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Hand Rankings

The ace is the highest-ranking card, followed by the king, queen, jack and so on. In a split-pot game, an ace is also used as the lowest ranking card for forming a low straight or a low hand. In such “split” games, aces are like two cards in one, simultaneously the highest- and lowest-ranking card in the deck.

The suit of the card has no bearing on rankings in most games of poker except when pre agreed by the players, so for instance a Royal Flush made up of diamonds is the same as a Royal Flush made up from spades.

Hand rankings are arranged in order of probability. The least probable hands are ranked highest.

Royal Flush

Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace of the same suit

5 Card Poker
Frequency Probability Odds against
4 0.00000154 % 649,740 : 1

Straight Flush

Straight with all five cards in the same suit.

5 Card Poker   7 Card Poker
Frequency Probability Odds against   Frequency Probability Odds against
40 0.0000154 % 64,973 : 1   41,584 0.03108 % 3,216 : 1

Four of a Kind

Four cards of the same number or face value ("quads").

5 Card Poker   7 Card Poker
Frequency Probability Odds against   Frequency Probability Odds against
624 0.0240 % 4,164 : 1   224,848 0.1681 % 594 : 1

Full House

Three cards of one number or face value and two cards of another number or face value. If more than one player has a full house, the full house with the highest ranking three of a kind ("trips") wins.

5 Card Poker   7 Card Poker
Frequency Probability Odds against   Frequency Probability Odds against
3,744 0.144 % 693 : 1   3,473,184 2.60 % 37.5 : 1

Flush

Five cards of the same suit. If there is more than one flush, the hand with the highest card(s) wins.

5 Card Poker   7 Card Poker
Frequency Probability Odds against   Frequency Probability Odds against
5,108 0.197 % 508 : 1   4,047,644 3.03 % 32.1 : 1

Straight

Five cards in sequence. Cards can be in any suit. An Ace can be used in the highest straight (10, J, Q, K, A) and the lowest straight (A, 2, 3, 4, 5).

5 Card Poker   7 Card Poker
Frequency Probability Odds against   Frequency Probability Odds against
10,200 0.392 % 254 : 1   6,180,020 4.62 % 20.6 : 1

Three of a Kind

Five cards in sequence. Cards can be in any suit. An Ace can be used in the highest straight (10, J, Q, K, A) and the lowest straight (A, 2, 3, 4, 5).

5 Card Poker   7 Card Poker
Frequency Probability Odds against   Frequency Probability Odds against
54,912 2.11 % 46.3 : 1   6,461,620 4.83 % 19.7 : 1

Two Pair

If two players have two pair, the hand with the highest pair wins. If they have the same high pair, whoever has the second highest pair wins. If they have the same two pair, whoever has the highest fifth card ("kicker") wins.

5 Card Poker   7 Card Poker
Frequency Probability Odds against   Frequency Probability Odds against
123,552 4.75 % 20.0 : 1   31,433,400 23.5 % 3.26 : 1

One Pair

Two cards of the same number or face value. If two players have the same pair, the highest outside card(s) wins.

5 Card Poker   7 Card Poker
Frequency Probability Odds against   Frequency Probability Odds against
1,098,240 42.3 % 1.37 : 1   58,627,800 43.8 % 1.28 : 1

High Card

The hand with the highest card(s) wins.

5 Card Poker   7 Card Poker
Frequency Probability Odds against   Frequency Probability Odds against
1,302,540 50.1 % 0.995 : 1   23,294,460 17.4 % 4.74 : 1

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