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Learn how to play poker online
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Royal Flush:
Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace of the same suit.
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Straight Flush:
Straight with all five cards in the same suit.
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Four of a Kind:
Four cards of the same number or face value ("quads").
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Full House:
Three cards of one number or face value and two cards of another number or face value. If more than one player has a full house, the full house with the highest ranking three of a kind ("trips") wins.
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Flush:
Five cards of the same suit. If there is more than one flush, the hand with the highest card(s) wins.
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Straight:
Five cards in sequence. Cards can be in any suit. An Ace can be used in the highest straight (10, J, Q, K, A) and the lowest straight (A, 2, 3, 4, 5).
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Three of a Kind:
Three cards of the same number or face value ("trips").
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Two Pair:
If two players have two pair, the hand with the highest pair wins. If they have the same high pair, whoever has the second highest pair wins. If they have the same two pair, whoever has the highest fifth card ("kicker") wins.
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One Pair:
Two cards of the same number or face value. If two players have the same pair, the highest outside card(s) wins.
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High Card:
The hand with the highest card(s) wins.
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High Hand Rankings: The highest possible hand is determined by the relative statistical frequency of the hand occurring. The following are the rankings of poker hands, in descending order:
- Five Aces. This hand is only possible in games played with a joker or bug.
- Royal Flush: The five highest-ranking cards in sequence, all of the same suit. 10, J, Q, K, A all of the same suit.
- Straight Flush: Five cards in sequence of the same suit. The highest card of the straight flush determines ranks of straight flushes. An eight high straight flush beats a seven high straight flush. Example: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 all of Hearts.
- Four of A Kind (a.k.a. Quads): Four cards of the same rank. The higher the ranking of the four matching cards the higher the rank of the four of a kind. Example: 5, 5, 5, 5, K.
- Full House: A hand that contains three cards of the same rank and two cards of a different rank but of the same rank as each other. The higher the rank of the three cards the higher the rank of the full house. Example: K, K, K, Q, Q.
- Flush: Five cards of the same suit that are not in sequence The highest ranked card of the flush is used to determine the rank of the flush; in case of a tie for the highest card, ranking is based on the hands' second highest card and so on. Example: Q, 9, 8, 6, 3 all in spades. This hand would beat the J, 10, 8, 6, 3 of hearts.
- Straight: Five cards in sequence, not all of the same suit. The highest card within the straight determines the rank of the straight. A nine high straight would beat an 8 high straight. Example: 7, 8, 9,10, J.
- Three of a Kind (a.k.a. Trips): Three cards of the same rank and two non- matching cards. The rank of the three matching cards determines the ranking of the three of a kind. Example: 9, 9, 9, J, K.
- Two Pair: Two separate pairs of matching cards of different values contained within the same hand with an unrelated fifth card. The ranking of the highest pair within the two pair determines the ranking of the hand. A hand containing Kings and deuces beats one with Queens and Jacks. If two players hold the same high pair, then the ranking of the second pair determines the winner. (i.e., K, K, Q, Q, x beats K, K, 9, 9, x.) If two players held the same two pair (IE Kings and Jacks) then the ranking of the sidecard (a.k.a. kicker) would determine the winning hand.
- One Pair: Two matching cards of the same value combined with three unrelated cards. Example: Q, Q, 9, 7, 4. The ranking of the pair determines the strength of the hand. If two players hold the same pair, then the ranking of the sidecards determines the winning hand.
- High Card: A hand that contains no matching cards, is not of all the same suit or has no particular sequence. Example: A, Q, 10, 8, 6. The high card determines the strength of the hand. In case of a tie the second highest card would determine the winner and so on. Thus an A, J, 10, 8, 6 beats an A, 10, 9, 8, 7.
In determining the highest possible five-card hand, if all five cards are not used to make a hand, such as with three of a kind, two pair, one pair or high card, then the rank of the side cards (a.k.a. kicker cards) shall determine which hand is better. For example in Texas Hold'em if the board were A, A, Q, 3, 2 and player A's hole cards are A, 10 and player B's hole cards are A, 6 then player A wins the pot since the best five card hand wins. Player A has three aces with a Q (on board) and a 10 (in hand). Player B has three aces with a Q (on board) and a 6 (in hand). In Texas Hold'em the best five cards play regardless of whether the cards are in the player's hand or if they come from the board. In this game, where four of a kind sometimes comes on board, the ranking of the side card would determine the winner, even though all active players in the pot have four of a kind. If in Draw two players each held Aces and Kings, the fifth card in each hand would determine the winner. If one player's fifth card were a Q and the other player's fifth card were a Jack then the player with the queen would win the pot with Aces and Kings with a Queen over Aces and Kings with a Jack. In seven card stud, if two players held the same two pair the one with the highest fifth card would win the pot, just as in draw. If both players held an identically ranked fifth card the hand would be tied and the pot would be split. In Omaha Hold'em, because of that game's rule requiring that a player must play two cards from his hand and three from the board, the rule is a little different but the concept is the same. For example, if the board is A, A, K, Q, J and Player A holds A, 8, 6, 5 and Player B holds A, 7, 7, 6 the best five card for player A using two cards from his hand as required by Omaha's rules would be A, A, A, K, 8. Players B 's best hand would be A, A, A, K, 7. Thus, Player A would win the pot with the best five card hand. Low Hand Rankings: In split pot games and games for low, the following is the ranking of the best low hands:
5-4-3-2-A (a.k.a. Wheel)
6-4-3-2-A (a.k.a. Six-perfect or six-slick)
6-5-3-2-A (Six, no four)
6-5-4-2-A (Six, no three)
6-5-4-3-A (Six, no deuce)
6-5-4-3-2 (Straight Six)
7-4-3-2-A (A.k.a. Seven-perfect or seven-slick)
7-5-3-2-A
Etcetera. This progression continues all the way through the smallest pair, trips, full house, four of a kind and straight flush (note that straights and flushes do not count against low hands, except when playing Kansas City Rules as hereinafter set forth). Thus, a player whose best low hand was a pair of deuces would win the pot against a player whose best low hand was a full house. In most low and high-low split games aces play for high or low, so that a pair of aces is a better low hand than a pair of deuces.
Most high-low split games require an eight-or-better qualifier for low, meaning that if there is no low hand 8-7-6-5-4 or better, then the high hand wins the whole pot. Some houses play that a seven-or-better or even a nine-or-better is required to qualify for the low, but this is much more common in home games than in public cardroom games.
Fore more information on how to play poker simply chose from any one of these topics of interest.
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