Texas Holdem Hands Highest To Lowest
With few exceptions, all poker games place hands on the same
scale from high- to low-value. Poker hands are ranked depending
on their likelihood. The least-likely hands are the
highest-ranked; the most common hands are the lowest-ranked.
Identical poker hands are ranked by which hands holds cards of
the highest value.
Texas Holdem Poker Hand Rankings In Order. The first things that you need to learn when playing Texas Holdem are rules and poker hand rankings. Without knowing what beats what you will be struggling to move forward. Thus, spending a few minutes going over the list of poker hands in order will pay for itself in no time.
Poker Hand Rank
The strength of your starting hand in Texas Hold'em can help you determine your chances of winning, even before the remaining cards are dealt. From a pair of aces — the strongest starting hand — to a 2 and a 7, knowing the strength of your starting hand is an important part of your success at the table. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high games, like Texas hold 'em and seven-card stud, the highest-ranking hands win. In low games, like razz, the lowest-ranking hands win. 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? Poker Hand Ranks. A Hand is a player's five-card combination. Below is their ranking order. The five highest cards in a suit- Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten, all of the same suit.
Here is the standard hand rank, from highest to lowest:
A royal flush is a hand where all the cards are of the same suit and the 5 highest cards in consecutive order (10, J, Q, K, A). This hand is the best hand that you can get in the game of Texas Hold’em.
A straight flush is a hand where all the cards are of the same suit and are in consecutive order. For example, a 23456, all of hearts, is a straight flush. In the event of a tie, the straight flush with the highest card wins.
A 4 of a kind is a hand where 4 of the 5 cards are of the same ranking. An example of a hand with a 4 of a kind might have KKKK2. That would be the 2 in every suit–clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. In the event of a tie, the 4 of a kind with the highest hand ranking wins.
A full house is a hand that consists of 3 cards of one rank and 2 cards of another rank. An example of a full house might look like this: KKKQQ. In the event of a tie, the hand with the higher cards in the 3 cards is the winner.
A flush is a hand that consists of 5 cards of the same suit—clubs, diamonds, hearts, or spades. In the event of a tie, the flush with the highest card is the winner.
A straight is a hand where all 5 cards of consecutive ranks. 23456 is an example of a straight. In the event of a tie, the straight with the highest card is the winner.
2 pairs is a hand where you have 2 cards of one rank and 2 cards of another rank along with a final card of another rank. An example of 2 pairs might look like this: AAKK7.In the event of a tie, the hand with the highest pair wins.
1 pair is a hand where you 2 cards of one rank and 3 cards with different ranks. An example of a pair might look like this: JJ278. In the event of a tie, the higher ranked pair wins.
High card means a hand where none of the other hand rankings apply. If no one still in the hand can make a pair or better, the player with the highest card in his hand wins the pot.
Playing a live game of poker requires that you know this
hierarchy. For new players, this may seem a little daunting.
After all, here you have nine pieces of complex information to
remember in precise order.
A Word About Mnemonic Devices
I learned the order of poker hands using a mnemonic. I think
anyone can use this simple method to learn the hierarchy in a
matter of minutes. Mnemonics are popular memory devices used by
students, teachers, and people of all stripes for hundreds of
years in order to remember complex information.
You probably used a mnemonic device to remember the order of
the planets in our solar system. I remember learning the
sentence: “My very excellent mother just served us nine pizzas.”
The first letter of each of the words in that sentence will help
you remember that the planets go in this order – Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. I’ll
probably never forget that fact, thanks to the mnemonic device I
was taught.
The trouble is, it’s hard to convert hand rankings into
words. Besides that, I don’t think you learn much about poker by
simply memorizing the order of hands. You should use the
opportunity of needing to learn proper hand hierarchy to improve
your understanding of poker strategy.
The tips below will help you understand the proper order of
poker hands better and introduce you to some basic poker
concepts to help you improve your overall game.
Low-Value Poker Hands
To remember the order of the four lowest-value hands, just
remember the number series “0, 1, 2, 3.”
- 0 means “high card.” Having nothing in your hand means
the value of your hand depends on the value of your highest
card. Remember – in poker, aces rank high, while 2’s rank
low. - 1 means “one pair.” Any hand that contains just a single
pair of cards and nothing else valuable is a 1. - 2 means “two pair.” This is a hand that contains two
pairs of cards. - 3 means “three-of-a-kind.” It’s the most valuable of the
low-value hands.
