Beginner's Guide To Poker Hand Rankings

If you are new to Poker, the first thing you should learn is poker hand ranking. Knowledge of these rankings is essential before you play in Internet poker room.

A set of five cards makes a poker hand. Each poker hand is ranked based on the poker ranking system. The player with the highest ranking hand wins the game. In some poker games, players have more than five cards. In such games, a combination of the best five cards is considered for ranking.

The value of the cards increases from 2 to K. Ace is considered the highest or the lowest depending upon the situation. Here are the different types of poker winning hands in the increasing order of poker ranking.

One Pair: This hand consists of two cards of the same value. All the other three cards are different. For example, a hand of 4-4-8-6-2. If there are two players that have one pair, then the one who has a pair of higher value wins. If even the pairs are of the same value, then the highest odd cards of both the hands are compared. The player having the odd card with higher value wins. If these cards are also of the same value, then the value of the subsequent highest odd is checked and so forth.

Two Pairs: This hand consists of two pairs. These two pairs have different values. The fifth card is an odd card that does not match with any of the two pairs. For example, a poker hand of 4-4-5-5-9. If two players have two pairs, then the poker ranking is higher for the hand having a pair of highest value.

Three Of A Kind: This is also known as triplet. It consists of three cards of the same value and two odd cards. For example, a hand of 4-4-4-5-6

Straight: A straight consists of five cards of consecutive values. It is not essential that these cards should be of the same suit. For example, a hand of 7-8-9-10-J

Flush: This winning hand consists of five cards of the same suit, irrespective of their values. If two players have flush, then the value of the highest card is compared for determining poker ranking. In case, the value of the highest cards is also the same, then the value of the subsequent highest card is compared and so forth.

Full House: A full house consists of a set of three and a pair. This means it has three cards of the same value and two cards of the same value. For example, 4-4-4-6-6.

Four Of A Kind: It consists of four cards of the same value. The fifth card is an odd card. For example, a hand of 4-4-4-4-8. If two players have quads, then the one with higher value wins.

Straight Flush: It consists of five cards of the same suit in consecutive order. For example, if a player has all cards of spades with values 5,6,7,8, and 9. If two players get Royal flushes, there is a tie. There is no poker ranking based on the suit.

Royal Flush: The probability of getting a Royal flush is the least. This hand consists of ten, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, all of the same suit. This combination has the highest poker ranking.