Poker Hand Rankings: All 10 Hands in Order, With Odds and a Printable Chart

Poker hand rankings are the fixed order that decides which five-card hand wins when players reach a showdown. From the unbeatable royal flush at the top to a lone high card at the bottom, almost every game you will meet — Texas Hold’em, Omaha and five-card draw included — is settled by the same ten-rung ladder. This guide lists all ten poker hands in order, shows a clear example of each, explains exactly what beats what, and backs the order with verified odds. You will also find a printable poker hand chart, a straight answer to whether suits matter, and how kickers break ties.

What are poker hand rankings?

A poker hand ranking is the order of strength for the best five-card combination a player can make. At showdown, the player with the higher-ranked hand wins the pot. It does not matter how many cards you were dealt — in five-card draw you hold exactly five, in Texas Hold’em you build the best five out of seven (two private cards plus five shared community cards) — because only your strongest five cards are counted.

One principle explains the entire order: rarer hands rank higher. Out of the 2,598,960 different five-card hands a 52-card deck can produce, a royal flush can be made only four ways, which is why it sits at the top, while a single high card happens roughly half the time and sits at the bottom. Every ranking decision on this page comes back to that idea. These rankings apply to standard “high” poker; a few niche formats (lowball, or hi-lo splits) invert or split the order, but they are the exception.

The 10 poker hands in order, from strongest to weakest

Here are all ten hands ranked from the most powerful to the least, each with a plain example and the odds of being dealt it in five cards.

1. Royal flush

A royal flush is the ace-high straight flush: the ten, jack, queen, king and ace all of the same suit, such as A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠. It is the single strongest hand in poker and cannot be beaten — at best it can be tied by another royal flush (which forces a split pot). There are only four possible royal flushes, one per suit, so you can expect one about once in every 649,740 five-card hands. Because there is no higher hand, no suit outranks another royal flush. For a deeper look, see our dedicated page on the royal flush.

2. Straight flush

A straight flush is five cards in sequence, all of the same suit — for example 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥. It is beaten only by a higher straight flush or a royal flush. When two straight flushes meet, the one with the higher top card wins. The lowest possible straight flush is 5-4-3-2-A (the “steel wheel”), because the ace can play low. There are 36 straight flushes below the royal, or about one in 72,193 hands. Our full straight flush page covers the edge cases.

3. Four of a kind

Four of a kind — also called “quads” — is all four cards of the same rank plus one side card, for example Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ Q♣ 4♠. Higher quads beat lower quads (four aces beat four kings). If two players somehow hold the same quads (only possible when they share community cards), the fifth card, the kicker, decides the winner. There are 624 ways to make four of a kind, roughly one in 4,165 hands. See our four of a kind page for more.

4. Full house

A full house is three cards of one rank plus a pair of another — for example J♠ J♥ J♦ 8♠ 8♥, described as “jacks full of eights”. It beats a flush and everything below it. When comparing two full houses, the three-of-a-kind portion is compared first, so “jacks full” always beats “tens full” regardless of the pair. Only if the trips tie does the pair break it. There are 3,744 full houses, about one in 694 hands.

5. Flush

A flush is any five cards of the same suit that are not in sequence, such as K♦ J♦ 8♦ 5♦ 2♦. It beats a straight and everything weaker. Flushes are compared by their highest card, then the next highest, and so on down all five cards — no suit ranks above another, so a king-high heart flush ties, then splits, with a king-high spade flush if the remaining cards match. There are 5,108 non-straight flushes, about one in 509 hands.

6. Straight

A straight is five consecutive cards of mixed suits, for example 10♣ 9♦ 8♠ 7♥ 6♣. It beats three of a kind and below. The ace can be high (A-K-Q-J-10, the “Broadway” straight) or low (5-4-3-2-A, the “wheel”), but it cannot “wrap around” — Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight. Higher straights beat lower ones by top card. There are 10,200 straights, about one in 255 hands — notably more common than a flush, which is exactly why a flush outranks it.

7. Three of a kind

Three of a kind (“trips” or a “set”) is three cards of the same rank plus two unrelated side cards, for example 7♠ 7♥ 7♦ K♣ 2♠. It beats two pair and below. Higher trips win; if two players share the same three of a kind, the highest kicker, then the second kicker, decides it. There are 54,912 ways to make three of a kind, about one in 47 hands.

