As a boy, anytime the words 'not fair' were uttered by me or my siblings the response from our father was an unwavering 'The only fair is the State Fair and it only comes around once a year'.
A Full House is the third best possible hand in the poker hand ranking system. Only a Straight Flush and 4-of-a-Kind rank above it. This makes it a very strong hand in Hold'em and is rarely beat on the river. That said, there are still many hands that rank under it. What does a full house beat in poker? A full house is also known as a boat that is made up of three of a kind plus a pair. A full house appears a little less regularly than a flush, thereby making it the higher-ranked hand of the two. Therefore, a full house in poker rules always beats a flush. A full house is a very powerful hand in poker. In the situation noted above, you would be behind to just two hands - pocket Kings and K-9. If the BB has absolutely any other holding, you would be far, far ahead in the hand. Let's take a look at another 'full house' example. Action folds around to you on the button. A runner-runner bad beat would be when you flop a full house, only to see your opponent go runner runner to catch the exact two cards he needs to make a full house that is higher than your full house. More commonly, you'll experience a runner-runner bad beat when someone catches running cards to make an odd straight, or a flush on you.
Well, in the poker world 'unfair' seems to come around plenty.
Sort of like death and taxes being certainties, in poker you're certain to get bad beats. Also, similar to death and taxes because there goes your money and here comes that dead inside feeling in your stomach.
In elementary terms, a bad beat is when a poker hand that's favored to win, loses to an underdog hand that catches cards to beat it.
For example, in a no-limit hold'em game or tourney, you go all-in pre-flop with the best possible at that moment; Ace, Ace.
Imagine one player wasn't dissuaded by your huge bet and calls, going all-in behind you. They flip over 5 & 6 of clubs. The 5 & 6 of clubs isn't a hand to go all-in with pre-flop. Of course they justify it in their mind because after all they're suited.
So, we've got your aces against 5/6 suited. You are thrilled to see their hand, and because the pot is huge thanks to their call, you're basically reaching to the middle of the table to start raking them up and stacking. What you fail to realize, being a beginner, is that it's not over til it's over.
Now, while your 'pocket rockets' look like a cinch and get pulse up, unfortunately they're only about a 77% favorite to win. That means for every 4 hands you go all-in with pocket aces against a 5/6 of the same suit, you're going to lose once.
Don't Define Me
The term 'Bad Beat' isn't defined by Webster. What constitutes a bad beat in poker is therefore subject to interpretation. Generally a bad beat is considered to occur when a hand that is an overwhelming favorite loses to an inferior hand that gets needed cards to win.
Say you go all-in before the flop with pocket 9s and are called by Ace and Queen of hearts.
In this scenario, you and your 9s will win 52% of the time. Even after the flop and turn are dealt, your 9s may be holding steady. Then bam, river card is a Queen and you lose.
That's a common beat, incredibly common. It's essentially a coin toss, so regaling your fellow poker players with the tale of your defeat will not garner any sympathy. Who am I kidding? Neither will tales of a legitimate bad beat.
Bad Beats need to be a slightly more miraculous and painful than simply losing when you're a slight favorite to win. Going all-in with pocket 10s and losing to pocket 5s, would be a bad beat. Mostly because your 10s are an 80% favorite to win the hand.
It's important to keep in mind, especially for your mental well-being, that even a somewhat strong hand of say, Ace/King against a Queen/Ten hand will only win about 66% of the time.
Particularly brutal bad beats come when you get all your money into the pot when you're ahead on the flop or turn. After all, if four of the five community cards are already dealt and you're way ahead, it's easy to assume that one remaining river card won't slaughter you.
Unfortunately, it can and it often does exactly that. Say you started the hand with a pocket pair, (say pocket 7's), and end up getting three of a kind after the turn. And let's say your opponent has a flush draw – he has two hearts in his hand, and there are two hearts on the board. With only the river card to come, your set of sevens, will win 84% of the time.
