Poker Hands Ranked
On the way to becoming a Poker God there are many steps that must be taken, but for a lot of new players the first obstacle is knowing which Poker hands are best and which hands beat other hands. So I have come up with a fool proof ranking system to make it clearer. I know, I know, don’t thank me all at once.
I’ll start from the bottom and work my way up the best possible hand.
High Card
So we’ll start at the bottom of the rung with high card, the highest high card is an Ace, the lowest is a 2. The probability of drawing the highest card is 50.1177% and in fact there are 1,302,540 different ways to draw the highest card. Having said that the chances of a high card win are actually pretty slim. Don’t get me wrong there will always be a highest card but the chances that a high card is the best hand anyone at the table can make is very unlikely. In fact, If the hand is won by a high card you all need to have a hard look at your Poker strategy as something has gone awry somewhere. A high card beats nothing and is beaten by everything. So if you only have a high card it’s probably time to consider folding your hand.
Pair
Moving swiftly on from, a Pair. A Pair is when you draw two of the same card. There is a 42.2569% probability of drawing a Pair and there are 1,098,240 different ways to do so. A Pair is always off-suited, when playing with a single deck, as is the norm. A Pair can only be off suited as there is only a single card of each suit within the deck. Obvious when you think about it but thought I would clarify for the newer players. If you do see a suited Pair check with the dealer that you are playing with multiple decks, if not, someone’s cheating. Get up from the table immediately, flipping the table is optional.
Two Pair
Two Pair, now this is when things start to get a bit more serious. Two Pair is when you have two cards of the same value i.e. 2 Kings. This could be a pocket Pair (Pair in your hand) and a Pair on the table or you could make Two Pair from the cards that you have in your hand and the cards on the table, for example you could be holding a 2 and a 7, which is statistically the worst hand to start with but if in the flop (the first 3 table cards drawn) there is a 2 and 7 then you have Two Pair and are in a fairly strong position starting off. I am not going to write advice for how to play each hand as there are a myriad of different variables that could affect when to play a hand or when to fold. I will be writing a different article that covers that so follow me today and you’ll be notified when it has been posted. Two Pair is the first hand that could be worth staying in the game all the way to the river. This is reflected in the probability. There is a 4.7539% probability of having Two Pair and there are 123,552 possible iterations that could be drawn.
Three of a Kind (Trips)
Now we’re talking! Three of a Kind or colloquially known as “Trips”. Three of a Kind means having three cards of the same value i.e. 3 Kings, the best Three of a Kind is 3 Aces. Three of a Kind could be made from a pocket Pair and a single community card or a single card in your hand and a Pair in the community cards it could even be Three of a Kind in the community cards alone but this of course means that everyone on the table has the same, in which case it could come down to the highest hole card to win the pot. Trips is not a guaranteed winner by any means but it is a good strong hand. There is a 2.1128% probability of getting Three of a Kind and there are 54,912 different ways that it could be drawn. If your opponents have been limping into bets and otherwise being sheepish this round then it could be a good time to apply some pressure.
Straight
I’ll cut straight to it. *audible groan*. A Straight is 5 cards in a row, or a run but not all in the same suit, we’ll get to that later. The highest possible Straight is an Ace high Straight or A, K, Q, J, 10. The lowest Straight is a 6 high Straight or 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. A Straight can come from any combination of hole and community cards. There is a 0.3925% probability of hitting the Straight and there are 10,200 possible ways to do it. Now i’m just going to finish this section before I can think of any more terrible puns.
Flush
A Flush can be the bane of a player’s life and in amateur circles at least it can be easily overlooked and can sneak up on you with no warning. A Flush is a set of 5 cards that are all the same suit. For a normal Flush the 5 cards must not be in a row, that’s something else we’ll get to later. There is a 0.1965% probability of making a Flush and there are 5,108 possible ways to do it. Keep the probability percentage in mind when you first start playing, by the end of your first game I can guarantee you won’t believe that it’s correct. Though a Flush can be a devastating thing if you don’t see it coming it can also be a godsend if you are the only player that sees it developing.
Full House
Full House! You’ve probably heard a phrase along the lines of “Full House! Aces over 9's” and been left quite confused. Well it’s all simple once you know the code. A Full House is when all 5 cards that can be played are in a Pair or a Three of a Kind. For example, Aces over 9’s means that they have 3 Aces and a pair of 9’s. The highest Full House is Aces over Kings or 3 Aces and 2 Kings. Now this is the highest Full House but isn’t actually the hand that maximises your chance of winning. This is because only 2 of the cards are in your hand, the rest are community cards so this would mean that there are lots of other strong hands that your opponents could have as the flop, turn and river comes out. It’s very unlikely the first 3 cards (flop) will make a Full House for you. So you would have to keep calling and betting whilst waiting for the 4th (turn) or 5th (river) card and you may be betting from a weak position. If two or more players have a Full House the winner is the one with the highest Three of a Kind. If more than one person has the same Three of a Kind, then you look at who has the higher Pair to go along with it. The one with the higher Pair, then wins the hand. If you have the same Three of a Kind and the same Pair then you would split the pot. There is a 0.1441% probability of making a Straight and there are 3,744 possible ways to do it. A Full House is the last hand on this list that is likely to come out, the next three are a lot less common as reflected in the probability and amount of possible variations.
Four of a Kind (Quads)
Now we are getting into big boy territory with Four of a Kind A.K.A. Quads! Four of a Kind is exactly what it says. It’s making a hand with all four of the same cards in it, for example, four 6’s. The best Four of a Kind hand is Four Aces, the worst is Four 2’s. It’s incredibly unlikely to make Four of a Kind and there are essentially two ways to do it. You could either have a pocket Pair and then the same Pair in the community cards or you could have a single card and then Three of a Hind in the community cards. The former is obviously massively preferable when comparing your hand to your opponents because in the latter it would mean that every player still in the game would have Three of a Kind and therefore quite likely to make the full house. There is just a 0.0240% probability of getting all four cards and there are 624 possible ways to do it.
Straight Flush
When the stars align you may come across a Straight Flush. A Straight Flush is when you have a Straight that are all of the same suit, a Flush. It’s as simple as that. It’s definitely one of the more impressive hands and just like loves you’ll never forget your first. And quite frankly, just like your first love you’ve probably played it all wrong and didn’t get the big prize you were hoping for but that’s life, you’ll learn from it and hopefully do better next time. There is an absolutely miniscule 0.00139% probability of getting a Straight Flush and there are only 36 possible ways to do it.
Royal Flush
The ultimate James Bond hand, the Royal Flush. Guaranteed to make everyone else on the table absolutely hate you. The Royal Flush is essentially just the best Straight Flush, it’s an Ace high Straight Flush so A, K, Q, J, 10 but that doesn’t really give it the reverence it deserves. This is the least likely hand by a long way with only a 0.000154% chance that it will be shown, there are only 4 possible ways to get a Royal Flush and these are all basically the same hand but in different suits. The amount of times I have seen this with my own two eyes in a regular table game is definitely in single digits. Hopefully you will have more luck than me but I have literally never successfully played a Royal Flush correctly, I never let myself dream it will happen and then when it does there is almost nothing in the pot except my own tears.
In conclusion, there is much to learn about Poker and for sure I have a long way to go before I can call myself an expert. But hopefully this guide will help the new players grasp the basics of the game so they can go forth and play to their heart’s content until they too know the extreme pain and joy that can only come from a well played round of Poker.
