Poker Hand Rankings

When playing poker it’s important to understand the different hands so that you know if you’re in a good position to bet, bluff, check or fold. A poker hand consists of 5 cards and these fall into 10 different categories that beat each other in a game. Below we’ve taken a look at those different 10 different categories in order to show you the hands from strongest to weakest.

The Royal flush is the strongest hand in poker and if you get one you should play your chips right as you’re more than likely going to win the full pot. The Royal Flush consists of an ace-high straight flush in the exact order of A-K-Q-J-10 meaning it is extremely hard to find one in-game.

The Straight Flush is a five-card straight in any variation but all the cards must be the same suit. This is generally one of the best hands you can get frequently in poker as it is very rare you get a Royal Flush (see above).

Another top tier hand, the Four of a Kind occurs when you match four cards of equal value from each suit. This can happen in different situations such as if you have one card in your hand and the other 3 variations of that card appear on the table or you can have a pair in your hand and the other two cards are on the table.

The Full House consists of a set of 3 cards and another pair. This can be found in a variety of different ways such as if you have a pair and a set of three appears on the table. alternatively, you may have two different cards in your hand and you match a pair and a set from the table.

A flush is simply matching 5 cards that are all from the same suit. These can be any combination cards from the deck as long as their suits of all 5 cards match. An example of this would be A-Q-10-5-3 all from Spades.

A straight occurs when a player matches 5 cards with sequential values. This means every straight will contain either a 5 or a 10. The cards within the straight can be from any suit, the only requirement for this is that the 5 cards are sequential.

The sequential order of the deck is (A)-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-(A). As you can see the ace can be used as 1 however this creates the lowest possible straight and is beaten by any other. The bigger the numbers in the straight, the ‘higher’ the straight is meaning if two players get straights the player with the highest numbers within theirs will win.

The Three of a kind hand is simple in the sense that it only requires a player to match 3 cards of the same value for example 3 kings. This can be done in any way as long as the player has one either a single card to hand or a pair and manages to find 2 or 1 more on the table respectively.

Two pairs is a hand that occurs when a user matches two cards of the same value and another two cards of separate value. This can happen if the player has two different cards in their hand and the pair them both up with the cards on the table. Alternatively, they may start their hand with a pair and then another pair may be drawn on the board.

A pair is one of the weakest hands you can have but can still win you the hand. It consists of a player matching two cards of the same value together, for example, Q-Q or 2-2. If two players both match only a pair on the board, the winner will be the player that has the ‘highest pair’. Pairs are ranked like this from best to worst A-A | K-K | Q-Q | J-J | 10-10 | 9-9 | 8-8 | 7-7 | 6-6 | 5-5 | 4-4 | 3-3 | 2-2.

If no player has matched any of the hands listed above then the round will go down to which player has a high card. Each player's hand is laid on the table and the player with the highest card with Ace being the best and 2 being the worst.

In the event that there are two players with the same high card a kicker will come into play meaning whoever's second card in their hand is highest will win the pot.

Take your new-found knowledge of the Poker Hand Rankings with you into our Footy Accumulators Poker League. See when this takes place and the rules of the tournament here!