Those times when that winning flush card comes for your opponent, which it will 16% of the time, can be so incredibly disheartening.
It'll make you want to yell obscenities and storm out of the casino. When in reality, you were just a participant in a soulless, cold, uncaring mathematical string of probabilities.
Another devastating bad beat comes when a player goes 'runner runner' on you. What this means is that you are well ahead after the flop, but the resulting turn and river cards give your opponent two cards they need to snatch victory away from you.
A runner-runner bad beat would be when you flop a full house, only to see your opponent go runner runner to catch the exact two cards he needs to make a full house that is higher than your full house.
More commonly, you'll experience a runner-runner bad beat when someone catches running cards to make an odd straight, or a flush on you.
While losing cold hard cash to a bad beat in a regular game hurts, bad beats are especially painful when you experience one during poker tournaments.
One minute you're sitting there Ace/Ace dreaming of that final table and significant check and the next you're sulking in the parking lot asking yourself, 'What happened?'.
Does It Hurt
'The bubble' is the term for when a poker tournament is at the point where all remaining players will be paid winnings. Consequently, the 'bubble boy' or the person 'on the bubble' is the player who finished just one spot away from the money.
In the World Series of Poker Main Event, they usually pay a certain percentage of the finishers – typically around the remaining 10% of the player pool.
So with, say, 8,000 entrants, the last 800 remaining players get paid. The guy with the unfortunate distinction of finishing in 801st place, the bubble boy, receives nothing.
As you can imagine, suffering a bad beat to become the bubble boy is not only rare, but perhaps the cruelest bad beat of all.
I'd like to note here that the most incredible and unique bad beats have their own name, 'coolers.' The definition of a cooler hand in poker, is when a rock solid hand loses to an even more amazing hand.
As an example, one cooler would be when a player with 4 of a kind, loses to a straight flush. 600 casino bonus codes. These are the bad beats that are typical qualifying hands to win the large bad beat jackpots found in poker rooms and casinos around the country.
A rare and especially hateful, but not impossible bad beat is a combination cooler/runner-runner hand in which a player flops 4 of a kind, only to see his opponent catch runner-runner cards to achieve a higher 4 of a kind.
Problem Gambling Severity Index 0 Never 1 Sometimes 2 Most of the time 3 Almost always. This self-assessment is based on the Canadian Problem Gambling Index. It will help you decide if you wish to seek other forms of support or information. When you gambled, did you go back another day to. Problem Gambling Severity Index If you think you may have a problem with gambling then you can complete this screening tool. It only takes a few minutes to complete and we don't hold or store any of the data. Thinking about the last week (if in weekly counselling) or the last year (if in your initial assessment session). #Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) 16. Below are a number of statements that describe the consequences of gambling. Please indicate how often you have experienced the following consequences in the past 12 months. The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) is the standardised measure of at risk behaviour in problem gambling. It is a tool based on research on the common signs and consequences of problematic gambling. Assessing where your client is now can help you make informed decisions on how to assist them. Take your client through the PGSI quiz.
While this is a bad beat, the sting will be lightened as the loser would win a big chunk of cash as part of the bad beat jackpot.
What if he loses this way in a card room without a bad beat jackpot? Well, he's got a legitimate bad beat story to tell.
Conclusion
Bad beats have been around since poker's humble beginnings and good or bad they'll be here to the end.
Some professional players, see Phil Hellmuth, are notorious for his pronounced reactions to bad beats.
However, enduring a bad beat means that the losing player or victim was 'getting the money in good' and in most instances would win by playing the same hand the same way.
Therefore, the more stoic poker players accept bad beats as an unpleasant but necessary drawback to a tactic that pays an overwhelming majority of the time.
There's a line from possibly the most popular poker movie of all-time, Rounders that goes 'Few players recall big pots they have won, strange as it seems, but every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding tough beats of his career.'
