Poker Rules What Beats What

A Royal Flush beats this hand of matched suits but it remains almost as strong as a Royal Flush. A straight flush consists of 5 cards, all of which run in sequence from the beginning to the last one and they are all of the same suit. For example, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of hearts would be a hand consisting of a straight flush which beats the below hand. Poker Etiquette at Home. When you’re playing poker in your home or someone else’s, the rules of etiquette are mostly commonsense conventions and normal poker protocols. Following are a list of things to do and things to avoid doing during a friendly game at home: Do. Be honest: Don’t try to short-change the pot or otherwise cheat. Three of a Kind. As the name indicates, if you hold three cards of the same number in your hand, you have three of a kind. Three of a kind gets beat by a straight however. A very nice heads-up or shorthanded, two pair is when you hold two cards of the same number or rank. Two sets of two matching cards form two pair. The highest pair of the two determines the rank of the two pair. If two or more players have the same highest pair in a two pair hand, than the ranking of the lower pair will determine the winner.

• Poker Rules What Beats What Printable

The best Poker casinos for UK players

Updated

• €365 bonus
• NO wagering
• Status points

Claim Bonus

Claim Bonus

• €365 bonus
• NO wagering
• Status points

The best Poker casinos for US players

Updated

• $1,000 for Poker
• 25 Casino spins
• 36% Rakeback

Claim Bonus

Claim Bonus

• $1,000 for Poker
• 25 Casino spins
• 36% Rakeback

• $500 bonus
• Mobile Poker
• Great tournaments

Claim Bonus

Claim Bonus

• $500 bonus
• Mobile Poker
• Great tournaments

What beats what in Poker?

Need a reminder of the rankings in an easy to print format? Click the image below to get a printable poker hand rankings chart pdf (opens in new tab).

Poker Hand Rank #1 - Royal Flush

The highest of all Poker hands, a Royal Flush is 10, J, Q, K, A of the same suit:

Poker Hand Rank #2 - Straight Flush

A Straight Flush is five cards in consecutive numerical order, all of the same suit.
If there are two Straight Flushes at the same table, the one which runs to the highest value card wins.

Poker Hand Rank #3 - Four of a kind

Four of a kind means four cards of the same value and any other card.
If there are two hands with Four of a kind in the same game, the highest ranking Four of a kind wins i.e. four Ks beats four 9s.

Poker Hand Rank #4 - Full house

A Full House is three cards of the same value and another two cards that form a pair (same value).
If two players have a Full House (with the joker), the rank is decided first by the Three of a kind, then by the pair.

Poker Hand Rank #5 - Flush

A Flush is five non-consecutive cards of the same suit.
The Flush is named after the highest card, so the example below is a Jack Flush.
If two players have the same Flush, the rank is decided by the second highest card. In the unlikely event of the first two cards in two Flushes being the same, the rank is decided by the third card, then the fourth, then the fifth.

Poker Hand Rank #6 - Straight

A Straight is five consecutive cards, but not of the same suit.
As with the Straight Flush, in the event of a tie, the winner is the flush which runs to the highest value card.
A 'Straight to'means the highest card in the run, so 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 is a 'Straight to 9'

Poker Hand Rank #7 - Three of a kind

Three cards of the same value, and two supporting cards that are not a pair:

Poker Hand Rank #8 - Two pair

Two sets of pairs, and another random card.
In the unlikely event of two players having the same two pairs, the highest supporting card is used to determine the winner.

Poker Hand Rank #9 - Pair

Two cards of the same value and three random supporting cards.
If two players have a pair, the highest pair wins. In the event of a tie, the highest supporting cards determine the winner.

Poker Hand Rank #10 - High card

A hand with none of the above rankings.
The hand is named after the highest card, 7 high being the lowest, Ace high the highest. The example below is therefore a King high.

Hand Ranking

While most hand rankings are easy enough to understand, others require an explanation. This chart will explain exactly what beats what. These hand rankings are the same for all high hand poker games. A flush will beat a straight no matter if you are playing Holdem, Omaha, etc. Click to download this cheat sheet as .pdf.

See more hand ranking cheat sheets for lowball and split pot games here.

Position

Position in poker is one of the most important considerations in any game. It can sometimes be more important than your actual hand strength. The following chart below shows each seat at a poker table and what position each seat belongs to.

Keep in mind to adjust these seats based on how many people are at your table. See example hands played out on video for every game type in our how to play card games section.

Starting Hands

The most important decision a player can make is if they should get involved in the hand at all.

Many times new players can get trapped into playing hands that seem 'close enough' to a good hand. It can be hard to draw the line between A♥J♠ and A♥T♠, especially when you are not catching good cards.

A♥T♠ for example lies just outside the top 10% of starting hands (shown right, in blue) yet is still a strong hand in late position.

It's difficult to draw up an exact cheat sheet for starting hands as it depends on your playing style. Learn more in this How to Play Texas Holdem article.

Drawing odds

When playing for a flush draw or a straight draw the key is making sure you are getting the right odds to draw. How often will that straight draw come in? How likely are you to turn your set into a full house? This chart will show you all the odds based on how many 'outs' when on the flop and then on the turn.

Learn more about pot odds math and how to play drawing hands.

Example Americas Cardroom Poker School Video

Poker Rules What Beats What Printable