Poker Hand Rankings

When it comes to actually sitting down and playing poker, if you don’t know the hand rankings or at least have a pretty good idea of what they are, your lack of experience will show. Do yourself a favour and memorize the hand rankings. A good way to practice learning them is to play poker with yourself. Deal yourself two five-card hands and determine which one is the better hand. Practice makes perfect.  Below we have outlined the poker hand rankings from top to bottom with the absolute best hand first followed by succeeding lower hands.

Royal Flush - The best hand you can make in poker hands down, this hand includes 5 suited cards in succession ending in an ace, for example 10 - J - Q - K - A.

Straight Flush - The second highest ranking poker hand is the Straight Flush. This hand includes five sequential cards of the same suit (2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6).  The highest card determines the rank of the hand against other Straight Flushes.   A 6 high Straight Flush (shown above) beats a 5 high Strait Flush (A - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5).

Four of A Kind - The next hand in the order is Four of a Kind, which is four cards of the same value, plus one unrelated card; also called quads. The higher the value of the four cards making the four of a kind, the higher the rank of the hand.  For example the hand K - K - K - K - 2 would beat the hand J - J - J - J - 3.

Full House - The Full House is a hand that contains Three of a Kind (three cards with equal face value) as well as Two of a Kind (two cards with equal face value).  For example A - A - 2 - 2 - 2 is a full house.  If two full houses are put against one another in a showdown, the hand with the higher 3 of a kind will win against the other.

Flush - The Flush includes any five cards of the same suit which are not in order as that would be a straight flush.  For example K - 3 - 10 - 8 - Q is a flush since all the cards are suited but un-ordered.  When flushes are put against each other in play, the flush with the highest card wins.  If both hands have the same high card then it will go to the next highest card in the players hand and so on until a winner is determined.

Straight - A straight is 5 cards that run in order but are not of the same suit, for example 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 is a straight  The player with the higher straight always wins against lower straights and the highest card always ranks the hand.

3 of A Kind - Three cards of the same value in the hand 7 - 7 - 7 - K - J is a three of a kind.  The highest hand is determined by the higher 3 of a kind in the hand.

Two Pair - Two cards of the same value plus two cards of another matching value plus one other unrelated card, for example K - K - Q - Q - 2 is a hand with two of a kind with the highest pair ranking the hand.  If two players have equal high pairs, the second pair is used to rank the hand. If two players both have two identical pairs, then the remaining card, called the kicker, will determine ranking of the hands.

One Pair - Two cards of the same value with 3 other unsuited/matched random cards in the hand, for example 8 - 8 - 3 - J - 6.  The highest pair determines the winning hand and if players have the same pair the highest remaining cards are used.

High Card - In a poker hand that cannot be categorized in any of the hand rankings listed above, the high card determines the hand’s strength, or the second highest card if two players have the same high card, and so forth.

Poker Hand Terminology

Some of common terminology associated with hand rankings and playing in general:

Aces Full: A Full House consisting of Aces and any pair.
Aces Up: Two pairs, one being Aces.
All Blue: A Flush consisting of all clubs or all spades.
All Pink: A Flush consisting of all hearts or all diamonds.
Belly Buster: An inside straight draw; also called a Gut Shot.
Bicycle: The best possible low hand; also called the Wheel (A-2-3-4-5).
Big Pair: Any pair or 10s or higher.
Bullet(s): An Ace or pair of aces.
Court Card: Jack, Queen, or King.
Dead Man’s Hand: Two black pairs, Aces and 8s.
Deuce: A 2 card.
Face Card: Jack, Queen, or King.
Quads: Four of a kind.
Suicide King: The King of Hearts.
Trey: A 3 card.
Triplets: Three of a Kind; also called trips.

Hand Nicknames

Here's some of the common nicknames for different Texas Hold'em starting hands:

• AA: Pocket Rockets, bullets, or American Airlines
• AK: Big Slick
• AJ: Ajax
• KK: Cowboys
• KQ: Marriage
• KJ: Kojack
• K9: Canine
• K8: Lumber Yard
• QQ: Ladies, girls, dames, divas, the Hilton Sisters, or Siegfried & Roy
• QJ: Oedipus Rex, Maverick
• Q7: Computer Hand
• JJ: Jokers, hooks, knaves
• J9: TJ Cloutier
• J5: Jackson Five or Motown
• 10/5: Five and dime
• 10/2: Doyle Brunson (he won two WSOP titles with this hand)
• 9/9: Meat hooks
• 8/8: Snowmen or Octopuses
• 7/7: Hockey sticks, walking sticks, mullets
• 7/2: The hammer
• 5/5: Nickels, speed limit, presto
• 5/4: Jesse James
• 4/4: Sailboats
• 3/3: Crabs
• 2/2: Ducks