Texas Holdem Rankings for All 169 Starting Hands. Ever since the early days of Texas holdem poker, players have attempted to analyze and organize the 169 possible two card starting hands found in the game. Whether you are new to poker or just looking for pre-flop range advice on which hands to play in certain situations, you have come to the right place. I have been playing and winning at poker since 2008 and have put together some charts for you. The chart will work well both online and live, in cash games and tournaments. Now that you have our starting hands range and you have all the information you need on your Excel printable file, it's time to continue this poker lab experiment with more poker guides. This article covers all poker hands, from hands in standard games of poker, to lowball, to playing with a variety of wild cards. Scroll to the end to find an in-depth ranking of suits for several countries, including many European countries and North American continental standards. Poker Hand Rankings Chart. Print out this free poker hand rankings chart – and always know the best winning poker hands. Poker hands are ranked in order from best to worst.

There are 10 different hands ranks in Texas Hold’em – from a Royal Flush to a Straight to a lousy High Card. Here’s a comprehensive list of all Texas Hold’em poker hand rankings:

You can also print and download the Official Texas Hold’em hand ranking as a PDF file.

Chart: Poker Hand Ranking

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Official Poker Hand Rankings

• Royal flush: A straight from a ten to an ace with all five cards in the same suit.
• Straight Flush: Any straight with all five cards in the same suit.
• Four of a Kind or Poker or Quads: Any four cards of the same rank. If two players share the same four of a kind (on the board), the larger fifth card (the “kicker”) decides who wins the pot.
• Full House or Boat: Three cards of the same rank along with two cards of the same rank. In short: trips and a pair.
• Flush: All five cards of the same suit (not necessarily consecutive). The highest card determines the rank of the flush.
• Straight: Five consecutive cards (not necessarily the same suit). Aces can count as either high or low cards, but not as both at once. Meaning, a straight cannot go “around the corner”.
• Trips: Three cards of the same value. If two players have the same trips the highest kicker decides who wins the pot.
• Two Pair: Any two cards of the same rank together with two other cards of the same rank.
• One Pair: Any two cards of the same rank.
• High Card: Any hand that is none of the above hands.

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Poker Hand Rankings Explained

• If two players have a Straight or Straight Flush, the higher Straight or Straight Flush wins.
• If two players have a quads, the player with the highest quad wins. If they are identical, the highest kicker wins.
• If two players have a flush, the player with the highest card in the flush wins. If they are identical, the second highest card decides, then the third highest, and so on. The suit of the flush does not matter.
• If two players have a full house, the player with the higher trips wins. If they are identical, the player with the higher pair wins.
• If two players have two pairs, the player with the bigger pair wins. If they are identical, the player with the higher pair wins. If they are also identical, the player with the highest kicker wins.
• If two players have a pair, the player with the higher pair wins. If they are identical, the highest kicker wins, then the second highest, then the third highest.
• If two players have a high card, the highest card wins. If they are identical, the second highest card decides, etc.

How many Poker Hands are there?

There are only 10 distinct poker hand ranks, but if you randomly deal 5 cards from a deck of 52 cards there are exactly 2,598,960 possible card combinations.

Poker Hand Odds for 5-Card-Poker

The poker hand ranking charts are based on the probability for each distinct hand rank. More unlikely combinations are ranked higher. Those are the probabilities and odds for all 5-card poker hands:

Poker Hand Odds for Texas Hold’em

If you’re playing Texas Hold’em, you have 7 cards to chose your hand from. There are 133,784,560 to deal 7 random cards. This changes the odds and probabilities for all poker hands a bit. Those are the probabilities and odds for all Texas Hold’em Poker hands:

Technically it’s more likely that you’re dealt at least a pair in Texas Hold’em than holding only high card. But “High Card” still remains the lowest rank.

FAQ: Poker Hand Rankings

Does 2 pairs beat a straight?

When playing Texas Hold’em (or any other popular poker variant) 2 pairs are always ranked below a straight.

Does 3 Aces beat a straight?