I can confirm that while I am in every sense a recreational player, I've won and lost some big pots and the ones I lost stay with me more than the wins.
In fact, I took a particular beat holding Ace/King suited and flopped the nut flush. My opponent called my all-in bet and hit a full house on the river. I walked straight to my car, drove the 8 hours home only stopping once for gas and didn't leave my house for a week.
That loss hurt so bad that I didn't step through the doors of another casino for over 4 years. You can learn from my misfortune and my mistakes. Top free slots.
Poker is fun, if it weren't you wouldn't play. So, for every bad break there's a good break coming your way. That's one of the beautiful sides of poker, the math never changes.
Don't go on tilt because an opponent caught a huge break. There are only 52 cards in a deck and one of them had to come up.
This page describes the ranking of poker hands. This applies not only in the game of poker itself, but also in certain other card games such as Chinese Poker, Chicago, Poker Menteur and Pai Gow Poker.
- Low Poker Ranking: A-5, 2-7, A-6
- Hand probabilities and multiple decks - probability tables
Standard Poker Hand Ranking
There are 52 cards in the pack, and the ranking of the individual cards, from high to low, is ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. In standard poker - that is to say in the formal casino and tournament game played internationally and the home game as normally played in North America - there is no ranking between the suits for the purpose of comparing hands - so for example the king of hearts and the king of spades are equal. (Note however that suit ranking is sometimes used for other purposes such as allocating seats, deciding who bets first, and allocating the odd chip when splitting a pot that can't be equally divided. See ranking of suits for details.)
A poker hand consists of five cards. The categories of hand, from highest to lowest, are listed below. Any hand in a higher category beats any hand in a lower category (so for example any three of a kind beats any two pairs). Between hands in the same category the rank of the individual cards decides which is better, as described in more detail below.
In games where a player has more than five cards and selects five to form a poker hand, the remaining cards do not play any part in the ranking. Poker ranks are always based on five cards only, and if these cards are equal the hands are equal, irrespective of the ranks of any unused cards.
Some readers may wonder why one would ever need to compare (say) two threes of a kind of equal rank. This obviously cannot arise in basic draw poker, but such comparisons are needed in poker games using shared (community) cards, such as Texas Hold'em, in poker games with wild cards, and in other card games using poker combinations.
1. Straight Flush
If there are no wild cards, this is the highest type of poker hand: five cards of the same suit in sequence - such as J-10-9-8-7. Between two straight flushes, the one containing the higher top card is higher. An ace can be counted as low, so 5-4-3-2-A is a straight flush, but its top card is the five, not the ace, so it is the lowest type of straight flush. The highest type of straight flush, A-K-Q-J-10 of a suit, is known as a Royal Flush. The cards in a straight flush cannot 'turn the corner': 4-3-2-A-K is not valid.
2. Four of a kind
Four cards of the same rank - such as four queens. The fifth card, known as the kicker, can be anything. This combination is sometimes known as 'quads', and in some parts of Europe it is called a 'poker', though this term for it is unknown in English. Between two fours of a kind, the one with the higher set of four cards is higher - so 3-3-3-3-A is beaten by 4-4-4-4-2. If two or more players have four of a kind of the same rank, the rank of the kicker decides. For example in Texas Hold'em with J-J-J-J-9 on the table (available to all players), a player holding K-7 beats a player holding Q-10 since the king beats the queen. If one player holds 8-2 and another holds 6-5 they split the pot, since the 9 kicker makes the best hand for both of them. If one player holds A-2 and another holds A-K they also split the pot because both have an ace kicker.
3. Full House
This combination, sometimes known as a boat, consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank - for example three sevens and two tens (colloquially known as 'sevens full of tens' or 'sevens on tens'). When comparing full houses, the rank of the three cards determines which is higher. For example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-A-A. If the threes of a kind are equal, the rank of the pairs decides.
