Hand Ranking In Texas Hold’em Poker

In Texas Holdem poker, you have to be able to rank the hands. If you don’t know which hands are stronger than others, it is impossible to play effectively, no matter if you play online at Full Tilt Poker or in a live setting. With a little practice, hand rankings are pretty easy to remember. To get you started, here’s the breakdown:

Weak Hands:

The weakest hand you can have in poker is one that has no pair and is not suited or consecutive. Their highest card denotes these hands. If you have five unpaired cards and one of them is an ace (the highest ranked card), you have an ace high hand. If your highest card is a ten, you have a ten high hand.

After a high hand, the next best thing you can get is a pair. A pair is simply two cards of the same rank. If you have two sevens in your hand, you have a pair of sevens. If two people have the same pair, the winner is the one with the highest card in his remaining three cards.

Two pair follows a pair. If you’ve got two sevens and two nines in your hand, you have two pair, nines and sevens, or “nines up.” If two people have two pair, the one with the highest pair wins. If it is the same two pair, the fifth card, or kicker, decides the winner.

Medium Strength Hands:

Next comes three of a kind, also called trips or a set, which is three of the same rank. If your hand is 8 8 8 6 2 you have three of a kind, eights or “trip eights.”

After trips is a straight, five consecutive cards, like 8 9 T J Q. If two people have a straight, the one with the highest card wins. Ace can be high or low but not both (J Q K A 2 is not a straight).

After the straight comes the flush, five cards of the same suit. If two people have a flush, the highest card wins; suits do not matter.

Strong Hands:

Beating all the hands mentioned so far is the full house, three of a kind plus a pair. If two people have a full house, whoever has the highest three of a kind wins. Q Q Q T T or, “queens full” beats J J J K K. A full house can also be called a “boat.”

Next comes four of a kind, all four cards of the same rank, like 9 9 9 9 5. After this is a straight flush, five cards suited and consecutive. Finally, the supreme hand in regular poker is the royal flush, five cards of the same suit, T J Q K A. If you hold this hand, you cannot lose.