On this page we have listed a large selection of the most popular and commonly used nicknames for hands in poker. Please note that that there are many more that we could add to the list but this is certainly a good place to get started. What is the best hand in poker? The Royal Flush is the best hand in poker. To have a Royal Flush, you need an Ace, a King, a Queen, a Jack, and a 10. Jan 01, 2017 The best starting hand in Omaha is AAKK double-suited to the Ace. Other strong hands include AAJT double-suited, AAQQ double-suited and AAJJ double-suited. In other words, double-suited hands with big cards and big pairs are the best possible hands.

A Guide to Hand Rankings and How to Know When You are Beaten

There are many poker formats with different rules. One thing they have in common is the poker hand rankings. This is a standardized list of what beats what when it comes to the end of a hand. Note that certain ‘low hand’ or split pot games have different rankings for the strong low hands.

This page explains how the hand rankings work. It then goes further, adding an element of poker strategy. In poker hand strength can change throughout the hand. For example, you might have a pair of red aces and be ahead on the flop. If you face a big bet after the community cards have 4 clubs – those aces are unlikely to be the best hand.

Here is how the information on what beats what is laid out:

Detailed Poker Rankings: What hand beats what, and how to decide the winner for tied-hands.
When Your Good Hand is Beaten: Basics of situations where you should play strong hands cautiously.
Special Notes for Hi-Lo Poker Games: Not all poker games award the pot to the highest hand.

Detailed Poker Hand Rankings: What Beats What at Showdown

What Is The Best Poker Hand You Can Have

All standard poker games use 5 cards to determine the winner. This applies in Texas Hold’em, where you have 7 cards in total (2 in your hand, 5 on the board). Only 5 cards are used as showdown, with the 6^th and 7^th card completely irrelevant.

Here are the standard rankings, with notes on deciding the winner where more than one player has the same hand:

Royal Flush / Straight flush

Consecutive cards which are all the same suit make a ‘straight flush’. This is a super-powerful hand, and only comes up occasionally. A Royal Flush (ace, king, queen, jack and ten of the same suit) is simply the highest possible straight flush. This hand is unbeatable.

Where two players have a straight flush, the highest ranked card comes into play.

For example, if one player holds the 6 of hearts and another player the jack of hearts – and the board comes out including the 7, 8, 9 and 10 of hearts – both players have made a straight flush. In this case, the pot gets awarded to the player holding the jack.

4 of a Kind

Also known as Quads, this hand can be of any rank, with 4 aces being the best hand. There are situations in Hold’em where 4 identical cards will hit the community card board. When this happens, the highest 5^th card comes into play.

Where the 5^th community card is a king, the pot would be split. If that community card is a low one, then the pot is awarded to the player with the highest unique card. For example, one player holds a pair of 7’s, and the other holds jack-queen.

Here the highest hand is A-A-A-A-Q.

Full House

This hand is 3 of one rank, along with two of another. An example is 4-4-4-K-K. There are some situations in which more than one player can have a full house.

If there are 3 of a kind on the community card boards (assuming nobody made quads), then the highest pair to go with it will determine the winner.

For example, if the board comes Q-Q-Q-3-J, a player holding A-A will have the biggest full house. Pairs can also be made with single hole-cards. If a player holds a single jack, and another holds a pair of tens, then the highest full house becomes Q-Q-Q-J-J.

There are also situations where pocket pairs create full houses of different strength.

If one player holds aces and another one queens, and the board comes A-Q-2-2-7, two full houses have been created. In this case the best one is A-A-A-2-2. It is the highest 3-card combination that will win the pot.

Flushes

Five cards of the same suit make a powerful poker hand – it will beat trips, straights and all hands 2-pair and under. Many players will ‘chase’ flushes, calling big bets to try and hit that 5^th suited card. You will also find a lot of novice players who play any two suited cards pre-flop – hunting for a flush.

Where two players have a flush, the pot goes to the player with the highest ranked unique card. There are situations where the 5 cards on the board are the same suit. If nobody has a higher card then these 5 in their hand, the pot would be shared. For example, 9-10-Q-K-A of the same suit on the board would be split if one player held and 8 and the other a 7 of that suit. Note that in this spot, a player with a jack of this suit would have an unbeatable Royal Flush!

If the board comes out with 4 hearts, in this case 3-9-Q-K (with one unsuited card), then players holding a single heart will both make a flush. Here the rank of the hole cards come into play. A player with the 7 of hearts has a higher flush than the one holding the 4.

Straights

Five cards of consecutive rank are is called a straight in poker. One common misunderstanding from new players is that straights wrap around from high to low. For example, K-Q-J-A-2 is not a straight!

Where two players have straights, the highest unique card again comes into play. The best straight. 10-J-Q-K-A is known as a ‘Broadway’ straight. Aces can count as low or high. In addition to making the best possible straight, A-2-3-4-5 is also a straight.

3 of a Kind

Three cards of the same rank can appear in three ways. All 3 cards can be on the community card board, a player can hold a pocket pair and hit their 3^rd card, or there might be a pair on the board, with a player holding one matching card. Where a player holds a pair, the hand is known as a ‘set’. Where the player holds a single card, this is known as ‘trips’.

Where two players hold the same 3 of a kind, most commonly with a paired board, the side-cards (or kickers) come into play. Here the player with the highest unique side-card would win the pot. For example, if one player holds Ace-Jack and the other Ace-King, and two aces appear on the flop – the player holding the King has a higher kicker.

2 Pairs

Two individual pairs are a more common poker hand. Again, this can be hit in several ways. A paired board + a pocket pair, two pairs on the board, or two matches between a player’s hole-cards and the community cards are all possible.

Where two players hit two pair, the rank of the highest pair determines the winner. If players the same 2 pairs at the same time (a pair on the board, plus a match with one hole-card), then the side-card rank does come into play. Here the highest separate card might already be on the board. In this case the pot would be split.

1 Pair

While a pair can win a pot, it is rarely a hand to get all-in with – since everything covered above has a pair soundly beaten. Pairs can appear on the community card board, involve one card from a player’s hand – or both cards can be in the player’s hand.

It is more common to get identical pairs when an ace hits the flop (since many players will play any hand including an ace). In this case the highest unique side-card wins. For example, on a board of A-4-5-9-10 a player holding Ace-King beats a player holding Ace-Jack. Both side-cards might come into play where the pair is on the board.

High Card

Sometimes in a poker game, the player’s cards and community cards will miss all the poker hands explained above. In this case the highest unique card which can make a 5-card poker hand wins the pot. An example here is that A-6 would beat K-J on a board of 2-3-8-9-10.

Knowing When Your Good Hand is Beaten – Tips for New Players

Poker is a game of relative hand strength. Even

What Is A Good Poker Hand