Poker hand (poker)

Poker hands

A poker hand in poker can mean any of the following:

A unit of play consisting of a deal, one or more rounds of betting, and possibly a showdown.

A set of five cards with a certain value. For example, the poker hand A♥ 10♥ 9♥ 5♥ 3♥ is a "flush", or poker hand that is valuable because each card is of the same suit.

A player's set of non-communal cards.

The second and third definitions are often used interchangeably. For example, in Texas hold 'em, a player holding A♣ K♠, with a board of A♥ K♣ K♦ 7♠ 3♦, might say, "my poker hand is ace-king". On the other poker hand, his best 5-card poker hand is the K/A full house.

Ranking of poker hands

Most commonly, the ranking of poker hands is according to the hierarchy shown below, in order of descending value. Poker hands are classified in the highest-value category for which they qualify. A poker hand consists of precisely 5 cards, so "three pair" or "6-straight" are not valid poker hands. There is no ranking of suits in poker hands: a flush consisting of AK753 of spades is identical in rank with AK753 of clubs, and the two poker hands would split the pot.

Royal flush: A straight flush that is ace-high. Example: A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠

Straight flush: Five cards in sequence and of the same suit. Example: Q♦ J♦ 10♦ 9♦ 8♦

Four of a kind: A poker hand with four cards of the same rank. Example: 4♣ 4♦ 4♥ 4♠ 9♥

Full house: A poker hand with three cards of one rank and two of another. Example: 8♣ 8♦ 8♠ K♥ K♠

Flush: Five cards of the same suit. Example: K♠ J♠ 8♠ 4♠ 3♠

Straight: Five cards in sequence. (The ace can be considered higher than the king, or lower than the two.) Example: 5♦ 4♥ 3♠ 2♦ A♦

Three of a kind: Three cards of the same rank. Example: 7♣ 7♥ 7♠ K♦ 2♠

Two pair: Two cards of one rank, two of another. Example: A♣ A♦ 8♥ 8♠ Q♠

One pair: Two cards of the same rank. Example: 9♥ 9♠ A♣ J♠ 4♥

No pair: Also known as a high card poker hand. The following example is considered "Ace high." Example: A♦ 10♦ 9♠ 5♣ 4♣

An additional poker hand type, five of a kind, exists when wild cards are used.

The poker hands are ranked in this order because of their relative probabilities, with rarer poker hands ranking above more common poker hands. See also Poker probability.

General poker rules

The following general poker rules apply to evaluating poker hands, whatever set of poker hand values are used.

Individual cards are ranked A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (low).

Individual card ranks are often used to evaluate poker hands that contain no pairs or other special combinations, or to rank the kickers of otherwise equal poker hands. The Ace is ranked low in ace-to-five and ace-to-six lowball games.

Suits have no value.

The suits of the cards are mainly used in determining whether a poker hand fits a certain category (specifically the Flush and Straight flush poker hands). In most variants, if two players have poker hands that are identical except for suit, then they are tied and split the pot. Sometimes a ranking called high card by suit is used for randomly selecting a player to deal.

A poker hand always consists of five cards.

In games where more than five cards are available to each player, poker hands are ranked by choosing some five-card subset according to the poker rules of the game, and comparing that five-card poker hand against the five-card poker hands of the other players. Whatever cards remain after choosing the five to be played are of no consequence in determining the winner. (For example, when comparing identical full houses, there are no "kickers".)

• Poker hands are ranked first by category, then by individual card ranks.

That is, even the minimum qualifying poker hand in a certain category defeats all poker hands in all lower categories. The smallest Two pair poker hand, for example, defeats all poker hands with just One pair or No pair. Only between two poker hands in the same category are card ranks used to break ties.

• Full houses are ranked first by three of a kind, then by the pair.

That is, the full house 77766 is ranked higher than 555QQ, even though the highest rank appearing in the latter (Q) is higher than 6 or 7.

• The order in which cards are dealt is unimportant.

For ease of explanation, poker hands are shown here neatly arranged, but a poker hand has the same value no matter what order the cards are received in.

Interestingly, the royal flush is the only rank that has no effect on relative poker hand values. That is, if there were no such thing as a "royal flush", then every royal flush would still qualify as a straight flush, and would still outrank every other poker hand in poker (including the other straight flushes).

Variations

Some games called lowball or low poker are played where players strive not for the highest ranking of the above combinations but for the lowest ranking poker hand. There are three methods of ranking low poker hands, called Ace-to-five low, Deuce-to-seven low, and Ace-to-six low. The ace-to-five method is most common.

Certain variants use poker hands of only three cards, either high or low. Three-card low poker hands can be ranked by any of the three methods above, although with three cards they become ace-to-three (rather than ace-to-five), deuce-to-five, and ace-to-four. The ace-to-three method is the most common, just as the ace-to-five method is most common method for five cards. Three-card high poker hands are ranked in one of two ways: either with or without straights and flushes. Without them (which is the most common, and used such games as Chinese poker), the poker hands are simply no pair, one pair, and three of a kind. If you add straights and flushes, the order of poker hands should be changed to reflect the correct probabilities: no pair, one pair, flush, straight, three of a kind, straight flush. This order is used, for example, in Mambo stud.

Some poker games are played with a deck that has been stripped of certain cards, usually low-ranking ones. For example, the Australian game of Manila uses a 32-card deck in which all cards below the rank of 7 are removed, and Mexican stud removes the 8s, 9s, and 10s. In both of these games, a flush ranks above a full house, because having fewer cards of each suit available makes flushes rarer.

Some games add one or more unconventional poker hands, or have special exceptions to the poker rules above. For example, in the game of Pai gow poker as played in Nevada, a Wheel (5-4-3-2-A) ranks above a king-high straight, but below an ace-high straight. This is not the case in California, where the nearly identical game is played under the name Double-poker hand poker using traditional poker hand values.