful player. Outs is another important concept, and you should know how to calculate the number of outs your hand has, and the chances of making different hands on the early streets.
If you don't know, though, don't worry! We've got an entire page that focuses on this subject, including how and why to calculate your outs.
Read our full guide to the probabilities you must know in poker.
Best Starting Hands in Poker
It's tempting to play as many hands as possible preflop, in the hope of hitting big when the cards land. However, the best poker players fold more hands than they play.
Therefore, it's vital for beginners who are learning the game to be more selective with the hands they play. Part of this is knowing what the best starting hands in poker are that give you the best chance of making a hand postflop.
Read our complete guide on the Best (and Worst) Starting Hands in Poker.
Poker Hand Rankings by Game Type
As we've mentioned, hand rankings are set in stone for the specific, single poker game you're playing, BUT they will change from poker variant to variant. For instance, Texas Hold'em hand rankings do not change, but they are different to PLO rankings. In this section, we'll go through some of the most common variants of poker, as well as the notable examples of games with different rankings, so you don't get caught out!
Poker Hand Rankings in Texas Hold’em
By now, hopefully you'll be well-acquainted with the Texas Hold'em hand rankings. They are the typical standard poker rankings, where a Royal Flush is the best hand and a High Card is the lowest. This is the same for some other variations of Texas Hold'em, such as No-Limit and Fixed-Limit Hold'em.
Poker Hand Rankings in Omaha
In Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO), the hand rankings are the same as in Texas Hold'em. Omaha Hi-Lo (PLO8) works slightly differently, in that there are two pots to win during each hand. The player with the best conventional poker hand (using Texas Hold'em rankings) wins half of the total pot (the 'high' pot), while the other half (the 'low' pot) is won by the player with the lowest five-card hand.
Poker Hand Rankings in Short Deck
Short Deck poker, also known as 6+ or 6+ Hold'em, is a trickier one because it largely follows the same rules as traditional Texas Hold'em, but is just played with a smaller deck (2s-5s removed). As a result, Flushes are stronger than Full Houses in Short Deck, given that Flushes are statistically more difficult to make. Some other variations of Short Deck poker also rank Three-of-a-kind higher than Straights. Be sure to check the rules of any Short Deck game you play to avoid any costly mistakes!
Learn More About Poker Hands
- Probabilities in Poker
- Best Starting Hands in Texas Hold’em
- What are Kickers in Poker?
- Tied Poker Hands
- Short Deck Hand Rankings
- What Beats What in Poker?
- Poker Odds Calculator
- How to Play Texas Hold’em
- Beginner Poker Strategy Guide
Texas Hold'em Poker Hands Quiz
Think you've mastered the poker hand rankings in Texas Hold'em, what beats what and who wins when hands are tied? Try our Poker Hands Quiz below.
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