Poker Hand Rankings in Order: What Beats What (Chart + Examples)
Level 2 · Lesson 1 of 108 min read
Royal flush
Ace, king, queen, jack, and 10, all in one suit. Nothing beats it.
It is the highest possible straight flush, promoted to a name of its own. Two players cannot make one from different cards — the only shared royal is all five sitting on the board, and then everyone plays the board and splits.
Straight flush
Five cards in a row, all one suit.
When two straight flushes meet, the higher top card wins: nine-high beats eight-high.
Four of a kind
All four cards of one rank, plus any fifth card. You will also hear it called quads.
When two players both have it, the higher rank wins: four kings beat four sevens.
Full house
Three cards of one rank plus a pair of another.
Full houses are compared by the three-of-a-kind first, then the pair. Kings full of Sevens beats Queens full of Aces.
Flush
Five cards of one suit, in any order. The ranks do not need to connect.
The highest card decides it when two flushes meet, which is why an ace-high flush is the one you want. Four to a suit with cards still to come is only a flush draw. Why suited beats connected is worked through in does a flush beat a straight.
Straight
Five ranks in a row, suits mixed — 4♣ 5♥ 6♠ 7♦ 8♣. The ace works at both ends: above the king, or below the 2. It never wraps around the corner, though, so Q-K-A-2-3 is nothing at all.
Is A-2-3-4-5 a straight?
Yes — the lowest one, known as the wheel. The ace plays low there, so it counts as a five-high straight, not an ace-high one.
Three of a kind
Three cards of one rank plus two unrelated cards. You will hear two names for it: a set (your pocket pair plus a matching card on the board) and trips (a board pair plus one of your cards). Both rank exactly the same.
Does a full house beat three of a kind?
Yes — and the gap is closer than it looks, because three of a kind plus any board pair upgrades into a full house automatically. Full house vs three of a kind covers the hands where players miss the upgrade.
Two pair
Two separate pairs plus a fifth card — easy to misread when the board pairs itself.
Who wins when both players have two pair?
The higher pair wins first, then the lower pair, then the fifth card. Aces and eights beat kings and queens — the higher pair settles it before anything else is compared.
One pair
Two cards of one rank plus three unrelated cards.
Modest, but a large share of pots are decided by exactly this hand. Higher pair wins; equal pairs move on to the side cards.
High card
No combination at all — the highest card speaks for the hand.
It beats only a lower high card. On the flop, though, a high-card hand is often not finished: hands that can still improve are poker draws.
The full hand rankings chart
| Rank | Hand | Example | Beats | Loses to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush | A♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥ 10♥ | Every other hand | Nothing |
| 2 | Straight flush | 5♠ 6♠ 7♠ 8♠ 9♠ | Everything below | Royal flush, higher straight flush |
| 3 | Four of a kind | K♣ K♦ K♥ K♠ 3♦ | Everything below | Straight flushes, higher quads |
| 4 | Full house | Q♣ Q♥ Q♠ 7♦ 7♣ | Flush and below | Four of a kind and above |
| 5 | Flush | A♥ K♥ 9♥ 7♥ 4♥ | Straight and below | Full house and above |
| 6 | Straight | 4♣ 5♥ 6♠ 7♦ 8♣ | Three of a kind and below | Flush and above |
| 7 | Three of a kind | J♣ J♦ J♥ 5♠ 2♦ | Two pair and below | Straight and above |
| 8 | Two pair | A♣ A♦ 8♥ 8♠ 3♣ | One pair, high card | Three of a kind and above |
| 9 | One pair | 10♣ 10♦ K♠ 6♥ 2♣ | High card | Two pair and above |
| 10 | High card | A♦ Q♣ 9♠ 5♥ 2♦ | A lower high card | Every made hand |
This is the same order the evaluator behind the Vibe Poker puzzles uses to grade every hand.
Your hand is your best five cards
You play the best five cards available from your two plus the board's five.
The board is already a straight, 5 through 9. The pair of 2s does not get added on top; it is worse than the straight sitting there. When every player's best five are the board's five, that is playing the board, and the pot is split — the best five cards rule covers it in full.
Quick check
You hold 3♠ 3♥ and the board runs out 2♣ 7♦ 6♠ 5♥ 4♣. What's the best hand you can make?
How ties and kickers work
When two players hold the same hand type, compare the cards that make the hand first — higher pair, higher trips, higher flush card. If those match too, the kicker decides: the highest side card that fills out the five.
Four jacks sit on the board, so the fifth card settles everything, and the ace fills that slot. The pair of 4s adds nothing, because the board's own 4♣ is already a 4. Any higher hole card would at least play as the fifth card — but against this ace, only another ace splits the pot.
If all five cards match in rank, the pot is split evenly — a split pot. Two flushes of the same ranks are exactly equal. For more showdown vocabulary, see poker terms for beginners.
Frequently asked questions
Are poker hand rankings the same in every poker game?
For the games built on five-card hands — Texas Hold'em, Omaha, seven-card stud — yes, exactly. Two variants change it: short-deck strips out the low cards, which makes flushes rarer than full houses and swaps their places, and lowball inverts the list so the worst hand wins.
Practice this in Vibe Poker
Name the hand yourself — Levels 1 to 9 in Vibe Poker take a few minutes. Free, play-money.
Free, play-money only. 18+.