3 Aces are just trips (or three of a kind) in poker. When playing regular Texas Hold’em a straight is ranked above trips. There are however rule variations where trips can bet a straight, namely Short Deck Hold’em, a poker variant where all cards below 5 are removed.

Does 5 of a kind beat a royal flush?

In regular poker variants there are is no 5-of-kind rank. When playing with wildcards (joker) 5 of a kind are possible. In this case 5 of a kind are the highest possible poker hand and beat a royal flush.

Does a full house beat 3 aces?

Every full house always beats trips, no matter the rank of the trips. Even trip aces are always ranked below every possible full house.

Does Royal Straight beat flush?

A Royal Flush is the best possible poker hand and of course always beats any other flush.

Does straight beat a full house?

Every common poker variant, including Texas Hold’em, ranks a Full House above a straight. So no, a Straight never beats a Full House in Poker.

What beats a royal flush?

In all regular modern poker variations (including Texas Hold’em and Omaha) a Royal Flush is always the highest possible hand rank. A higher rank is only possible when playing with a Joker. In this case 5 of a kind (4 Aces plus Joker) beats a Royal Flush.

What can beat a flush in poker?

A Flush is a very strong hand in poker. The only hands that beat a Flush are Full House, Quads, Straight Flush, and Royal Flush.

How rare is a royal flush?

A Royal Flush is extremely rare. When playing Texas Hold’em you’ll only get one every 31,000 hands. And that assumes you never fold. The hand is so rare that most poker players can remember all Royal Flushes they have been dealt in their life time.

What are the odds of hitting a straight flush?

Straight Flushes are almost as rare as Royal Flushes. When playing Texas Hold’em you will hit a Straight Flush roughly every 3,600 hands (assuming you never fold any hand that can make a Straight Flush).

Can you have 3 pairs in poker?

There is no “3 pair” hand rank in poker. When playing Texas Hold’em it’s technically possible to have three pairs, but since a poker hand only consists of 5 cards only the 2 highest pairs are in play. For example, if you hold Q-J and the board reads Q-J-6-A-A you only have two pair: Aces and Queens.

Does Royal Flush have to be spades?

A Royal Flush can be any of the 4 suits, spades, hearts, diamonds, or clubs. It’s just that usually a Royal Flush is depicted in spades or hearts. Nevertheless, it doesn’t matter which suit, a Royal Flush is always the best Texas Hold’em Poker Hand.

How many kickers can you have in poker?

A poker hand can consist of up to 5 kickers. A player with no pair only has kickers. A player with one pair has 3 kickers, a player with trips has 2 kickers, and a player with 2 pair or quads has 1 kicker.

Is Ace a 1 in poker?

When building a straight an Ace can be used as a virtual “1” in poker. Meaning, A-2-3-4-5 is a straight. There are also lowball poker variations where the Ace counts as the lowest card.

Is an Ace 2 3 4 5 a straight?

Yes, the ace can count as the lowest card in a straight and function as a “1” when combined with 2-3-4-5.

Is JQKA 2 a straight?

A straight cannot go “around the corner”, the Ace can only be either the highest or the lowest card, not a card in the middle. So no, J-Q-K-A-2 is no straight in poker.

Is Queen King Ace 2 3 a straight?

A straight cannot go “around the corner”, the Ace can only be either the highest or the lowest card, not a card in the middle. So no, Q-K-A-2-3 is no straight in poker.

Is there a kicker on a straight?

For a straight you need to use all 5 cards. There are no cards left for a kicker. The rank of the straight is determined by the highest card. E.g. an ace-high straight beats a queen-high straight.

What is a flush in poker?

A flush in poker is hand which consists of 5 cards of the same suit. The same color (red or black) is not enough. It has to 5 spades, hearts, diamonds, or clubs.

What is the highest royal flush in poker?

There are no distinctions between the 4 possible Royal Flushes in poker. A Royal Flush in spades is as good as a Royal Flush in hearts, diamonds, or clubs.

What is the highest suit in Texas Hold’em poker?

