Poker Hand Rankings

The winner of each poker hand is the player who has the strongest combination of cards, using any combination of "pocket" cards and "community" cards. The combinations are listed here from strongest to weakest hand. Each combination is illustrated by an example, where the following abbreviations are used: c - Clubs, d - Diamonds, h - Hearts, s - Spades; J - Jack, Q - Queen, K - King, A - Ace.

Royal Flush

Straight flush from 10 to the ace. Example: 10s, Js, Qs, Ks, As

Straight Flush

Straight with all five cards of the same suit. Example: 7d, 8d, 9d, 10d, Jd

Four of a Kind

Four cards of the same rank. Suit is irrelevant. Example: Jc, Jd, Jh, Js, 6h

Full House

Three cards of one rank together with two cards of another rank. When more than one full house is competing, the one with the highest ranking group of three wins. Example: Kd, Kc, Kh, Qh, Qs

Flush

Five cards of the same suit. When more than one flush is competing, the one with the highest card wins. Example: As, Js, 9s, 7s, 5s

Straight

Five cards in sequence. When more than one straight is competing, the one with the highest card wins. An ace can be taken as either high or low. Example: 8h, 9s, 10s, Jd, Qc; suit is irrelevant.

Three of a Kind

Three cards of the same rank. When more than one hand has three of the same rank, the hand with the highest card outside the three same rank cards wins. Example: Kh, Kd, Kc, 10s, 7h

Two Pairs

Any two cards of one rank together with two cards of another rank. When more than one hand has two pairs of the same rank, the hand with the highest card outside the paired cards wins. Example: Qs, Qd, Jc, Jh, 4h

One Pair

Two cards of the same rank. In case two hands have pairs, the highest pair wins. When more than one hand has a pair of the same rank, the hand with the highest card outside the pair wins. Example: 10c, 10s, 7d, 6h, 2d

High Card

When players have none of the above, the hand with the highest card wins. Example: Qh, 10d, 8s, 6c, 4h