8. Two pair

Two pair is two cards of one rank, two of another, and a fifth kicker — for example A♠ A♥ 9♦ 9♣ 4♠ (“aces and nines”). It beats one pair and high card. To compare two-pair hands, look at the higher pair first, then the lower pair, then the kicker. There are 123,552 two-pair hands, about one in 21 hands.

9. One pair

One pair is two cards of the same rank plus three unrelated cards, for example 10♠ 10♦ K♣ 7♥ 3♠. It beats only high card. When two players hold the same pair, the kickers are compared one by one, highest first, until one is higher. One pair is common: there are 1,098,240 such hands, about one in every 2.4 hands — you will be dealt at least a pair around 42% of the time.

10. High card

High card (“no pair”) is any hand that misses every other category — five unmatched cards of mixed suits that do not form a straight or flush, for example A♣ Q♦ 9♠ 6♥ 3♣ (“ace high”). It is the weakest hand and wins only when no one else has anything better. Hands are compared card by card from the top down. High card is the single most common outcome, with 1,302,540 combinations, about one in every two hands.

What beats what in poker?

Each hand beats every hand listed below it and loses to every hand above it. Read this list top to bottom — anything higher wins:

1. Royal flush beats everything.
2. Straight flush beats four of a kind and below.
3. Four of a kind beats a full house and below.
4. Full house beats a flush and below.
5. Flush beats a straight and below.
6. Straight beats three of a kind and below.
7. Three of a kind beats two pair and below.
8. Two pair beats one pair and high card.
9. One pair beats high card.
10. High card beats nothing.

The two matchups beginners most often get wrong: a full house beats a flush, and a flush beats a straight. Both follow the rarity rule — the rarer hand always wins.

Does suit matter in poker?

No — in standard poker no suit is worth more than another. Suits matter only for deciding whether five cards form a flush; they never break a tie or rank one hand above an identical one. A king-high flush in hearts and a king-high flush in spades are exactly equal, and if the other four cards also match, the players split the pot. This is confirmed by every regulated casino and online rulebook.

There are two narrow exceptions, and neither changes hand rankings. In seven-card stud, suit order (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs, alphabetically) is sometimes used to decide who posts the forced “bring-in” bet or who acts first — an administrative tiebreak, not a hand-strength one. Some home games and tournaments also use suit order to award a single odd chip that cannot be split evenly. Outside those situations, treat all four suits as equal.

Kickers and tie-breakers explained

A kicker is a side card that is not part of the ranked portion of your hand but is used to break a tie between two hands of the same category. Tie-breaking always compares the full best five cards, one card at a time, from highest to lowest, until a difference appears; if all five match, the pot is split.

Kickers decide the following situations:

• High card: compare the highest card, then the second, and so on.
• One pair: same pair — compare the three kickers in order.
• Two pair: same two pairs — the fifth card (kicker) decides.
• Three of a kind: same trips — compare the two kickers.
• Four of a kind: same quads — the fifth card decides.

Kickers do not apply to straights, flushes, full houses or straight flushes, because those hands already use ranking rules on all five relevant cards (a straight is compared by its top card, a flush card by card, a full house by trips then pair). A common trap in community-card games: your private kicker only counts if it is genuinely one of your best five cards — if the board offers higher kickers, yours may not play at all. For the full breakdown, read what happens when two hands tie in poker.

The odds behind the rankings

The ranking order is not arbitrary — it mirrors probability exactly. A standard 52-card deck produces 2,598,960 possible five-card hands, and the fewer ways a hand can be made, the higher it ranks. The clearest proof is the flush-versus-straight matchup: there are 5,108 flushes but 10,200 straights, so flushes are almost twice as rare and therefore outrank straights.

These figures describe drawing five cards at random, which is the basis of every hand-ranking chart. In Texas Hold’em you see stronger hands more often because you pick the best five of seven cards — pairs, two pair and trips all become more frequent — but the ranking order never changes. Memorize the order once and it holds in every high-hand game. If you are learning Hold’em specifically, our guide to no-limit Texas Hold’em shows how these hands play out across the flop, turn and river.

