Poker hand rankings answer one question: which five-card hand is strongest? In standard high poker, the order runs from high card at the bottom to straight flush at the top. A royal flush is the highest possible straight flush rather than a separate mathematical category.
That chart is only the first step. A real comparison may require kickers, the exact ranks inside a straight, the rules for using community cards, or a variant that reverses or modifies the normal order.
Standard high-poker order
| Rank | Hand | What it contains | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush | A-K-Q-J-10 of one suit | A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ |
| 2 | Straight flush | Five consecutive cards of one suit | 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥ |
| 3 | Four of a kind | Four cards of one rank | 7♣ 7♦ 7♥ 7♠ K♦ |
| 4 | Full house | Three of one rank plus a pair | Q♣ Q♦ Q♠ 4♥ 4♣ |
| 5 | Flush | Five cards of one suit, not consecutive | A♦ J♦ 8♦ 5♦ 2♦ |
| 6 | Straight | Five consecutive ranks, mixed suits allowed | 8♣ 7♦ 6♠ 5♥ 4♣ |
| 7 | Three of a kind | Three cards of one rank | 10♣ 10♦ 10♠ A♥ 6♣ |
| 8 | Two pair | Two separate pairs | K♣ K♦ 5♠ 5♥ A♣ |
| 9 | One pair | Two cards of one rank | J♣ J♥ A♦ 9♠ 4♣ |
| 10 | High card | None of the combinations above | A♣ J♦ 9♥ 6♠ 3♣ |
The ranking compares categories first. A straight always beats three of a kind in standard high poker, even if the trips are aces. Four of a kind always beats a full house. The size of the cards matters only after both hands fall into the same category.
How ties are broken
Suppose two players both have a pair. Saying “both have one pair” does not settle the pot. The comparison continues in a fixed order.
- One pair: compare the pair, then the three remaining cards from highest to lowest.
- Two pair: compare the higher pair, then the lower pair, then the kicker.
- Three or four of a kind: compare the repeated rank, then any remaining kicker.
- Full house: compare the three-of-a-kind rank first. The pair matters only if the trips are equal.
- Straight or straight flush: compare the highest card in the sequence.
- Flush or high card: compare the highest card, then the next highest, continuing until the tie is broken.
In ordinary high poker, suits do not make one completed hand stronger than another. If two players make the same five-card hand, the pot is split according to the game’s procedures. A suit ranking may be used for administrative purposes such as assigning a bring-in or an odd chip in some formats, but that is different from declaring one showdown hand superior.
The ace-low straight
An ace can sit above a king or below a two in a standard straight. A-2-3-4-5 is therefore a valid five-high straight, often called a wheel. It loses to 6-5-4-3-2. An ace does not wrap around: Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.
The best five cards decide the hand
Texas hold’em gives a player two private cards and five community cards, but the final hand still contains exactly five cards. A player may use both hole cards, one, or neither.
Consider this board:
A♣ K♣ Q♣ J♣ 4♦
A player holding 10♣ 2♠ has a royal flush. A player holding 10♦ 9♦ has an ace-high straight. The first hand wins because the best five-card combination is stronger, not because the player used more private cards.
Omaha applies a different construction rule: the player must normally use exactly two hole cards and exactly three community cards. The ranking chart may be the same, but the method used to build the hand is not. This is why reading the game rules is as important as memorizing the order.
Why rarity and payout are separate questions
A hand’s position in the ranking tells you how it compares at showdown. It does not automatically tell you what a casino game pays.
A five-card deck sample contains:
[ \binom{52}{5} = 2,598,960 ]
possible unordered five-card combinations. There are four royal flushes, so the probability of being dealt one in a single five-card hand is:
[ P(\text{royal flush}) = \frac{4}{2,598,960} \approx 0.0001539% ]
That is about 1 in 649,740. The calculation assumes a standard 52-card deck, five cards dealt without replacement, and no drawing or wild cards. Seven-card poker, video poker with a draw, and games with jokers produce different probabilities.
In video poker, the machine pays according to its posted paytable rather than by comparing your hand against another player. Two machines can use the same ranking order but pay different amounts for a full house, flush, or four of a kind. Some bonus games also divide four of a kind into separate categories based on rank or kicker.
Variants that change the normal chart
The standard list is not universal across every game sold under the word “poker.”
- Ace-to-five lowball rewards the lowest qualifying hand; straights and flushes may be ignored.
- Deuce-to-seven lowball treats aces as high and counts straights and flushes against the player.
- High-low split games divide the pot between a high hand and a qualifying low hand.
- Wild-card games may recognize five of a kind or special natural-versus-wild categories.
- Short-deck poker removes low cards and can rank a flush above a full house under the published rules.
The current World Series of Poker tournament rules illustrate why the game label matters: their variant sections specify different low-hand constructions and show a short-deck ranking in which a flush is above a full house.
A quick settlement example
Three players reach a hold’em showdown:
- Player A: A♠ Q♦
- Player B: A♥ J♥
- Player C: 9♠ 9♣
- Board: A♦ 8♣ 8♥ 5♠ 2♦
Player A’s best hand is aces and eights with a queen kicker. Player B also has aces and eights, but with a jack kicker. Player C has eights and nines—two pair as well, but the higher pair is only nines rather than aces. Player A wins.
The example shows the complete method: identify each player’s best five cards, compare the hand category, then apply the category’s tie-break sequence.
What to check before relying on a ranking chart
A reliable chart should answer four questions:
- Is the game high, low, or high-low?
- Are any cards wild?
- How many hole and community cards must be used?
- Does the game publish a nonstandard order, as some short-deck games do?
Once those rules are fixed, the hierarchy is mechanical. For the details behind individual categories, continue to straight flush, four of a kind, full house, and kicker.