4. Flush
Five cards of the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the highest card determines which is higher. If the highest cards are equal then the second highest card is compared; if those are equal too, then the third highest card, and so on. For example K-J-9-3-2 beats K-J-7-6-5 because the nine beats the seven.If all five cards are equal, the flushes are equal.
5. Straight
Five cards of mixed suits in sequence - for example Q-J-10-9-8. When comparing two sequences, the one with the higher ranking top card is better. Ace can count high or low in a straight, but not both at once, so A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights, but 2-A-K-Q-J is not. 5-4-3-2-A, known as a wheel, is the lowest kind of straight, the top card being the five.
6. Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank plus two unequal cards. This combination is also known as Triplets or Trips. When comparing two threes of a kind the rank of the three equal cards determines which is higher. If the sets of three are of equal rank, then the higher of the two remaining cards in each hand are compared, and if those are equal, the lower odd card is compared.So for example 5-5-5-3-2 beats 4-4-4-K-5, which beats 4-4-4-Q-9, which beats 4-4-4-Q-8.
7. Two Pairs
A pair consists of two cards of equal rank. In a hand with two pairs, the two pairs are of different ranks (otherwise you would have four of a kind), and there is an odd card to make the hand up to five cards. When comparing hands with two pairs, the hand with the highest pair wins, irrespective of the rank of the other cards - so J-J-2-2-4 beats 10-10-9-9-8 because the jacks beat the tens. If the higher pairs are equal, the lower pairs are compared, so that for example 8-8-6-6-3 beats 8-8-5-5-K. Finally, if both pairs are the same, the odd cards are compared, so Q-Q-5-5-8 beats Q-Q-5-5-4.
8. Pair
A hand with two cards of equal rank and three cards which are different from these and from each other. When comparing two such hands, the hand with the higher pair is better - so for example 6-6-4-3-2 beats 5-5-A-K-Q. If the pairs are equal, compare the highest ranking odd cards from each hand; if these are equal compare the second highest odd card, and if these are equal too compare the lowest odd cards. So J-J-A-9-3 beats J-J-A-8-7 because the 9 beats the 8.
9. Nothing
Five cards which do not form any of the combinations listed above. This combination is often called High Card and sometimes No Pair. The cards must all be of different ranks, not consecutive, and contain at least two different suits. When comparing two such hands, the one with the better highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal the second cards are compared; if they are equal too the third cards are compared, and so on. So A-J-9-5-3 beats A-10-9-6-4 because the jack beats the ten.
Hand Ranking in Low Poker
There are several poker variations in which the lowest hand wins: these are sometimes known as Lowball. There are also 'high-low' variants in which the pot is split between the highest and the lowest hand. A low hand with no combination is normally described by naming its highest card - for example 8-6-5-4-2 would be described as '8-down' or '8-low'.
It first sight it might be assumed that in low poker the hands rank in the reverse order to their ranking in normal (high) poker, but this is not quite the case. There are several different ways to rank low hands, depending on how aces are treated and whether straights and flushes are counted.
Poker Hands What Beats What
Ace to Five
This seems to be the most popular system. Straights and flushes do not count, and Aces are always low. The best hand is therefore 5-4-3-2-A, even if the cards are all in one suit. Then comes 6-4-3-2-A, 6-5-3-2-A, 6-5-4-2-A, 6-5-4-3-A, 6-5-4-3-2, 7-4-3-2-A and so on. Note that when comparing hands, the highest card is compared first, just as in standard poker. So for example 6-5-4-3-2 is better than 7-4-3-2-A because the 6 is lower than the 7. The best hand containing a pair is A-A-4-3-2. This version is sometimes called 'California Lowball'.
When this form of low poker is played as part of a high-low split variant, there is sometimes a condition that a hand must be 'eight or better' to qualify to win the low part of the pot. In this case a hand must consist of five unequal cards, all 8 or lower, to qualify for low. The worst such hand is 8-7-6-5-4.