Common mistakes beginners make with hand rankings

Knowing the order is only half the battle. These are the errors that cost new players pots:

• Thinking a flush beats a full house. It does not — a full house is rarer and ranks higher.
• Thinking a straight beats a flush. Also wrong; the flush wins.
• Believing suits rank. No suit beats another; equal hands split.
• Trying to “wrap” a straight. Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight; the ace is either high or low, never both.
• Assuming “three pair” is a hand. With seven cards you might pair three ranks, but only your best two pairs count — there is no three-pair category.
• Forgetting the best-five rule. In Hold’em you must use the strongest five of your seven cards; extra pairs or a stray card do not add value.
• Overvaluing a weak kicker. Ace-nine and ace-king both make a pair of aces, but the king kicker wins — kickers decide close hands.

Which hand wins? Worked examples

Test yourself on these showdowns, then check the answer. Each assumes the two hands shown are the players’ best five cards.

• Flush (Q♥ 9♥ 7♥ 4♥ 2♥) vs. straight (10♣ 9♦ 8♠ 7♥ 6♣): the flush wins — it outranks a straight.
• Full house (8♠ 8♥ 8♦ 5♠ 5♥) vs. flush (A♦ K♦ 8♦ 4♦ 2♦): the full house wins, even though the flush is ace-high.
• Pair of aces with king kicker (A♠ A♥ K♠ 7♦ 3♣) vs. pair of aces with queen kicker (A♦ A♣ Q♠ 7♥ 3♦): the first hand wins on the king kicker.
• Straight to the nine (9-8-7-6-5) vs. straight to the eight (8-7-6-5-4): the nine-high straight wins on its top card.
• Two identical king-high flushes with matching cards: the pot is split — suits do not break the tie.

How to use the rankings at the table

Start by memorizing the ten hands in order; the rarity rule makes them easy to recall once you see why each sits where it does. Beginners often keep a printed chart nearby — the printable poker hand chart above is designed for exactly that. Beyond memorization, understanding rankings is the foundation of every decision: knowing which starting hands can realistically improve, reading the board for the strongest possible hand your opponent could hold, and judging when your pair or draw is likely ahead. Once the order is second nature, move on to our basic poker strategy guide to turn hand knowledge into winning decisions.

Do hand rankings change in other poker variants?

For the vast majority of games the ranking order on this page is universal, but a few popular variants tweak it because they change the deck or the way hands are formed. Knowing the exception before you sit down prevents costly misreads.

• Texas Hold’em and Omaha: identical rankings. The only twist in Omaha is that you must use exactly two of your four hole cards plus three community cards — the strength order itself is unchanged.
• Short-deck (six-plus) Hold’em: cards 2 through 5 are removed, leaving 36 cards. Because flushes become rarer than full houses in a smaller deck, a flush beats a full house, and in many rooms three of a kind beats a straight as well. Always confirm the exact rankings posted at the table, as some rooms keep the traditional order.
• Lowball games (2-7, Razz, hi-lo splits): the goal is the worst hand, so the order is effectively flipped — the lowest cards win, and in some formats straights and flushes count against you.

Unless a game explicitly states otherwise, assume the standard ten-hand order applies.

Responsible gambling note

This page is an educational reference on poker hand rankings and does not encourage betting real money. Poker involves risk, and no chart, tip or strategy guarantees a win — outcomes always involve chance. Only play with money you can afford to lose, set limits before you start, and treat poker as entertainment rather than a way to make income. If gambling stops being fun or feels hard to control, free confidential help is available from BeGambleAware and the National Council on Problem Gambling. You must be of legal age to gamble in your jurisdiction.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the highest hand in poker?

The royal flush is the highest hand — the ten, jack, queen, king and ace of a single suit. It cannot be beaten and can only be tied by another royal flush, which splits the pot. There are just four possible royal flushes in a 52-card deck.

Does a flush beat a straight?

Yes. A flush (five cards of the same suit) beats a straight (five cards in sequence) because flushes are statistically rarer — 5,108 possible flushes versus 10,200 straights. This is one of the most common mistakes new players make.

Does suit matter in poker?

No suit outranks another in standard poker. Suits only determine whether five cards make a flush; they never break a tie. If two players have otherwise identical hands, the pot is split. A few stud and odd-chip situations use suit order administratively, but it never affects hand strength.

What is a kicker in poker?

A kicker is a side card that breaks ties between hands of the same rank. For example, if two players both hold a pair of aces, the player with the higher remaining card wins. Kickers apply to high card, one pair, two pair, three of a kind and four of a kind, but not to straights, flushes or full houses.

What order do poker hands rank in?

From strongest to weakest: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and high card. Each hand beats every hand below it, and the order is set entirely by how rare each hand is.