Texas Hold'em hand rankings — complete reference

The ranking from strongest to weakest

1. Royal flush. A, K, Q, J, 10 all of the same suit. The strongest hand in poker. Approximately 1 in 650,000 to make with seven cards.

2. Straight flush. Five sequential cards all of the same suit (e.g., 9-8-7-6-5 of hearts). Ranked by the highest card. Royal flush is technically the highest possible straight flush.

3. Four of a kind ("quads"). Four cards of the same rank plus one kicker (e.g., 8-8-8-8-K). Ranked by the four-card rank, then by kicker if needed.

4. Full house ("boat"). Three of a kind plus a pair (e.g., K-K-K-7-7). Ranked first by the three-card rank (kings full of sevens beats queens full of aces), then by the pair rank.

5. Flush. Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence (e.g., A-J-9-6-3 of clubs). Ranked by the highest card. Aces always play high.

6. Straight. Five sequential cards in mixed suits (e.g., 10-9-8-7-6). Ranked by the highest card. The A-2-3-4-5 ("wheel") straight uses the ace as the low card and ranks below 6-high.

7. Three of a kind ("trips" or "set"). Three cards of the same rank plus two unrelated cards (e.g., Q-Q-Q-9-3). "Set" refers to three of a kind made with a pocket pair plus one board card; "trips" refers to three of a kind made with one hole card plus two board cards.

8. Two pair. Two pairs of different ranks plus one unrelated kicker (e.g., A-A-7-7-K). Ranked first by the highest pair, then by the second pair, then by kicker.

9. One pair. Two cards of the same rank plus three unrelated kickers (e.g., J-J-A-9-3). Ranked by the pair, then by the kickers in descending order.

10. High card. No pair, no straight, no flush. Ranked by the highest card, then by subsequent cards in descending order until a difference is found.

Tie-breaking rules

When two players have hands of the same ranking, ties are broken by comparing cards within the hand:

• Same straight or straight flush: The hand with the higher top card wins.
• Same flush: Compare the highest card. If equal, compare the next-highest. Continue until a difference is found. If all five flush cards are identical (rare; happens when all five flush cards play from the board), the pot is split.
• Same four of a kind: The hand with the higher kicker wins. Identical kickers mean a split pot.
• Same full house: The higher three-card rank wins; pairs are tie-breaker.
• Same straight: Compare top cards.
• Same three of a kind: Compare three-card rank, then kicker 1, then kicker 2.
• Same two pair: Compare top pair, then second pair, then kicker.
• Same one pair: Compare pair rank, then kickers in descending order.
• Same high card: Compare cards in descending order until a difference is found.

Suits do not break ties in standard poker. A five-card hand played from the board with all suits matching can result in a tie among multiple players.

Worked examples

Example 1. Player A holds A♠-K♠; Player B holds A♣-K♣. Board: 10♥-J♠-Q♦-2♣-5♥. Both players make Broadway (A-K-Q-J-10 straight). Pot split.

Example 2. Player A holds A♠-A♦; Player B holds K♠-K♦. Board: K♥-2♣-3♦-7♠-A♥. Player A has trip aces with K kicker (A-A-A-K-7). Player B has trip kings full of aces — wait, recalculate: Player B has K-K-K-A-A which is kings full of aces. Player A has A-A-A-K-7 trip aces. Full house beats three of a kind. Player B wins.

Example 3. Player A holds Q♠-J♠; Player B holds 9♥-8♥. Board: 10♠-7♣-8♠-J♦-2♥. Player A has Q-J-10-8-7 (no pair; high card Q). Player B has J-10-9-8-7 (straight, jack-high). Player B's straight wins.

Example 4. Player A holds 9♥-2♥; Player B holds 7♥-3♥. Board: K♥-Q♥-5♥-A♣-4♦. Both players have flushes. Player A's flush: A-K-Q-9-2 (using one hole card 9♥). Player B's flush: A-K-Q-7-3 (using hole card 7♥). Player A's flush is higher (9 beats 7 on the fifth card after A-K-Q match).

Common misreads

• Two pair counts only the top two pairs plus kicker. A player holding K-Q on a K-Q-9-2-2 board has two pair (kings and queens with deuce kicker), not three pair.
• Straight rankings are by top card, not by location. A 10-9-8-7-6 straight beats a 9-8-7-6-5 straight.
• The wheel (A-2-3-4-5) is the lowest straight. It's still a straight (beats three of a kind, two pair, etc.) but ranks below 6-high straight.
• Trips with a pair on the board is a full house, not three of a kind. A player holding Q-7 on a Q-7-7-2-K board has 7-7-7-Q-K — three of a kind, not a full house. A player holding Q-Q on the same board has Q-Q-Q-7-7 — full house, queens full of sevens.

Practical implications for hand reading

Hand rankings shape range-vs-hand thinking. Strong made hands (flushes, straights, full houses) are rare; opponents bet large primarily with strong made hands or with bluffs that need to fold out hands beating them. Marginal hands (top pair with weak kicker, second pair) face structural challenges against deep aggressive lines.

The probability gap between rankings matters. Two pair is approximately 5× more likely than three of a kind. A flush is approximately 13× more likely than four of a kind. These probabilities inform what hands are reasonable to expect in a typical opponent's range.

For range construction (covered in the range-construction-basics guide), hand rankings are the foundation — they define which hands can call which bets profitably given the equity required.