Poker Hands

Poker Hands

Poker is a 5-card game. Players are given an opportunity to bet on their hands. The player with the best hand wins. Hands are rated according to the following scale:

From best to worst:

Straight Flush

All 5 cards are in sequential order and the same suit (see Straight and Flush below).

4 of a Kind

4 cards of the same rank

Full House

3 cards of the same rank + two cards of the same rank.

Flush

All 5 cards are of the same suit

Straight

All 5 cards are in sequential order.
Aces can either come before a 2 to start a straight or after a King to end a straight.

3 of a Kind

3 cards of the same rank

2-Pair

2 cards of the same rank + 2 cards of the same rank

Pair (2 of a Kind)

2 cards of the same rank

High Card

If you have no other hand, your highest card is your hand. For example: 'high card ace' or 'high card queen'

Kicker

In any hand that does not use all 5 of the player's cards, the highest leftover card is called the 'kicker'. The kicker is used to compare ties. In some cases the kicker may need to include your top two or three leftover cards (this would happen if both players had the same kicker).
The following hand is:
'a pair of 10s with a Jack kicker' or
'A pair of 10s with a Jack, Seven kicker'

Ties

In all of the illustrated hand examples given above, the higher hand has been given first.
Straight, Flush, Straight-Flush
The player with the highest rank card wins (an ace acting as a '1' in a straight is considered low).
'2-Pair', 'Pair' , '3 of a Kind', '4 of a Kind'
Compare the matched cards for highest card. If there is still a tie, compare the 'kicker' cards.
Full House
The highest set of 3 wins. If both players have the same set of 3, then the highest set of 2 wins.

Completely tied

If both players have the exact same hand, then both players win and the pot is split evenly between them.