Deuce to Seven
The hands rank in almost the same order as in standard poker, with straights and flushes counting and the lowest hand wins. The difference from normal poker is that Aces are always high , so that A-2-3-4-5 is not a straight, but ranks between K-Q-J-10-8 and A-6-4-3-2. The best hand in this form is 7-5-4-3-2 in mixed suits, hence the name 'deuce to seven'. The next best is 7-6-4-3-2, then 7-6-5-3-2, 7-6-5-4-2, 8-5-4-3-2, 8-6-4-3-2, 8-6-5-3-2, 8-6-5-4-2, 8-6-5-4-3, 8-7-4-3-2, etc. The highest card is always compared first, so for example 8-6-5-4-3 is better than 8-7-4-3-2 even though the latter contains a 2, because the 6 is lower than the 7. The best hand containing a pair is 2-2-5-4-3, but this would be beaten by A-K-Q-J-9 - the worst 'high card' hand. This version is sometimes called 'Kansas City Lowball'.
Ace to Six
Many home poker players play that straights and flushes count, but that aces can be counted as low. In this version 5-4-3-2-A is a bad hand because it is a straight, so the best low hand is 6-4-3-2-A. There are a couple of issues around the treatment of aces in this variant.
- First, what about A-K-Q-J-10? Since aces are low, this should not count as a straight. It is a king-down, and is lower and therefore better than K-Q-J-10-2.
- Second, a pair of aces is the lowest and therefore the best pair, beating a pair of twos.
It is likely that some players would disagree with both the above rulings, preferring to count A-K-Q-J-10 as a straight and in some cases considering A-A to be the highest pair rather than the lowest. It would be wise to check that you agree on these details before playing ace-to-six low poker with unfamiliar opponents.
Selecting from more than five cards
Note that in games where more than five cards are available, the player is free to select whichever cards make the lowest hand. For example a player in Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better whose cards are 10-8-6-6-3-2-A can omit the 10 and one of the 6's to create a qualifying hand for low.
Poker Hand Ranking with Wild Cards
A wild card card that can be used to substitute for a card that the holder needs to make up a hand. In some variants one or more jokers are added to the pack to act as wild cards. In others, one or more cards of the 52-card pack may be designated as wild - for example all the twos ('deuces wild') or the jacks of hearts and spades ('one-eyed jacks wild', since these are the only two jacks shown in profile in Anglo-American decks).
The most usual rule is that a wild card can be used either
- to represent any card not already present in the hand, or
- to make the special combination of 'five of a kind'.
This approach is not entirely consistent, since five of a kind - five cards of equal rank - must necessarily include one duplicate card, since there are only four suits. The only practical effect of the rule against duplicates is to prevent the formation of a 'double ace flush'. So for example in the hand A-9-8-5-joker, the joker counts as a K, not a second ace, and this hand is therefore beaten by A-K-10-4-3, the 10 beating the 9.
Five of a Kind
When playing with wild cards, five of a kind becomes the highest type of hand, beating a royal flush. Between fives of a kind, the higher beats the lower, five aces being highest of all.
The Bug
Some games, especially five card draw, are often played with a bug. This is a joker added to the pack which acts as a limited wild card. It can either be used as an ace, or to complete a straight or a flush. Thus the highest hand is five aces (A-A-A-A-joker), but other fives of a kind are impossible - for example 6-6-6-6-joker would count as four sixes with an ace kicker and a straight flush would beat this hand. Also a hand like 8-8-5-5-joker counts as two pairs with the joker representing an ace, not as a full house.
Wild Cards in Low Poker
In Low Poker, a wild card can be used to represent a card of a rank not already present in the player's hand. It is then sometimes known as a 'fitter'. For example 6-5-4-2-joker would count as a pair of sixes in normal poker with the joker wild, but in ace-to-five low poker the joker could be used as an ace, and in deuce-to-seven low poker it could be used as a seven to complete a low hand.
