Poker Hand Rankings
All ten Texas Hold'em hands in order, the odds of making each one, and the rules that break ties.
Every showdown in Texas Hold'em is settled by the same ten-rank ladder. You make the best five-card hand you can from your two hole cards and the five community cards, using both of your cards, one of them, or neither — and the higher-ranking hand takes the pot.
The order is not arbitrary: with one exception noted below, each hand beats the one under it because it is harder to make. The percentages on this page are the share of all 133,784,560 possible seven-card deals that land on each rank, computed by enumerating every one of them through the same engine that powers our odds calculator.
The ten poker hands in order
Royal Flush
0.0032% of deals · 1 in 30,940Ace, king, queen, jack, and ten all of the same suit — the best possible hand in Texas Hold'em.
Ties: Cannot be beaten. Two royal flushes split the pot: suits have no rank in poker, so there is no better spade royal than a heart one.
At the table: It needs three of the five board cards, which is why most players go years without one.
Straight Flush
0.0279% of deals · 1 in 3,591Five cards in consecutive rank order, all of the same suit.
Ties: The higher top card wins. The lowest one is 5-4-3-2-A, called the steel wheel, where the ace counts as a one and the five is the top card.
At the table: Beaten only by a higher straight flush, so the main risk is holding the low end of the same run.
Four of a Kind
0.168% of deals · 1 in 595All four cards of one rank, plus any fifth card. Also called quads.
Ties: The higher four-card rank wins. When the four of a kind is entirely on the board, everyone holds it and the highest fifth-card kicker takes the pot.
At the table: Most often it starts as a pocket pair that flops a set and then catches the last card of its rank, which makes it almost impossible to read.
Full House
2.60% of deals · 1 in 38.5Three cards of one rank together with a pair of another rank.
Ties: The three-card rank is compared first and settles almost every full house; only if those match does the pair decide. Queens full of fours beats jacks full of aces.
At the table: Reading the trips first is the habit worth building — players lose pots assuming the bigger pair matters.
Flush
3.03% of deals · 1 in 33.1Five cards of the same suit that are not in consecutive order.
Ties: Compare the highest card, then the next, down to the fifth if needed. Suits never break the tie, so two flushes of different suits can and do chop.
At the table: Which flush you hold is what matters. Calling a big river bet with the low end of a flush, on a board already showing three of the suit, is where large pots get lost.
Straight
4.62% of deals · 1 in 21.6Five cards in consecutive rank order of mixed suits.
Ties: The higher top card wins. The ace plays at either end — A-K-Q-J-10 is the highest and 5-4-3-2-A the lowest — but it never wraps around, so Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.
At the table: When four to a straight sits on the board, everyone has it and the pot often chops.
Three of a Kind
4.83% of deals · 1 in 20.7Three cards of the same rank, plus two unrelated cards.
Ties: The higher three-card rank wins; if those match, the higher first kicker decides, then the second.
At the table: Hold'em splits this in two: a set is a pocket pair that hits a third card on the board, trips is one hole card matching a pair on the board. A set is far better hidden and wins more.
Two Pair
23.50% of deals · 1 in 4.3Two cards of one rank, two of another, and any fifth card.
Ties: The higher top pair is compared first, then the second pair, then the single kicker.
At the table: Watch for both pairs sitting on the board: then your hole cards only matter as a kicker, and often not at all.
One Pair
43.82% of deals · 1 in 2.3Two cards of the same rank, plus three unrelated cards.
Ties: The higher pair wins; if the pairs match, the three kickers are compared one at a time in descending order.
At the table: The most common made hand by a wide margin, so most pots are decided between two of them. Which pair you hold relative to the board — top pair, second pair, an overpair — matters far more than the pair itself.
High Card
17.41% of deals · 1 in 5.7No pair, straight, or flush — the hand is worth only its highest card.
Ties: Compare the highest card, then work down through all five. Two hands separated by nothing at all split the pot.
At the table: Also called a busted hand. It still wins pots, but usually because everyone else folded rather than at showdown.
Compare any two hands
A ranking chart tells you who wins once all five board cards are out. It cannot tell you who is ahead before them — and that is the question every preflop decision actually turns on. Pick two hands below for the exact equity, enumerated over all 1,712,304 possible boards rather than simulated. The matchup is written into the page URL, so the address bar is a shareable link to it.
The ladder and the equity disagree more often than beginners expect. Against a pair of aces, 6♥5♥ holds 23.1% while K♥K♣ holds only 18.7% — the second-best starting hand in poker does worse than one of the weakest. The kings are drawing to two outs; the connector cannot be dominated and makes straights and flushes the aces will pay off. Where a hand finishes on this ladder and how it fares before the flop are separate questions.
