Hand Rankings
The online poker games hand ranking are:
Royal flush: A royal flush is simply an ace-high straight flush. It's the best possible hand in online poker games. There are only four: A
K
Q
J
10
- A
K
Q
J
10
- A
,K
Q
J
10
and A
K
Q
J
10
. You can go a lifetime and never get one - but we hope you do!
Straight flush: This thrilling holding is made up of five sequenced cards, all of the same suit,
such as 8
7
6
5
4
or Q
J
T
9
8
Four-of-a-kind: Four-of-a-kind, or quads, is a five-card hand containing four cards of any rank, plus one unrelated card, such as 9
9
9
9
3
. The higher the rank, the better the hand. For example, four queens beat four deuces.
Full house: Three cards of any given rank, along with a pair of another, comprise a full house. The rank of a full house is determined by the three-card grouping, not the pair. A hand like J
J
J
4
4
is referred to as "jacks full of fours." If you held 4
4
4
J
J
, it would be called "fours full of jacks."
Flush: Any five cards of the same suit make a flush. The cards do not have to be sequenced - if they were, you'd have a straight flush. If there are two or more flushes at showdown, the winning hand is determined by the rank order. For example K
J
9
3
2
beats K
J
7
6
5
because the nine beats the seven.
Straight: Five sequenced cards, not of the same suit, make a straight. If there's more than one straight, the high cards in each sequence determine the winning hand. A nine-high straight 9 
8
7
6
5
beats a six-high straight 6 
5
4
3
2
.
Three-of-a-kind: Three cards of the same rank plus two unrelated cards is called three-of-a-kind. Sometimes you'll hear players refer to it as trips, or a set. If your best five-card hand was K
K
K
2
4
, you could call it "a set of kings," or "trip kings." It's all the same hand.
Two pair: Two cards of one rank, two cards of another, and one unrelated card make two pair. If two players each have two pair, the highest-ranking pair held by either one determines which hand is superior. If each player has the same high pair, the rank of the second pair determines the winner. If both hold the same two pair Q
Q
5
5
9
and Q
Q
5
5
7
, the rank of the unrelated side card, or kicker, determines the winner. For example: 9 kickers will beat 7. If both players have identical hands, they split the pot - that's pretty rare.
One pair: One pair is two cards of one rank and three unrelated cards. If two players hold the same pair, the highest side card determines the winning hand.
High card: When a hand doesn't even have a pair, then it comes down to who is holding the highest ranking card. If there is a tie for the high card then the next high card determines the pot, if that card is a tie than it continues down till the third, fourth, and fifth card. The High card is also used to break ties when the high hands both have the same type of hand (pair, flush, straight, etc). So AJ953 beats A10964 because the jack beats the ten.
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