Your Guide to Hand Rankings in Poker
Poker Hand Rankings
If you compete in exciting duels at the poker table and want to master your game successfully, you cannot avoid dealing with the values of the individual poker hands. One of the most important skills in knowing if your hand has a chance to beat the other poker hands in certain situations is one of the most important skills.
A poker hand is made up of five cards. You need to know which poker hands have which value in the poker ranking. A better poker hand wins the respective game round. We ignore the low variants here, where the lowest hand wins.
Surely you have to learn the order of the poker hands while playing poker. However, you only have to do this once, because there are no differences in hand ranking between the different poker variants. The poker Texas Holdem hand order is the same as in Omaha or the Stud variants.
So that you can internalize this better, take a look at the poker hand sequence below. We start with the strongest hand, descending to the lowest value:
Royal Flush
The royal flush has the highest value in the order of the poker hands. No other hand can beat a royal flush. This hand consists of an ace to ten straight of the same suit.
When a player has a royal flush, it is always a very special event, as the chance of generating that poker hand is only 0.00015%. Should you be holding that hand, then try to get as many chips into the pot as you can and bet all you have.
Straight Flush
Straight Flush: After the royal flush, the straight flush is the second most powerful poker hand. This hand is made up of five cards of the same suit, which must also result in a straight. Compared to the royal flush, the straight can be made up of lower cards, for example, from two to six. There are a total of 36 possible combinations. However, you will rarely hold a straight flush because the probability of it being so is only 0.00135%.
So if you have a straight flush, then in all likelihood, you will have the best hand at the table. You should therefore try to get as many chips as you can in the center of the table and bet whatever you have.
Quads
The quads are also known under the names “Poker”, “Vierling” or “Four of a Kind”. For quads, you need four cards of the same card value, for example, four jacks, four aces or four twos.
Four of a kind is also a rare occurrence in a poker career. The probability is 0.02%. Should it still happen that two players have four of a kind, then the player with the higher card value wins. This means that, for example, four jacks are beaten by four women. Still, in most cases you will win the round. So you can confidently bet everything and play at risk.
Full House
For a full house, you need the combination of a pair with a three of a kind. For example, if you have a king and a queen and the board shows two kings and a queen, you have a full house. If you play poker regularly, you are sure to have had a number of full houses. Maybe you’ve already lost with it because another player had a higher full house than you.
The probability of a full house is 0.14%. This hand is of course very good, but you should be careful and check carefully whether there is a chance that another player might have a better full house. Look closely at your hand and the board. If both of your own hole cards make up the full house, the chances are high that you are better than your opponent.
Flush
A flush is made up of five cards of the same suit. However, the order is arbitrary. So you don’t have to make a straight. The probability of getting a flush is 0.20%. So proceed carefully. This is especially true if you only make your flush with low cards.
It is more common for two or more players to get a flush in a round. In this case, the player with the highest hand wins. While the flush is a strong hand, caution should be exercised if you do not have a nut flush where the highest card is an ace.
Straight
You have a straight, also known as a “straight”, when you have five cards in a row that are not of the same suit. The probability of getting a straight is quite high at 0.39%. If several players have a straight, then the one with the highest card wins. The best possible straight is from Ace to Ten, also known as Broadway.
Surely you have a pretty strong hand with a street. But pay attention to the other players and ask yourself whether a combination for a higher street is not possible. Also, be careful if the same colour appears three or four times on the board. There is then the risk that another player has a flush.
Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank add up to three of a kind. The probability of getting three of a kind is 2.11%. We differentiate here between trips and a set. With trips, there are already two cards of the same value on the board, and you add one of your two hole cards to the third card. When you have a set, you hold a pair and the third card is on the board.
If you have a set, you can play that hand aggressively and raise it. Be careful if you are on trips and encounter resistance. There is too great a risk that the opponent will have a full house.
Two Pair
Two pairs are quite acceptable in Texas Hold’em NL. With this hand, it is already possible to draw large pots. You each have two cards of the same value, for example, two kings and two tens. The probability of getting two pairs is 4.75%.
But it often happens that two couples meet other two pairs. In this case, it is determined who has the higher pair. If both players have the same two pairs, the kicker, i.e. the additional card, decides which hand wins.
One Pair
With two cards of the same rank, you have a pair. Either you already have a pair in your hand or you hit the board. At 42.25%, the probability of a hit is very high. Another player will certainly have hit something on the board in the round. If you hit the top pair with the top kicker, it is entirely possible that you will win the round. But if you hit a small card and there is an ace, king or queen on the board, it is better to fold the hand when the opponent leads or your bet is raised.
High Card
Should no player reveal any of the above combinations, the pot goes to the highest card. Assuming that the highest card on the board is the queen, then the high cards king and ace win. If there are two or more players with the same high card, the additional cards, also known as “kicker”, are compared.
The Kicker
Whoever has the best hand wins the round. But what happens when both players form the same hand? In this case, the side card, the so-called “kicker”, decides to whom the pot is paid out. For example, if you hold the hole cards AK, but the opponent K9, i.e. you both hit the king on the board, then you win the pot because your kicker is the ace that is worth more than the opponent’s nine.
It takes a lot of training to understand the interrelationships and use them to your own advantage. Sure, you now know which hand is strong and which is not that strong. You can memorize this and place your hands next to you in the beginning when you play poker online. Over time this will become flesh and blood, and you will develop into a seasoned player who can always better assess whether the hand in question has a chance of winning the pot.