Poker hand rankings

Ten hands, best to worst. In Texas Hold'em your hand is the best five cards you can make from your two hole cards plus the five on the table — this list decides who wins the pot.

#	Hand	What it is
1	Royal flush	Ace-high straight, all one suit. The rarest hand in poker — many players never see one.
2	Straight flush	Five cards in sequence, all one suit. Between two, the higher top card wins.
3	Four of a kind	All four cards of one rank, plus any fifth card.
4	Full house	Three of a kind plus a pair. The three-card rank decides between full houses.
5	Flush	Any five cards of one suit. Between two flushes, the highest card wins.
6	Straight	Five cards in sequence, mixed suits. An ace can sit high (A-K-Q-J-10) or low (5-4-3-2-A).
7	Three of a kind	Three cards of one rank, two unmatched cards.
8	Two pair	Two different pairs plus a fifth card. Highest pair compares first.
9	One pair	Two cards of one rank. Plenty of pots are won with just a pair.
10	High card	Nothing connects. Your best card is your hand — "ace high" beats "king high".

Kickers — how equal hands get separated

When two players have the same made hand — say, both hold a pair of tens — the leftover cards decide it. Those spare cards are called kickers, and they're compared highest first. A pair of tens with an ace kicker beats a pair of tens with a king kicker. Kickers settle more pots than beginners expect, which is one reason the quality of your whole starting hand matters, not just whether it can pair.

Wins Pair of tens, ace kicker

Loses Pair of tens, king kicker

Ties and split pots

If the best five-card hands are exactly equal — same ranks all the way down — the pot is split evenly. Suits never break a tie in Texas Hold'em. This happens more than you'd think, because both players share the five community cards: if the board itself is the best hand, everyone left standing chops the pot.

Board The board is an ace-high straight — the best hand all by itself

Split Player one's cards can't improve it — they "play the board"

Split So can't player two — the pot is chopped evenly

One list, no exceptions

A royal flush isn't really its own category — it's simply the best possible straight flush. And note what the order tells you: the hands are ranked by how hard they are to make. Flushes beat straights because they come around less often; the full list above never changes, in any game, at any table.

Which hand wins? Four showdowns

The rule that trips beginners up: the category always beats the cards inside it. A higher hand type wins no matter how big the cards in the lower one are. Watch it play out:

Three of a kind vs two pair

Wins Three twos — the smallest trips in the deck

Loses Aces and kings — the biggest two pair

Flush vs straight

Wins A nine-high flush — nothing special, still a flush

Loses The best straight there is — and it doesn't matter

Flush vs flush

Wins Ace-high flush

Loses King-high flush — same category, so the top card decides

The wheel — when the ace plays low

Wins A six-high straight

Loses The "wheel" (5-4-3-2-A) — here the ace counts as one, making this the lowest straight in the game

Stop memorizing. Start recognizing.

You'll learn the rankings ten times faster when real hands are in front of you. Cardamoo's guided lessons deal them to you live — and the coach explains what you're holding and why it matters, as you play.

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A guided tutorial lesson at a real table in Cardamoo

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