Poker hands are made by using the best five card combination possible. If you’re confused by what beats what in poker, here is an explanation of how poker hand rankings work and a list of all poker hands ranked from best to worst.

Poker Overview

When playing poker, a standard deck of playing cards containing 52 cards is used. The 52 cards are divided into four suits; diamonds, hearts, spades and clubs. Each suit contains 13 cards which include an ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The ace is the highest value in the deck and the 2 is the lowest value. Poker games such as Texas Hold’em are five card games, and the highest hand is the winner. The highest to lowest winning hand rankings are:

Royal Flush

A royal flush is the highest ranking hand with five cards of the same suit ranging from a ten to an ace. For example a hand with a royal flush may be the ten of diamonds, jack of diamonds, queen of diamonds, king of diamonds and the ace of diamonds.

Straight Flush

A straight flush has five consecutive cards of the same suit. For example, the hand may contain the 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of hearts.

Four of a kind

A four of a kind is four cards of the same rank. For example, four kings.

Full House

A full house hand contains three cards of the same rank and two other cards of the same rank. For example, a full-house hand may contain 3 queens and 2 jacks.

Flush

A flush is a hand with five cards of the same suit. The cards do not have to be in consecutive order. For example, 2 of clubs, 4 of clubs, 6 of clubs, 8 of clubs and jack of clubs.

Straight

A straight contains five consecutive numerical cards, but not the same suit. For example, 2 of hearts, 3 of diamonds, 4 of clubs, 5 of spades and 6 of hearts.

Three of a Kind

A three of a kind is three cards with the same rank. For example, 3 aces.

Two Pair

This hand contains two cards of the same rank plus two cards of another rank. For example, 2 jacks and 2 kings.

One Pair

One pair is a hand with two cards with the same rank. For example, 2 aces.

High Card

A winning hand with only a high card happens only if none of the players has one of the above hands, then, the player with the highest ranking card wins.

Wild Card

If the dealer chooses to allow it, a wild card can be used. The wild card is used to substitute for another card the holder needs to make up a winning hand. For example, if the 2 of spades is the wild card and the player has the 10 of spades, jack of spades, queen of spades, king of spades and the 2 of spades, the 2 of spades would be substituted for the ace of spades which results in the player having a royal flush. When a wild card is used, the most commonly used wild card is the joker.

Whether you playing poker with a group of friends, at a charity event or online, all of the same rules apply and the rankings of poker hands remain the same. For example, a Royal Flush is always the highest ranking poker hand possible. Some of the most common poker games played on Fulltiltpoker.com include Pot Limit Texas Hold’em, Texas Hold’em, Fixed Limit Texas Hold’em, seven card stud, five card stud, Razz and Omaha.

Mark Scheller is a keen blogger and poker enthusiast. He is always looking to improve his strategies and shares his poker stories on various blogs. Visit the link for information on rankings of poker hands and other useful insights.