Only in very rare occasions (for example when dealing for the button) the suits are ranked in poker. In this case the ranking is: 1. spades, 2. hearts, 3. diamonds, 4. clubs. Suits are otherwise generally not ranked in poker. A Flush in spades is as good as a flush in any other suit, only the ranks of the cards matter.

What is the lowest pair in a game of poker?

In poker the lowest possible pair is a pair of Deuces (twos).

How do you win bad beat jackpots in poker?

To win a bad beat jackpot in poker you need to lose with a very strong hand, usually a strong Full House (Aces Full). It’s also necessary that both, the winning hand losing player, user both of their hole cards. E.g. losing with quads on the board does not count.

What are the odds of hitting a bad beat jackpot in poker?

The odds of hitting a bad beat jackpot in poker depend on the rules for the jackpot. If you have to lose with Aces Full or better your odds of hitting the bad beat jackpot are 1:58,948. If you have to lose with quads or better your odds are 1:624,609 (assuming a 10 player table where nobody ever folds).

What is a bad beat in poker?

If you lose with a very strong hand against an even stronger hand this is called a “bad beat”. It is also a bad beat if you lose an all-in while being far ahead and you opponent wins by catching some miracle cards.

How many 5 stud poker hands are there?

5 Card Stud is one of the oldest poker variants where each player is dealt 5 cards. There are exactly 2,598,960 different 5 stud poker hands possible.

How many poker hands are there?

There are only 10 distinct poker hand ranks, but if you randomly deal 5 cards from a deck of 52 cards there are exactly 2,598,960 possible card combinations. If you’re playing Texas Hold’em, you have 7 cards to chose your hand from. There are 133,784,560 to deal 7 random cards.

What happens if two hands tie in poker?

It’s possible (and not too uncommon) for two players to have the same hand in poker. In this case the pot is split and both players receive half the pot.

What happens if two people have a royal flush?

When playing Texas Hold’em it’s almost impossible for two players to have a Royal Flush. For that to happen the 5 community cards need to form a Royal Flush. In that case all players in the hand win and split the pot.

What happens if two poker hands are the same?

If two players have the same hand, the pot is split and both players win half of it. This can happen for example if both players have the same cards (e.g. Ace-King) and nobody makes a Flush.

How do you hit a royal flush on video poker?

In Video Poker you can win the jackpot when you hit a Royal Flush. To maximize your chances you should always keep all suited cards 10 or above (if you have at least 2) and discard the rest. You will see a Royal Flush roughly once every 40,000 spins.

What are the odds of hitting a royal flush on a video poker machine?

The odds of hitting a royal flush directly are only 1 in 649,739. But since you can draw one time your odds increase. If you play perfectly your odds of hitting a royal flush are roughly 1 in 40,000.

Poker hand rankings can, admittedly, be a little confusing at first when you start playing poker. However, with a little practice, you will know the rankings of all the different poker hands like the back of your hands. In fact, anyone that plays poker regularly will have the rankings etched in their minds and they don’t even have to think about it anymore, they just know. Heck! You could wake them up from a slumber and ask them what hand beats what in Poker and they will be able to tell you.

So, if you are someone still trying to get the hang of all the different poker hands and their rankings, worry not. It will come with time and it will come sooner than you think. However, we have composed an article that you can use for quick reference to help you along your way and to make the learning curve slightly more gradual.

While referring to the rankings provided in this article, it must be noted that poker is a game of with a rich history that dates all the way back to the 16th century. Therefore, there are now several different versions of poker. The ranking system may not be the same in all versions. Having said that, this ranking system is the most commonly used and applicable to all the major and well known versions of Poker such as Texas hold em’, Chinese Poker, Chicago, Poker Menteur and PaiGow Poker. Therefore, these rankings are referred to as the ‘Standard’ Poker Hand Rating.

So, without any further ado, let us dig into the standard poker hierarchy and take a closer look at the different hands and where they stand in comparison to other hands or combinations.

Standard Poker Hand Ranking

Contents

Ranking Of Poker Hands Printable

• Standard Poker Hand Ranking

Firstly, let us address the basic question of what a Poker hand is. A Poker hand is a combination of five cards that the player has. The rankings of the various hands themselves have been enumerated below. A hand which is ranked higher will beat a hand ranked lower and the highest ranked hand will take the pot at the end of the betting rounds (provided that the player did not fold the hand).