Lowest Card Wild
Some home poker variants are played with the player's lowest card (or lowest concealed card) wild. In this case the rule applies to the lowest ranked card held at the time of the showdown, using the normal order ace (high) to two (low). Aces cannot be counted as low to make them wild.
Double Ace Flush
Some people play with the house rule that a wild card can represent any card, including a duplicate of a card already held. It then becomes possible to have a flush containing two or more aces. Flushes with more than one ace are not allowed unless specifically agreed as a house rule.
Natural versus Wild
Some play with the house rule that a natural hand beats an equal hand in which one or more of the cards are represented by wild cards. This can be extended to specify that a hand with more wild cards beats an otherwise equal hand with fewer wild cards. This must be agreed in advance: in the absence of any agreement, wild cards are as good as the natural cards they represent.
Incomplete Hands
In some poker variants, such as No Peek, it is necessary to compare hands that have fewer than five cards. With fewer than five cards, you cannot have a straight, flush or full house. You can make a four of a kind or two pairs with only four cards, triplets with three cards, a pair with two cards and a 'high card' hand with just one card.
The process of comparing first the combination and then the kickers in descending order is the same as when comparing five-card hands. In hands with unequal numbers of cards any kicker that is present in the hand beats a missing kicker. So for example 8-8-K beats 8-8-6-2 because the king beats the 6, but 8-8-6-2 beats 8-8-6 because a 2 is better than a missing fourth card. Similarly a 10 by itself beats 9-5, which beats 9-3-2, which beats 9-3, which beats a 9 by itself.
Ranking of suits
In standard poker there is no ranking of suits for the purpose of comparing hands. If two hands are identical apart from the suits of the cards then they count as equal. In standard poker, if there are two highest equal hands in a showdown, the pot is split between them. Standard poker rules do, however, specify a hierarchy of suits: spades (highest), hearts, diamonds, clubs (lowest) (as in Contract Bridge), which is used to break ties for special purposes such as:
While this is a bad beat, the sting will be lightened as the loser would win a big chunk of cash as part of the bad beat jackpot.
What if he loses this way in a card room without a bad beat jackpot? Well, he's got a legitimate bad beat story to tell.
Conclusion
Bad beats have been around since poker's humble beginnings and good or bad they'll be here to the end.
Some professional players, see Phil Hellmuth, are notorious for his pronounced reactions to bad beats.
However, enduring a bad beat means that the losing player or victim was 'getting the money in good' and in most instances would win by playing the same hand the same way.
Therefore, the more stoic poker players accept bad beats as an unpleasant but necessary drawback to a tactic that pays an overwhelming majority of the time.
There's a line from possibly the most popular poker movie of all-time, Rounders that goes 'Few players recall big pots they have won, strange as it seems, but every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding tough beats of his career.'
I can confirm that while I am in every sense a recreational player, I've won and lost some big pots and the ones I lost stay with me more than the wins.
In fact, I took a particular beat holding Ace/King suited and flopped the nut flush. My opponent called my all-in bet and hit a full house on the river. I walked straight to my car, drove the 8 hours home only stopping once for gas and didn't leave my house for a week.
That loss hurt so bad that I didn't step through the doors of another casino for over 4 years. You can learn from my misfortune and my mistakes. Top free slots.
Poker is fun, if it weren't you wouldn't play. So, for every bad break there's a good break coming your way. That's one of the beautiful sides of poker, the math never changes.
Don't go on tilt because an opponent caught a huge break. There are only 52 cards in a deck and one of them had to come up.
This page describes the ranking of poker hands. This applies not only in the game of poker itself, but also in certain other card games such as Chinese Poker, Chicago, Poker Menteur and Pai Gow Poker.