High-Value Poker Hands
For the purpose of this post, I’m calling every hand above a
three-of-a-kind a “high-value hand,” but lots of poker
strategists would consider a straight to be a low-value hand.
This is really a difference in philosophy and a language issue
more than anything else.
For that reason, and for simplicity’s sake, I like to think
of straight as a “/” symbol in my mnemonic. That means our
current mnemonic string goes: “0, 1, 2, 3, /.”
Texas Holdem Hands Highest To Lowest Average
It’s easier to memorize the order of the other high-ranking
hands if you count the number of letters in the hand’s name.
It’s made all the easier to remember by the fact that the number
of letters increases as you move up the scale.
Here’s how I break it down:
- 5 – The word flush contains five letters.
- 9 – The words full house contain nine letters.
- 11 – The words four of a kind contain eleven letters.
- 13 – The words straight flush contain thirteen letters.
- 18 – The words royal straight flush contain eighteen
letters.
Putting them all together, our mnemonic is: “0 – 1 – 2 – 3 /
5 – 9 – 11 – 13 – 18.”
Other Ways to Memorize Hand Hierarchy
I’m not going to pretend that the method I used to learn hand
hierarchy is the only one that will work. The three ideas below
are the most popular tactics on the Web besides the use of
mnemonics, based on my research. You can use any of the four
methods described on this post to keep track of what hand beats
what other hand. That way, you’ll be able to plan your tactics
ahead of time and make smart bidding decisions.
Rote Memorization
Some people learn best by repeated drilling of the material
to be memorized. I’ve heard of actors reading their scripts over
and over, playing tapes of the script in their sleep, and
learning their lines by rote. I can’t think of any reason why
you shouldn’t try this method.
Hand Evaluation Diagrams
Various poker trainer programs and strategy gurus have put
together diagrams to help you analyze your hand. You can use
these in poker rooms, and obviously you can use them online, so
long as you don’t care about the other guys at the table making
fun of you. They’re available for free with a simple Google
search.
Frequent Exposure
The more rounds of poker you play, the more you’ll become
familiar with all the rules, including the rules of hand
ranking. You may lose a bunch on the way there, because of your
lack of familiarity with hand ranks, but, by God, you’ll get it
eventually.
Conclusion
Remember that some poker variations assign different values
to cards and hands. Some games are totally reversed, rewarding
the lowest-value hand instead of the highest-value one. Other
games may consider an Ace to be low, or use Jokers, which throws
off the hierarchy and strategy a bit.
I hope that this page helped you learn about the value of the
cards you’re dealt. I believe the best way to practice your
newfound understanding of hand hierarchy is to get out there and
play a bunch of poker. If you’re still new to the game and not
yet comfortable with your understanding of hand rankings, you
can always play in free-to-play apps or use play-money at your
favorite online poker room.
For beginner poker players, memorizing the poker hand rankings can seem overwhelming. There are a lot of moving parts in a poker hand and trying to remember if a straight beats a flush can be confusing.
Don't panic, though. What seems confusing at first will become second nature very quickly. As an added benefit, poker hand rankings for all standard 'high hand' poker games - Texas Hold'em, Omaha, 7-Card Stud, etc - are always the same.
A Royal Flush will always be the best hand you can get. A full house will always beat a flush. And a set will always beat two pair.
There are some poker hand ranking situations that will arise where you might need a little help - we've identified and explained a few of those below the hand ranking chart below.
Trust us - you'll get it! And soon you'll be the expert explaining to your friend at your home game why his two pair is the losing hand. Bookmark this page to keep our poker hand ranking chart as an easy reference guide - and check back for a downloadable Poker Hand Ranking PDF to come soon!
Official Poker Hand Rankings
Poker Hand Ranking FAQ
Which is higher a flush or a straight?
Always the flush is higher! This is one of the bigger misconceptions of poker hand rankings.
Despite it seeming to some that a straight is more difficult to get, a flush – meaning five cards of the same suit – is actually less likely of a hand to put together. Therefore the Flush is ranked higher than the Straight.
