The key to poker is to understand the value of the hands you are dealt and then playing them perfectly! There is a set of hand rankings, that is universally accepted, used to determine who wins the pot in the event of a showdown. These are listed below from strongest to weakest.
Remember, Aces can rank either high or low.
The highest possible hand in poker is a Royal Flush – the sequence A-K-Q-J-10 in the same suit…
or any sequence in between, such as 10-9-8-7-6, this is known as a Straight Flush…
Four-of-a-Kind is next highest. It consists of the four cards of any one rank together with any fifth card. For example…
A Full House ranks next; it consists of any three of one kind and any pair of another kind, such as…
The Full House is referred to by the Three-of-a-Kind it contains; the example shown would be ‘Seven’s Full’.
A Flush ranks next. It consists of any five cards of the same suit, but not in sequence…
In this example, it would be referred to as a ’Queen High Flush’.
A Straight, also known as a Run, consists of any five cards of two or more suits in sequence of rank…
Remember, an Ace ranks either high in sequence or low in the sequence. The following also represents a Straight…
Three-of-a-Kind are any three cards of the same rank plus two other cards which do not constitute a pair and do not include the fourth card of the same rank…
This would be referred to as ‘Three Eights’ or ‘Trip Eights’.
Two Pair, which ranks next under Three-of-a-Kind, consists of two cards of one suit, two cards of another suit, and any fifth card which is neither of those suits. It is referred to by the higher of the two pairs…
This would be classed as ‘Kings up’.
One Pair, any two cards of the same suit, together with three other cards which do not combine with the other two to form any of the higher-ranking hands above.
High Card, if nobody has one of the above ranks then the decision comes down to the highest ranking single card with Ace high…
