Omaha Poker Game

Back to Basics: Poker Hand Rankings

In poker, hand rankings often determine the result of a game, not only through a comparison of hands, but because a good poker strategy relies on the probabilities of these hands appearing. A good grasp of hand rankings would therefore help you in creating an effective poker strategy.

In most card games, a hand means a certain combination of cards. In poker, cards are ranked from highest to lowest in the following order: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, then Ace. An Ace is always considered high except when a part of a combination of Ace-2-3-4-5.

A poker hand always consists of five cards. For poker games with community cards, like the more popular Hold'em Poker, a hand will still consist of five cards - cards in excess of five are not considered.

Having poker hand rankings mean that there are a hierarchy of hands, and hands that are higher up in the hierarchy beat those that are under it. We shall look at these rankings from lowest to highest.

A high card, the hand lowest in the hierarchy, is a poker hand in which there are no cards of the same rank, the five cards does not belong to the same suit and are not in sequence. It is also called 'trash,' or 'junk' hand. An example is 4-9-Ace-Queen-6

A pair constitutes two cards of the same rank with three unmatched cards. An example is 2-2-9-Jack-King.

A two pair constitutes two cards of the same rank, another two cards of another rank, and an unmatched card. An example is King-King-Jack-Jack-8.

A three-of-a-kind, or trips, constitutes three cards of the same rank along with two unmatched cards. An example is 4-4-4-7-Ace.

A straight constitutes five cards in sequence but is not of the same suit. An example is 6 of hearts-7 of spades-8 of diamonds-9 of hearts-10 of clubs.

A flush constitutes five cards of the same suit that are not in sequence. An example is: 4 of diamonds-Jack of diamonds-7 of diamonds-9 of diamonds-King of diamonds.

A four-of-a-kind constitutes four cards of the same rank plus an unmatched card. An example of this is 10-10-10-10-Jack.

A full house constitutes three cards of the same rank and two cards of another rank. King-King-King-9-9 is an example of this.

The straight flush, the highest hand ranking in poker, constitutes five cards of the same suit that are in sequence. The highest possible straight flush ranking is called the royal flush, which consists of Ace of Spades-King of Spades-Queen of Spades-Jack of Spades-10.

Poker hand rankings are graded by hand ranking first, then by individual cards. That is why for tied ranks, the highest card in the combination determines the winning hand. In hands with high cards, the winner is determined by the card with the highest ranking

For the beginner or the aspiring amateur alike, knowing the poker hand rankings by heart would help not only in creating an effective strategy, but in winning the game.