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Poker Hand Rankings

December 18, 2008

Beginner’s Series – Poker Hand Rankings

 
 

The Road to Champion

 

No-limit hold’em has quickly become the most popular form of online poker. Some attribute its rise in popularity to online player Chris Moneymaker’s monumental win in the 2003 World Series of Poker. Moneymaker won his way into the main event by playing a $39 satellite into the tournament, and taking first place. Long story short, his $39 earned him $2.5 million dollars- not a bad return on his investment. Moneymaker’s win showed the world that truly anyone can be a poker champion and play the pros. All it takes is a bit of hard work, dedication, and knowledge of the game. The key to Chris’s success was a solid grasp of the rules of no-limit hold’em- it’s hard to win without knowing how to play! Luckily, the rules are easy, and you can learn them too! Let’s start by learning the value of different hold’em hands.

 

Hand Rankings

 

In order to win pots in hold’em, you must show down the best five-card poker hand. This means you need a handle on hand ranks, listed from strongest to weakest below.

 

Royal Flush: The best possible five-card hand. A straight, made up of the Ten, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of a given suit.

 

 

Straight Flush: Five cards in numerical order, all of the same suit. If two straight flushes show down, the one containing the highest ranked card will win the pot.

 

 

Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank. For example, four Queens.

 

Full House: A hand made up of both three of a kind, and a pair. For example, three Queens and two Kings makes a full house. This hand is called “Queens full,” as the three Queens are “full of” jacks. It is important to know that when two full houses are showed down, the highest contained three of a kind rank will end up the winner. For example, if Queens full and Kings full showed down a pot, Kings full would emerge victorious.

 

 

Flush: Five cards, all of the same suit. If two flushes show down, the one containing the highest ranked card will win.

 

Straight: Five cards in numerical order. If two straights show down, the one containing the highest card will win, except in the case of A-2-3-4-5, which is considered the lowest straight in most variations of hold’em.

 

 

Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank. Also called a “set,” or when made with one card from your hand and two from the community board, “trips.”

 
 

Two Pair: Two pairs of cards, each pair containing two cards of the same rank. It is important to know that when two hands of this sort show down, the hand containing the highest pair wins.

 

 

One Pair: Two cards of the same rank. The pair of the highest rank wins the pot.

 
 

After the final round of betting is complete in a round of hold’em, the player holding the highest ranked hand will win. Now that you know which hands are strong and which aren’t so strong, try the following test to see if you’re ready to move on. Answer true or false.

 

• Onepair of threes beats a pair of twos.

 

True

 

•  straight flush is the best possible hand in poker.

 

• False- that would be a Royal Flush.

 

• A “Queens full” full house will beat a “Tens full” full house.

 

•  True.

 

• A straight is comprised of five cards, all of the same suit.

 

• False- a straight is five cards in numerical order.

 

• An eight-high straight will beat a queen-high straight.

 

•  False- eight is lower in rank than a queen.

 

 

If you got at least four out of the five questions right, congratulations! You’re ready to learn about the betting structure of no-limit hold’em!

 

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