Poker Hands Ranked: Best to Worst, With Odds (Free)
All 10 poker hands from royal flush to high card, with examples, odds in 5 and 7 cards, and how ties and kickers work. Practise in free online poker.
Published · 5 min read
Poker hands rank from best to worst: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card. A hand is always the best five cards you can make. The rarer a hand is, the higher it ranks, and when two players have the same type of hand, the higher cards decide it. Below is each hand with an example and its odds, then how ties work. You can see the rankings in action in the free poker game, played with play chips only.
Poker hands, from best to worst
| Rank | Hand | Example | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush | A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ | Ace-high straight, all one suit |
| 2 | Straight flush | 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥ | Five in a row, all one suit |
| 3 | Four of a kind | Q♣ Q♦ Q♥ Q♠ 7♦ | Four cards of the same rank |
| 4 | Full house | 8♠ 8♦ 8♥ K♣ K♠ | Three of a kind plus a pair |
| 5 | Flush | A♦ J♦ 9♦ 6♦ 2♦ | Any five of one suit, not in a row |
| 6 | Straight | 10♣ 9♦ 8♠ 7♥ 6♣ | Five in a row, mixed suits |
| 7 | Three of a kind | 5♥ 5♣ 5♠ K♦ 2♣ | Three cards of the same rank |
| 8 | Two pair | J♠ J♥ 4♦ 4♣ A♠ | Two different pairs |
| 9 | One pair | 10♥ 10♠ K♣ 8♦ 3♥ | Two cards of the same rank |
| 10 | High card | A♣ Q♦ 9♠ 6♥ 3♣ | None of the above |
A royal flush is really just the best possible straight flush, but it's usually listed on its own.
Aces high and low
An ace counts high (above the king) or low (below the 2), but only at the ends of a straight. A-K-Q-J-10 is the highest straight; 5-4-3-2-A, called a "wheel", is the lowest. Straights don't wrap around, so Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.
Suits are all equal
No suit beats another: two equal hands split the pot, whatever the suits.
How often each hand comes up
The odds depend on how many cards you choose from. In five-card games you get exactly five. In Texas Hold'em you pick the best five from seven (your two plus the five shared cards), which makes strong hands much more common. We re-counted the five-card figures by checking all 2,598,960 possible hands. The seven-card figures are the standard exact counts over all 133,784,560 possible seven-card combinations, and they add up to that total.
| Hand | Chance in 5 cards | Chance in 7 cards (Hold'em) |
|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 1 in 649,740 | 1 in 30,940 |
| Straight flush (not royal) | 1 in 72,193 | 1 in 3,591 |
| Four of a kind | 1 in 4,165 | 1 in 595 |
| Full house | 1 in 694 | 1 in 39 (2.6%) |
| Flush | 1 in 509 | 1 in 33 (3.0%) |
| Straight | 1 in 255 | 1 in 22 (4.6%) |
| Three of a kind | 1 in 47 (2.1%) | 1 in 21 (4.8%) |
| Two pair | 1 in 21 (4.8%) | 1 in 4.3 (23.5%) |
| One pair | 42.3% | 43.8% |
| High card | 50.1% | 17.4% |
Two things stand out. With seven cards you'll have at least a pair about 83% of the time, so a single pair is often not enough to win in Hold'em. And in seven-card play, high card (17.4%) is less common than two pair (23.5%), though the ranking stays the same because it's based on the five-card odds.
Ties and kickers
When two players have the same kind of hand, compare cards in this order:
- Four of a kind: the higher four wins. If both share the same four on the board, the fifth card (the kicker) decides.
- Full house: compare the three of a kind first, then the pair. 8-8-8-2-2 beats 7-7-7-A-A.
- Flush: compare the highest card, then the next, and so on down all five. A♦ J♦ 9♦ 6♦ 2♦ beats A♥ J♥ 8♥ 7♥ 5♥ on the third card.
- Straight: the higher top card wins. 6-high beats a 5-high wheel.
- Three of a kind: the higher three, then the kickers.
- Two pair: the higher top pair, then the lower pair, then the fifth card.
- One pair: the higher pair, then the three kickers in order.
- High card: compare card by card from the top.
A kicker is any card in your five that isn't part of the pair, trips or quads. Kickers only count if they're in the best five cards. A Hold'em example: the board is A♠ 9♦ 7♣ 4♥ 2♠. You hold A♦ K♣ and your opponent A♥ Q♦. Both have a pair of aces; your king kicker beats their queen, so you win.
If everything is equal across all five cards, the pot is split. That happens when the best hand is on the board itself, for example when the five shared cards form a straight that neither player can beat.
Same ranking, different games
This is the standard ranking for Texas Hold'em and most poker games. Video poker uses the same order but pays a fixed amount per hand, starting at a pair of jacks or higher; our free video poker uses play credits and shows its pay table. Lowball variants rank hands differently, but you won't meet them in Hold'em.
See the rankings in a real hand
In the free poker game, once the flop is out the game tells you your current best hand, such as "You have: two pair", and at the showdown it names the winning hand. The chips have no value; nothing can be bought or won. If you're learning the game from scratch, how to play Texas Hold'em covers the betting rounds.
Play a hand
Sit down with a few computer players in the free poker game; it runs in your browser with no sign-up.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best hand in poker?
- A royal flush: A, K, Q, J and 10 of the same suit. It's the highest straight flush and can't be beaten, only tied.
- Does a flush beat a straight?
- Yes. A flush beats a straight, and a full house beats both.
- Do suits matter in poker?
- Not in standard poker. All suits are equal, so equal hands split the pot.
- What is a kicker?
- A card in your best five that isn't part of your pair, three or four of a kind. It breaks ties between equal hands, such as two players with a pair of aces.
- What are the odds of a royal flush?
- 1 in 649,740 for a five-card hand, and about 1 in 30,940 when choosing the best five from seven cards, as in Texas Hold'em.
Games
Try Texas Hold'em Poker
Free, no sign-up, works in your browser. Play no-limit Texas Hold'em against one to five computer players with play chips.