No Folds Given
Poker hand rankings: what beats what
A quick reference for Texas Hold'em, Omaha and Short Deck. 18+ · play money only.
Every poker hand is made of five cards. In Texas Hold'em you use the best five out of your two hole cards and the five shared cards on the board. Here's the order from strongest to weakest, with an example of each.
The ten hands, strongest first
- Royal flush: A K Q J 10, all the same suit. The best possible hand.
- Straight flush: five cards in a row, all the same suit, such as 9♠ 8♠ 7♠ 6♠ 5♠.
- Four of a kind: four cards of the same rank, such as 7 7 7 7 plus any fifth card.
- Full house: three of a kind plus a pair, such as K K K 4 4 ("kings full of fours").
- Flush: any five cards of the same suit, such as A♥ J♥ 8♥ 6♥ 2♥.
- Straight: five cards in a row of mixed suits, such as 10 9 8 7 6.
- Three of a kind: three cards of the same rank, such as Q Q Q plus two others.
- Two pair: two different pairs, such as J J 5 5 plus a fifth card.
- One pair: two cards of the same rank, such as A A plus three others.
- High card: none of the above. The highest card plays.
Ties and kickers
When two players have the same kind of hand, the higher cards win:
- Pairs, trips and quads: the higher rank wins (a pair of kings beats a pair of queens). If those match, the remaining cards ("kickers") decide, highest first.
- Two pair: compare the higher pair, then the lower pair, then the kicker.
- Full house: the three of a kind decides first, then the pair.
- Flush and high card: compare the highest card, then the next, and so on through all five.
- Straights: the higher top card wins. A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight; an ace can't wrap around, so Q-K-A-2-3 isn't a straight.
- Exact ties split the pot. Suits never break a tie, and only five cards count: a sixth card can't help.
A common surprise: if the board shows the best hand, everyone still in the hand "plays the board" and splits the pot.
Short Deck and Omaha differences
- Short Deck (6+) removes the 2s to 5s. With fewer cards, flushes are harder to make, so a flush beats a full house. The lowest straight is A-6-7-8-9.
- Omaha and 5-Card Omaha use the same rankings as Hold'em, but you must use exactly two of your hole cards and exactly three from the board. Four hearts in your hand with one heart on the board isn't a flush.
More in our Omaha and Short Deck rules guide.
Practise without the maths homework
No Folds Given shows each player's best hand at showdown and settles split pots and side pots for you, so you can learn the rankings by playing. Leave Coach tips on when you create a table to see your approximate equity and pot odds on your turn. New to the game? Start with how to play Texas Hold'em.