Poker Hand Rankings & Probabilities (With Odds Table)

Poker has ten hand categories, from royal flush down to high card, and the order isn't arbitrary: the rarer the hand, the higher it ranks. Out of 2,598,960 possible five-card hands, only 4 are royal flushes, while more than half contain no pair at all. Here's the full ranking, the exact odds of each hand, and how ties are settled.

The hand rankings, best to worst

1. Royal flush: A-K-Q-J-10 of one suit. Example: A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠.
2. Straight flush: five cards in sequence, all one suit. Example: 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥.
3. Four of a kind: four cards of one rank. Example: Q♣ Q♦ Q♥ Q♠ 4♦.
4. Full house: three of one rank plus a pair. Example: 7♠ 7♦ 7♣ K♥ K♠.
5. Flush: five cards of one suit, not in sequence. Example: A♦ J♦ 8♦ 6♦ 2♦.
6. Straight: five cards in sequence, mixed suits. Example: 10♣ 9♦ 8♠ 7♥ 6♣.
7. Three of a kind: three cards of one rank. Example: 5♥ 5♣ 5♠ K♦ 2♣.
8. Two pair: two different pairs. Example: J♠ J♥ 4♣ 4♦ A♠.
9. One pair: two cards of one rank. Example: 10♥ 10♦ K♠ 7♣ 3♦.
10. High card: none of the above. Example: A♣ Q♦ 9♠ 6♥ 3♣ is "ace high."

A royal flush is technically just the highest possible straight flush. It gets its own name because it's the best hand in the game.

The probability table

These figures are for a random five-card hand dealt from a 52-card deck with no wild cards. Every probability is the count divided by 2,598,960.

Read "1 in N" as an average frequency. A full house at 1 in 694.2 means that over many deals you'd see about one per 694 hands, not that one is guaranteed every 694 hands.

Where the numbers come from

The total is the number of ways to choose 5 cards from 52, ignoring order:

Each category is then a counting puzzle:

• Straight flush and royal: 10 possible sequences (5-high through ace-high) × 4 suits = 40. Four of those are royals, leaving 36 straight flushes.
• Four of a kind: 13 ranks for the quads × 48 choices for the fifth card = 624.
• Full house: 13 ranks for the trips × 4 ways to pick three suits × 12 ranks for the pair × 6 ways to pick two suits = 3,744.
• Flush: C(13, 5) = 1,287 sets of ranks × 4 suits = 5,148, minus the 40 straight and royal flushes = 5,108.
• Straight: 10 sequences × 1,024 suit patterns (4 × 4 × 4 × 4 × 4) = 10,240, minus the 40 that are flushes = 10,200.
• Three of a kind: 13 × 4 × C(12, 2) = 66 pairs of other ranks × 4 × 4 suits = 54,912.
• Two pair: C(13, 2) = 78 rank pairs × 6 × 6 suit choices × 44 possible fifth cards = 123,552.
• One pair: 13 × 6 × C(12, 3) = 220 sets of side ranks × 64 suit choices = 1,098,240.
• High card: (1,287 − 10 straights) × (1,024 − 4 flushes) = 1,302,540.

Add all ten counts and you get exactly 2,598,960, a neat check that nothing was missed or counted twice.

Why a flush beats a straight

Beginners often guess that a straight should win because it looks harder to assemble. The counts settle it: 10,200 straights versus 5,108 flushes. A straight is about twice as common, so it ranks lower.

The same logic puts a full house (3,744) above a flush, and four of a kind (624) above a full house. The rankings are a rarity scale, nothing more.

Breaking ties: kickers and split pots

When two hands are in the same category, compare card ranks in a fixed order:

• Straights and straight flushes: the highest card wins. A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight, a "five-high" straight.
• Flushes and high-card hands: compare the highest card, then the next, down to the fifth.
• Full houses: the three of a kind decides first; the pair only matters if the trips tie.
• Two pair: higher pair first, then lower pair, then the fifth card.
• One pair, trips and quads: the set rank first, then the unmatched cards, called kickers.

Example: J♠ J♥ 4♣ 4♦ A♠ against J♦ J♣ 4♥ 4♠ 9♣. Both hold jacks and fours; the ace kicker beats the 9.

If every relevant card ties, the pot is split. In standard poker, suits never break a tie: a heart flush and a spade flush with identical ranks are dead even.

Common beginner mix-ups

• Wraparound straights don't exist. Q-K-A-2-3 is just ace high.
• Only five cards count. In games with more cards available, your sixth and seventh cards never act as extra kickers.
• Two pair plus a kicker is still two pair. Three pairs among seven cards? Only the best two pairs and the best remaining card play.
• Wild cards change the table. Games with wild cards add five of a kind, and house rules decide exactly where it ranks.

Does Texas Hold'em change the order?

No. In Hold'em you combine two private cards with five shared cards and play the best five. With seven cards to choose from, strong hands come up more often than in the five-card table above, but the ranking stays the same.

If you want to see how hands stack up against each other with cards still to come, run them through the free poker odds calculator, then read Texas Hold'em odds for outs and pot odds. The same five-card rankings also drive the pay tables in video poker.

The bottom line

The hand rankings are a rarity ladder built on 2,598,960 possible hands. Royal flush, straight flush, quads, full house, flush, straight, trips, two pair, one pair, high card: each step down is more common than the last.

Memorize the order, remember that flushes beat straights because they're rarer, and settle ties by rank, never by suit. The math behind every number on this page is just counting, done carefully.