Winning Poker Hands

Depending on what variant of poker you’re enjoying, the rules of the games differ. Sometimes it’s not the highest value hand that you should be aiming for. For the purposes of simplicity, Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Five Card Draw and Seven Card Stud make use of the standard high poker rankings. For poker players wanting to enjoy games of Hi-Lo and Razz (Omaha Hi-Lo and Stud Hi-Lo), then the Ace to Five low hand rankings are used. The Kansas City lowball rankings (Deuce to Seven) are used for 2-7 Triple Draw and Single Draw games. And for the Asian variant of draw poker – Badugi, an entirely new set of rankings is considered.

Texas Hold’em Omaha, Five & Seven Card Stud Ranking

Royal Flush –

The best five card sequential hand in poker. It contains the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10 of the same suit.

Straight Flush –

This is comprised of five cards in numerical sequence of the same suit. The highest ranking sequence wins out.

Four-of-a-Kind –

A kicker and four cards of the same rank. Four of a kind aces and a King is the best possible hand of this sort.

Full House –

This is comprised of three cards of identical rank and two cards of another matching rank. The highest value full house hand wins out in the event of a tie.

A Flush –

Is comprised of five cards from the same suit. In tie situations, the player with the highest ranking card or second card etcetera would win the flush.

A Straight –

This is five cards made up in sequential order – the higher the straight the better the hand. An Ace may assume either a high or low card value.

Three-of-a-Kind –

This is comprised of three cards of the identical rank and two unrelated cards. The higher the triple, the better the hand ranks.

Two Pairs –

This is comprised of two cards of matching rank x 2 and a side card. The higher the two pairs the better. If a tie ensues the side card would be used to ascertain the best value.

One Pair –

This hand comprises one pair of cards of matching rank. The higher, the better and there are three side cards too.

High Card –

If no combinations are evident, then the high card comes into play. It’s the highest value card in your hand.