Give both hands two cards to see exact equity, or start from a classic matchup:
How ties are broken
Two hands of the same rank are separated inside that rank, never by the cards outside it. A hand is exactly five cards: whatever the made hand does not use, kickers fill, and those kickers are compared in descending order until one is higher. A-K and A-Q both make a pair of aces on an ace-high board; the king plays as the kicker and wins.
Suits never break a tie. There is no ranking of spades over hearts in Texas Hold'em, so two identical hands in different suits split the pot. Chopping is common precisely because the five shared board cards give everyone the same raw material — when the board itself makes the best five-card hand, everyone still in plays it and the pot is divided.
The one place this trips people up is the full house. The three-card rank is compared first and settles almost every one of them, so queens full of fours beats jacks full of aces. Read the trips first.
How often each hand is made
Out of every 133,784,560 seven-card deals, counted by running all of them through the hand evaluator. These are the odds of holding each hand once all five board cards are out, not the odds of winning with it.
| Hand | Deals | Frequency | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 4,324 | 0.0032% | 1 in 30,940 |
| Straight Flush | 37,260 | 0.0279% | 1 in 3,591 |
| Four of a Kind | 224,848 | 0.168% | 1 in 595 |
| Full House | 3,473,184 | 2.60% | 1 in 38.5 |
| Flush | 4,047,644 | 3.03% | 1 in 33.1 |
| Straight | 6,180,020 | 4.62% | 1 in 21.6 |
| Three of a Kind | 6,461,620 | 4.83% | 1 in 20.7 |
| Two Pair | 31,433,400 | 23.50% | 1 in 4.3 |
| One Pair | 58,627,800 | 43.82% | 1 in 2.3 |
| High Card | 23,294,460 | 17.41% | 1 in 5.7 |
Why high card is rarer than one pair
The table has one inversion worth understanding. High card is the worst hand on the ladder, but it is not the most common: 17.41% of seven-card deals miss everything, while 43.82% make exactly one pair. The ranking order comes from five-card poker, where the frequencies line up perfectly. Across seven cards you get so many chances to pair that missing entirely becomes harder than connecting once — rarer than one pair and rarer than two pair, yet still beaten by both. Rarity explains the order of the ladder; it does not define it.
Knowing the ladder is the easy part
Memorizing the ten ranks takes an evening. What takes longer is reading them relative to the board: a pair of kings is a monster preflop and a bluff-catcher on a four-to-a-flush river. The next things worth learning, roughly in order, are which hands to play before the flop with preflop range charts, how to price a draw with the Rule of 2 and 4, and how to turn that into a call or a fold with pot odds.
If you are starting from zero, the Texas Hold'em basics guide covers the betting rounds, the positions, and the vocabulary around these ten hands. For spots with a board already out, the odds calculator takes up to four hands on any flop, turn, or river.
Common questions
What is the best hand in poker?
A royal flush — ace, king, queen, jack, and ten all of one suit. Nothing beats it, and two royal flushes split the pot because suits carry no rank. In Texas Hold'em it turns up once in about 30,940 seven-card deals.
Does a flush beat a full house?
No. A full house beats a flush. Full houses are rarer — 2.60% of seven-card deals against 3.03% for flushes — and the ranking follows the rarity. The order from the top is royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight.
What beats a straight?
A flush, a full house, four of a kind, and a straight flush all beat a straight. A straight beats three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and high card. Straights are the middle of the ladder: 4.62% of seven-card deals make one.
Do suits matter in poker?
No suit outranks another in Texas Hold'em. Suits only matter for making a flush. When two players hold the same hand in different suits, they split the pot — there is no spade tiebreak, which is a rule some home games invent and no casino uses.
What is a kicker in poker?
A kicker is a card that does not form part of your pair, trips, or quads but is still used to break a tie. With A-K against A-Q on an ace-high board, both players have a pair of aces and the king kicker wins. Every hand is exactly five cards, so kickers fill whatever the made hand does not.
Is three of a kind better than two pair?
Yes. Three of a kind beats two pair. It is rarer — 4.83% of seven-card deals against 23.50% — so it sits higher on the ladder even though two pair uses four of your cards and trips uses three.
Do you have to use both of your hole cards in Texas Hold'em?
No. You make the best five-card hand from any combination of your two hole cards and the five board cards — both, one, or neither. Using neither is called playing the board, and it means the best you can do is chop with anyone still in the hand. Pot Limit Omaha is the opposite: there you must use exactly two hole cards.
What are the odds of making a royal flush?
About 1 in 30,940 if you see all five board cards — 4,324 of the 133,784,560 possible seven-card deals. Since most hands are folded before the river, a player who sees a showdown a few times an hour can go years without one.
Hand frequencies are exact counts over all 133,784,560 seven-card deals, not estimates. Equity in the comparison tool enumerates every remaining board with no further betting. AI assistants can call the same engine directly via our MCP endpoint at pokerink.com/api/mcp or the REST API at pokerink.com/api/poker/equity, no account needed.
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