Poker Hands

Below are all the possible kinds of hand found in poker. The hands below are ranked in order lowest to highest.

High Card - If there are no other hands out, the player with the highest ranking card wins.

1 Pair - A pair of any card. A higher pair beats a lower pair, (e.g. 88 vs 66), 88 will win.

2 Pairs - A pair of any 2 cards. (66 and KK). Kings and 3's would lose to Kings and 4's. This is because the second pair (44) beats the other second pair (33). If 2 players have identical cards then the 5th card in the player's hands becomes the tie breaker.

3 of a Kind - 3 matching cards, 8-8-8. The same rule applies here as for pairs (the higher card wins). 3 of a kind is also known as "trips".

Straight - 5 ordered cards of any suit. 2-3-4-5-6, suit is irrelevant. If there are two straights, the higher straight wins.

Flush - Any 5 suited cards. A flush is called by its highest card. "Ace high flush" is the best type of normal flush. The higher the highest card is, the better the hand is.

Full House - 3 of a kind plus a pair, as in King-King-King-5-5. This would be expressed as �full house, kings over fives.� On the other hand, 5-5-5-King-King would be expressed �full house, fives over kings.� In the case of two or more players with full house, the winner is decided by who has the highest �3 of a kind� portion of the hand. 10-10-10-2-2 would beat 8-8-8-Ace-Ace. The pair means nothing, the 3 matching cards determine your rank, and in this example, 10 is obviously higher than 8. Sometimes, a full house is called a �boat�.

4 of a Kind - Four of the same card, 4-4-4-4. The fifth card is irrelevant and in the case of two players with 4 of a kind, the higher ranking 4 or a kind wins.

Straight Flush - Any 5 cards in succession and all of the same suit. (e.g. 4-5-6-7-8 of clubs).

Royal Flush - This hand is the highest straight flush. 10-J-Q-K-A all of the same suit.