Poker hand rankings: order, kickers and ties

Poker hands ranked from strongest to weakest

In Texas Hold’em, your best five-card hand decides the winner at showdown. A royal flush is the highest hand; a flush beats a straight, and a full house beats a flush. You can use two, one or none of your private cards. If the highest hands tie, the winning players share the pot.

• Royal flush: A-K-Q-J-10 of one suit; the highest straight flush.
• Straight flush: five consecutive ranks of one suit.
• Four of a kind: four cards of the same rank and one side card.
• Full house: three cards of one rank and two of another.
• Flush: five cards of one suit, not all consecutive.
• Straight: five consecutive ranks that do not form a straight flush.
• Three of a kind: three cards of one rank and two side cards.
• Two pair: two different pairs and one side card.
• One pair: two cards of one rank and three side cards.
• High card: none of the combinations above.

An ace can be high in 10-J-Q-K-A or low in A-2-3-4-5. The latter is a five-high straight. Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight. Suits do not break a tie: hearts do not beat clubs.

Why did that hand win? Three showdowns explained

Example 1: you cannot have “three pair”

Your cards are A♠ 9♠. The board is A♦ 9♣ 4♥ 4♣ 2♠. There are three pairs among the seven cards, but only two fit into a five-card hand. Keep the aces and nines plus one four: A-A-9-9-4. The second four cannot be a sixth card.

Example 2: the kicker is part of the best five

You have A♣ Q♣; your opponent has A♥ J♥. The board is A♦ 8♠ 6♣ 3♥ 2♦. Both have a pair of aces. Compare the side cards in order: your A-A-Q-8-6 beats A-A-J-8-6 because the queen beats the jack. You do not compare a sixth card if the best five are equal.

Example 3: your private pair does not help

You have 2♣ 2♦; your opponent has A♣ K♦. The board is 10♠ J♠ Q♥ K♣ A♦. The board already makes the highest straight. Neither player can improve it, so both play A-K-Q-J-10 and split the pot. Your pair of twos is weaker than the straight and is not used.

A reliable showdown check

Identify the strongest hand type, write its five ranks in order of importance, then compare them from left to right. For two pair, compare the higher pair first, then the lower pair, then the kicker. Equal best-five ranks mean a tie only when no player has a stronger hand. Recreate the examples with cards, then change one card and explain whether the result changes.