Ranking Your Poker Hands

Ranking, ranking poker hands

Basically, the cards in poker are counted from the highest to the lowest card. The order is: ace, king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two. The ace is of particular importance. It is the highest card, but on a straight the ace can also be used as the lowest card.

A poker hand or hand is made up of a combination of the best five cards. Starting with the best hand, the royal flush, there are the following combinations:

Royal flush

All cards of one suit (hearts, clubs, spades or diamonds) from ace to ten.

Straight flush

All five cards in one suit and in the same order, e.g. two, three, four, five, six (all clubs).

Four of a kind

Four of a kind, the fifth is meaningless, e.g. all four aces.

Full house

Three identical cards (three of a kind) plus two identical cards (pair), e.g. three diamonds, three hearts, three spades, six hearts, six clubs.

Flush

Five cards of one suit, for example all diamonds.

Straight

In a straight, the player has five cards in sequence, regardless of the suit.

Three of a kind

Three cards of one value, the other two cards are meaningless.

Two pair

(Double twin) for two cards of the same value and two other cards of the same value.

One pair

Two cards of the same rank and three cards not belonging to any other category.

High card


If none of the players has at least one pair in hand (practically five different cards that do not result in any of the aforementioned combinations) the highest card, the so-called “high card”, decides. In terms of value, the high card is below all other poker hands. If the highest card is identical for several players, the next higher card is compared until there is a difference and the winner can be clearly determined. The lowest high card available is seven-high (seven, five, four, three, two) because the lowest of all card combinations or poker hand rankings (six, five, four, three, two) would result in a straight.