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5-Card Hand Ranks

The 5-card Poker hands shown below are ranked from highest (Royal Flush) to lowest (High Card). A hand with a higher rank beats any hand with a lower rank.

Example Rank of Hands from Highest to Lowest in Holdem Poker

Royal Flush, Ace high Hearts

Royal Flush
"Royal"
The five highest ranking cards of a suit. A Royal Flush is essentially an Ace high Straight Flush.


Straight Flush, Five high

Straight Flush
Any five cards of the same suit in consecutive order. The example is a five high Straight Flush. (Only the Ace can be high or low for Straights).


Four Kings

Four of a Kind
"Quads"
Four cards of the same rank (for example, 4 Kings), with one dissimilar card.


Full House, Queens over Twos

Full House
"Full Boat"
A triple of one rank plus a pair of another. The example is Queens over Twos, which beats Jacks over Aces because the triple is taken first.


Flush, King high

Flush
Any five non-consecutive cards of the same suit. (If they are consecutive, you have a Straight Flush).


Straight, Ace high

Straight
"Wheel"
Any five consecutive cards of mixed suits. Ace can be high (next to a King) or low (next to a 2) but not both at the same time.


Three Fives

Three of a Kind
"Trips", "Triplets", "Set"
Three cards of the same rank (a triple), with two dissimilar cards. (If the other two made a pair, you would have a Full House).


Two Pair, Sevens and Fours

Two Pair
Any pair of one rank, plus any pair of another rank. If two hands have the same high pair, the second pair decides the winner. If both pairs tie, the remaining high cards decide.


A pair of Tens

Pair
Any two cards of the same rank. When two hands have the same pair, the remaining high cards decide.


King high

High Card
If no other hand rank is achieved, the highest card held wins. If two hands hold the same high card, then remaining high cards decide.

Card Ranks
The Rank of Cards from highest (Ace) to lowest (Two) is:

Note: There is no ranking of Suits in Poker. For example, an Ace of Spades does not outrank an Ace of Clubs. They are of equal rank.