Hand rankings in poker

Royal flush

The daddy of all poker hands, a royal flush is a straight flush involving the 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace.

 

Straight flush

A straight (see below) but with all the cards in the same suit.

Four of a kind

Four cards of the same rank, for example four Queens.

Full house

A combination of a pair and three of a kind.

Flush

Five cards of the same suit, for example five diamonds.

Straight

Five cards in sequential rank order, for example 8, 9, 10, Jack and a Queen. An ace may be used as both a high and a low card.

Three of a kind

Also called trips, this is where you have three cards of the same rank, for example three sevens.

Two Pair

Two sets of cards of the same rank, for example two queens and two sixes.

Pair

Any two cards of the same rank, for example two Queens. The ranking of pairs mirrors that of the cards in general, so the strongest pair is a pair of Aces and the weakest a pair of 2s.

High card

The highest ranked card is an Ace, and the ranking runs from the Ace down through the picture cards all the way to 2.