All ten hands in order, what each one beats, and — the part that settles real arguments — exactly how ties break. Five cards decide everything; suits decide nothing.
From unbeatable to bare minimum. Every Hold’em hand you will ever make is one of these ten.
| # | Hand | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush | A-K-Q-J-10, all one suit | A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ |
| 2 | Straight flush | Five consecutive cards, one suit | 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥ |
| 3 | Four of a kind | Four cards of the same rank | J♠ J♥ J♦ J♣ 7♦ |
| 4 | Full house | Three of a kind + a pair | 10♠ 10♥ 10♦ 4♣ 4♠ |
| 5 | Flush | Five cards of one suit | A♣ J♣ 8♣ 6♣ 2♣ |
| 6 | Straight | Five consecutive cards, mixed suits | 9♣ 8♦ 7♠ 6♥ 5♦ |
| 7 | Three of a kind | Three cards of the same rank | 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ K♣ 3♠ |
| 8 | Two pair | Two different pairs | A♥ A♣ 9♠ 9♦ Q♣ |
| 9 | One pair | Two cards of the same rank | K♥ K♣ A♦ 8♠ 4♥ |
| 10 | High card | None of the above | A♦ J♠ 9♣ 6♥ 3♦ |
Two facts that end most arguments
A flush beats a straight, and a full house beats a flush. If you memorise nothing else from this page, memorise those.
Each hand with its own tie-break rule — because “we both have a flush” happens more often than you’d think.
The ace-high straight flush — the best possible hand. Two players can’t both have one in the same suit, and suits don’t outrank each other, so the (astronomically rare) double royal splits the pot.
Five consecutive cards in one suit. Tie-break: the higher top card wins — a 9-high straight flush beats an 8-high one. The 5-high straight flush (5-4-3-2-A) is the lowest.
“Quads.” Tie-break: higher quads win; if the quads are on the board, the higher fifth card (kicker) decides.
Trips plus a pair, read as “tens full of fours”. Tie-break: compare the three-of-a-kind rank first, and only then the pair. Kings full of twos beats queens full of aces.
Any five cards of one suit. Tie-break: compare card by card from the top — highest first, then the next, through all five. An ace-high flush beats a king-high flush.
Five consecutive ranks, suits mixed. Tie-break: higher top card wins; two straights with the same top card split.
“Trips” or “a set”. Tie-break: higher trips win; equal trips (using board cards) go to the two kickers in order.
Read top pair first: “aces up”. Tie-break: highest pair, then the second pair, then the fifth-card kicker. Aces and threes beats kings and queens.
Two cards of one rank plus three kickers. Tie-break: higher pair wins; equal pairs go to the kickers, compared one by one from the top.
No pair, no straight, no flush — the hand is just its cards. Tie-break: compare all five from the top down. “Ace high” beats “king high”.
A kicker is any card in your best five that isn’t part of the combination itself. With a pair of kings, the other three cards are kickers; they break ties between equal pairs.
Classic example — board A♣ 10♦ 7♠ 4♥ 2♣:
Same pair of aces; your K kicker beats the Q. You win.
A kicker only plays if it fits in the five
Board A♣ A♦ 10♠ 10♥ 7♣. You hold K-3; your opponent holds Q-3. Both of you play A-A-10-10 plus… the board’s 7? No — your K and their Q both beat the 7, so your five is A-A-10-10-K and theirs A-A-10-10-Q: your king plays and wins. But if that 7 were a K on the board, both of you would play A-A-10-10-K — a split, because a sixth card never counts.
Counterfeited: when the board devalues you
You hold 2♠ 2♦ — a nice pair — and the board runs out 7♠ 7♦ 9♥ 9♣ A♦. The board’s two pair, nines and sevens with an ace, now outranks any five that uses your deuces: your pair has been counterfeited, and anyone holding a single higher card beats you. Always re-read your best five after the river.
The ace plays high or low in straights. A-2-3-4-5 — “the wheel” — is a genuine straight, but the lowest one: its top card is the five, so any 6-high straight beats it.
What the ace cannot do is sit in the middle: straights never wrap around. Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight; it’s just ace-high.
At showdown you have seven cards: two hole cards and five on the board. Your hand is the best five-card combination among them — using both hole cards, one, or none. Using none is called playing the board, and the best it can earn you is a split.
That’s the whole system. Every ruling on this page is just this rule plus the ranking chart applied carefully.