This applies in every situation – even if the Straight has more high cards (or the highest card) between the two hands. A Straight Flush, which is a straight with all of the cards of the same suit (eg. 4h-5h-6-h-7h-8h), is higher than both of those hands.
Which is higher, three-of-a-kind or two pair?
This is another common poker hand ranking confusion. A “set” or “trips” or 3 of a kind ALWAYS beats two pair.
Again it doesn’t matter if it’s a set of 2s and the two pair are Aces and Kings – the set always wins.
How do you know which two pair hand is higher?
The ranking of your two-pair hand is NEVER the sum of your two pairs. So, for example, two pair of Aces and 2s is ALWAYS higher than two pairs of Kings and Queens. The face cards look more powerful, sure, but it is only the HIGHEST single pair of the two pair that determines the winner.
If both of the high pairs are the same then the second pair will determine the winner. If both pairs are exactly the same the higher 5th card – aka “the kicker” decides the winner.
How do you know which Flush is higher?
If two players both have a Flush the hand with the highest card is the winning Flush. This means any Flush with an Ace is it will win over any other Flush. Much like two pair the combined total of the Flush is not relevant – only the single highest card determines the winning hand.
So: Ah-9h-7h-5h-2h beats Kh-Qh-Jh-Th-8h
If the top card of the Flush is the same in both hands (ie it’s from the shared community cards), the next highest Flush that’s not shared determines the winner. If the Flush is entirely on the board and neither player has a card of the same suit in their hole cards, it’s a split pot as long as neither player folds.
What is a kicker in poker?
A kicker is an unmatched card that's not part of a made hand that determines who wins when two players have the same ranked hand.
Texas Holdem Hands Highest To Lowest Points
For example if both player have a single pair of aces, the next highest card in each of their hands are matched against each other to see which is highest. Eg.
- Player 1 has A-A-Q-6-2
- Player 2 has A-A-9-7-6
Player 1 is the winner as the Queen 'kicker' is higher than the 9 kicker. If the first kicker cards are the same, eg AAQ and AAQ, the next kicker card is then used to determine the winner.
If players both have the exact same two-pairs, the remaining fifth card is the kicker. If players have the exact same three-of-a-kind, the remaining two cards are kickers. If both hands have just a single high card all cards are considered the kickers
What does it mean to 'play the board?'
Playing the board means the 5 shared community cards in the middle of the table are the five cards that make up a player's best possible five card hand.
For example if the board cards are:
A-K-Q-J-T of different suits and a player's hole cards are the 6-7 of hearts, that player's best possible 5-card hand is the Broadway straight and his or her hole cards are inconsequential to the hand.
If all players left in the hand are 'playing the board,' the pot is split evenly among them. A player must make it all the way to the showdown to play the board.
Do Aces count as high or low?
In a standard 'high' poker game like Texas Hold'em aces can be played as either high or low. An ace can be used, for example, to complete the bottom end of the straight A-2-3-4-5. This is called a 'wheel' is is the lowest possible straight.
It can also of course be used as a high card as as the high end of a straight eg A-K-Q-J-T. It cannot, however, be 'wrapped around.' So Q-K-A-2-3 is NOT a straight.
In Lowball games Aces can be either high or low; it depends on the game variation. For specific poker hand rankings for lowball games, check our rules pages below.
Is 'Three Pair' a hand?
Three pair is not a hand. Your best poker hand is made up of 5 cards and 5 cards only. You can never have three pair.
Which poker suit is the highest?
In standard 'high hand' poker games like Texas Hold'em and Omaha, suits are not ranked compared to each other. Meaning no one suit is ranked higher and suits are not used to determine the winning hand. Only the card rankings matter
In other card games, however, suits can be ranked and come into play when determining betting order or winning hands. Typically suits are ranked in reverse alphabetical order from lowest to highest.
The only place where suit can come into play in poker is in 7-Card Stud, when the player with the lowest card showing has to pay the 'bring in' bet in the first betting round. If two players have the same ranked card, suits can be used to break the tie.
Are all red cards or all black cards a good hand?
Unless the suits are the same, five cards all of the same color are not a poker hand. A Flush by definition will have all red or black cards but all the cards must be diamonds or hearts or clubs or spades for it to be a Flush.
More Poker Games Rules
Further Reading: