Poker School · lesson 1 of 7 · 4 min
What beats what, and the three ties that catch nearly everyone out.
The order, strongest first
Every poker hand is exactly five cards. In Hold'em you make the best five you can out of the seven available: your two hole cards and the five community cards on the board.
| Hand | What it is |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | A K Q J 10, all one suit. The top straight flush. |
| Straight flush | Five in a row, all one suit. 8 7 6 5 4 of hearts. |
| Four of a kind | All four of one rank. Also called quads. |
| Full house | Three of one rank plus two of another. Kings full of fives. |
| Flush | Five of one suit, not in sequence. Highest card wins flush vs flush. |
| Straight | Five in a row, mixed suits. |
| Three of a kind | Three of one rank. A set if you hold a pair, trips if two are on the board. |
| Two pair | Two different pairs. The higher pair is compared first. |
| One pair | Two of one rank. |
| High card | None of the above. Ace high beats king high. |
Suits do not rank
A spade flush does not beat a heart flush. If two players make a flush, the one with the highest card in it wins, and if those match you keep comparing downward. Suit only ever decides side matters like who gets a chip in an odd split, never who wins a hand.
The three ties people get wrong
- The wheel. A 2 3 4 5 is a straight, the lowest one, with the ace playing low. It loses to 6 5 4 3 2. And an ace cannot bend round a corner - Q K A 2 3 is nothing.
- Kickers. If two players hold one pair of aces, the highest unmatched card settles it. A K beats A Q on a board of A 7 4 2 9, and the loser was not beaten by a better pair, only by a better fifth card.
- Playing the board. If the best five cards available to you are the five on the board, so are everyone else's, and the pot splits. A board of 10 J Q K A means everyone still in the hand has an ace-high straight.
You always play your best five cards. You never have to use both hole cards, and in Hold'em you may use neither.