While one standard deck of 52 cards is sufficient to play Poker, virtually all casinos and Poker rooms use two decks because this allows for the game to flow faster and for more possible potential combinations.

What beats what in Poker? Ranking hands from highest to lowest

Straight Flush

In a poker game where there are no wild cards in play or use, a straight flush is going to be the highest ranked hand that you can possible have. In other words, there is no other hand that anyone else can have that can beat a straight flush. So what cards do you need for a Straight Flush? Well, a straight flush requires not only five cards in numerical sequence, but these five cards should also belong to the same suit.

For example – Jack of clubs, 10 of clubs, 9 of clubs, 8 of clubs and 7 of clubs would make for a straight flush. Likewise, 5 of hearts, four of hearts, 3 of hearts, 2 of hearts and Ace of hearts is also a straight flush.

However, you can further distinguish between two straight flushes as to which one is ranked higher than the other. For this, you just need to look at the highest card in which straight flush, and which ever hand has the higher highest card will be the straight flush that wins. The highest straight flush that you can have is called a royal flush.

A royal flush will consist of the cards A, K, Q, J, and 10 which all belong to the same suit. Another thing to remember about a straight flush is that it cannot loop over, that is, it 4 of diamonds, 3 of diamonds, 2 of diamonds, Ace of diamonds and King of diamonds cannot be considered a straight flush.

Poker Hands Ranking Printable Chart

Four of a Kind

Four of a kind is the second most highly ranked hand in the standard rankings. Four of a kind, as the name suggests is when the hand comprises of four cards which are all of the same rank. Thus, this could be four jacks or four queens, or four kings, or four 10’s. Obviously, they will be of different suits. The fifth card can be anything and it is called the kicker.

You can also further distinguish two four of a kind hands as one being higher than the other. This depends on the rank of the four cards. For example, 7 of hearts, 7 of diamonds, 7 of clubs and 7 of spades is considered higher that say 4 of clubs, 4 of spades, 4 of diamonds and 4 of hearts because of the fact that 7 is higher or greater than 4.

Full House

A full house is a hand which is also sometimes referred to as a boat. In a full house, all five cards in the hand are considered and evaluated. It is known as a full house when the hand comprises of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank.

For example, a 6 of hearts, 6 of spades, 6 of diamonds, a 7 of clubs and 7 of hearts is considered a full house. It is essentially a three of a kind and a two of a kind both in just one hand.

Flush

A flush is another hand wherein all five cards in the hand are considered. A flush is when you have five cards that may be of different ranks, but all five belong to the same suit.

For example, a 5 of hearts, a King of hearts, a 3 of hearts, an Ace of hearts, and a 2 of hearts will be considered a flush since they all belong to the same suit – Hearts!

Straight

A straight is like a flush, but instead of the suit being the same, the ranks need to be the same in a Straight. So, if you have a sequence of five cards which is unbroken, but of different suits, then you are said to be holding a straight.

For example – 10 of hearts, 9 of diamonds, 8 of spades, 7 of clubs, and six of hearts is a straight since the numerical sequence is intact even though the suites are all mixed up.

Three of a kind

A three of a kind is a hand wherein of the five cards, you have three cards which have the same ranking. The suits can be different in a three of a kind. The other two cards in your hand maybe anything, and it does not really matter unless there is another player on the table who also happens to have a three of a kind, in this case, the other two cards in the hands are considered and the player with the higher other two cards will emerge victorious.

Two pairs

Ranking Of Poker Hands Printable

A two pair is when you have one pair of cards that are equal in rank and another pair of cards that are also equal in rank.

For example, this hand is considered as a two pair – 4 of spades, 4 of hearts, 3 of clubs, 7 of clubs and 7 of diamonds.

Poker Hands Ranking Printable Chart

Pair

Ranking Poker Hands Printable

When you have two cards in your hand that are of the same rank, you are said to have a pair.