Knowing the Standard Poker Hands

The game of Poker has many hands and the ranking for it differs a lot too. So for any player who is new to the game of Poker should be familiar to these hands. A hand is simply the combination of the cards that the player has. A poker hand at any time has five cards.  There are many hands that can be made in the game of Poker but for a beginner it is better to not get into the wide range of Poker hands. Knowing these hands is a must before starting to play the actual game because the game of Poker depends on the fact that how a player handles his cards. A slight misconception in managing the cards and the player might end up losing an entire bet on the game. Following is a detail about the commonly used hand terms in the game for all you newbie players. The standard poker hands are shown below. They are placed from the strongest to the weakest hands.

Standard Poker Hands

Royal Flush – The hand is a Royal Flush when the player has the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and the card of Tens belonging to the same suit. This is a rare hand and any player having this hand is an undisputed winner of the game.

Straight Flush – When all the five cards belong to the same suit and are in a sequence then the hand will be called a straight flush. For instance a hand has the combination of an Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5 and all the five cards are of the diamond suit then the hand will be called a Straight Flush. To determine the winner the top cards of both the Straight Flush hands are compared and the winner is the one having the highest top card.

Four of a kind – A Four of a Kind hand means that out of the five cards in the player’s hand four cards are of the same type. In simple words if the player has all four Queens or all four Aces in his hand and another fifth card then the hand will be called a Four of a Kind hand. To determine the winner the ranks of the four common cards of both the hands are compared and the hand having the higher card is the winner.

Full House – This hand is made when the player has three similar cards and a pair of similar cards. For instance, if the player has three Queens and a pair of Aces then the hand will be a Full House. Here the rank of the three common cards determines the winner.

Flush – This is the most simplest of Poker hands as the cards belong to the same suit and there is no need for them to be in any particular sequence. In other words, all the cards should belong to either the hearts or diamonds or clubs or spades. These could any cards without any sequence between them. The winner is the player with the higher card. If the first compared cards are equal then the second cards of each hand is compared. If all the cards are equal then both the hands win equally.

Straight – A hand is called “Straight” if the cards are in a sequence but belong to different suits. Here the sequence is important although the cards could belong to any suit from hearts, diamonds to clubs and spades. The player having the higher card is the winner.

Three of a Kind – This hand is similar to a Four of a Kind hand but instead of all the four cards this hand needs only three hands of the same rank. That is if the player has three Queens in his hands then the hand will be a Three of a Kind hand. The player having the highest rank for the three cards is the winner.

Two Pairs – The Two Pairs hand consists of two pairs of cards of the same rank. For instance a hand having two cards of King and two cards of Queen and a card of Ten then the hand will be a Two Pairs hand. To determine the winner the higher pair of cards are compared. If in case both the hands have equal higher pairs then the lower pairs are compared. If now even the lower pairs are equal then the last single card of each hand is compared. Whichever player has the higher pair of cards or the higher single card is the winner.

Pair – As the name suggests out of the five cards in the player’s hand there is a pair of cards of the same rank and rest of the three cards varies. This hand is called a Pair. Here too the pair of both the hands will be compared to determine the winner and if they are equal then the odd cards will be compared. Whoever has the higher pair or the higher card will be the winner.

Nothing – A hand will be nothing when none of the above mentioned hands are possible to make in the player’s cards. This hand must consist at least two suits and none of the cards should be in any sequence. Here the player with the highest card wins the game.

Related posts:

1. How to play online poker?