- Low Poker Ranking: A-5, 2-7, A-6
- Hand probabilities and multiple decks - probability tables
Standard Poker Hand Ranking
There are 52 cards in the pack, and the ranking of the individual cards, from high to low, is ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. In standard poker - that is to say in the formal casino and tournament game played internationally and the home game as normally played in North America - there is no ranking between the suits for the purpose of comparing hands - so for example the king of hearts and the king of spades are equal. (Note however that suit ranking is sometimes used for other purposes such as allocating seats, deciding who bets first, and allocating the odd chip when splitting a pot that can't be equally divided. See ranking of suits for details.)
A poker hand consists of five cards. The categories of hand, from highest to lowest, are listed below. Any hand in a higher category beats any hand in a lower category (so for example any three of a kind beats any two pairs). Between hands in the same category the rank of the individual cards decides which is better, as described in more detail below.
In games where a player has more than five cards and selects five to form a poker hand, the remaining cards do not play any part in the ranking. Poker ranks are always based on five cards only, and if these cards are equal the hands are equal, irrespective of the ranks of any unused cards.
Some readers may wonder why one would ever need to compare (say) two threes of a kind of equal rank. This obviously cannot arise in basic draw poker, but such comparisons are needed in poker games using shared (community) cards, such as Texas Hold'em, in poker games with wild cards, and in other card games using poker combinations.
1. Straight Flush
If there are no wild cards, this is the highest type of poker hand: five cards of the same suit in sequence - such as J-10-9-8-7. Between two straight flushes, the one containing the higher top card is higher. An ace can be counted as low, so 5-4-3-2-A is a straight flush, but its top card is the five, not the ace, so it is the lowest type of straight flush. The highest type of straight flush, A-K-Q-J-10 of a suit, is known as a Royal Flush. The cards in a straight flush cannot 'turn the corner': 4-3-2-A-K is not valid.
2. Four of a kind
Four cards of the same rank - such as four queens. The fifth card, known as the kicker, can be anything. This combination is sometimes known as 'quads', and in some parts of Europe it is called a 'poker', though this term for it is unknown in English. Between two fours of a kind, the one with the higher set of four cards is higher - so 3-3-3-3-A is beaten by 4-4-4-4-2. If two or more players have four of a kind of the same rank, the rank of the kicker decides. For example in Texas Hold'em with J-J-J-J-9 on the table (available to all players), a player holding K-7 beats a player holding Q-10 since the king beats the queen. If one player holds 8-2 and another holds 6-5 they split the pot, since the 9 kicker makes the best hand for both of them. If one player holds A-2 and another holds A-K they also split the pot because both have an ace kicker.
3. Full House
This combination, sometimes known as a boat, consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank - for example three sevens and two tens (colloquially known as 'sevens full of tens' or 'sevens on tens'). When comparing full houses, the rank of the three cards determines which is higher. For example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-A-A. If the threes of a kind are equal, the rank of the pairs decides.
4. Flush
Five cards of the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the highest card determines which is higher. If the highest cards are equal then the second highest card is compared; if those are equal too, then the third highest card, and so on. For example K-J-9-3-2 beats K-J-7-6-5 because the nine beats the seven.If all five cards are equal, the flushes are equal.
5. Straight
Five cards of mixed suits in sequence - for example Q-J-10-9-8. When comparing two sequences, the one with the higher ranking top card is better. Ace can count high or low in a straight, but not both at once, so A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights, but 2-A-K-Q-J is not. 5-4-3-2-A, known as a wheel, is the lowest kind of straight, the top card being the five.
6. Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank plus two unequal cards. This combination is also known as Triplets or Trips. When comparing two threes of a kind the rank of the three equal cards determines which is higher. If the sets of three are of equal rank, then the higher of the two remaining cards in each hand are compared, and if those are equal, the lower odd card is compared.So for example 5-5-5-3-2 beats 4-4-4-K-5, which beats 4-4-4-Q-9, which beats 4-4-4-Q-8.
7. Two Pairs
A pair consists of two cards of equal rank. In a hand with two pairs, the two pairs are of different ranks (otherwise you would have four of a kind), and there is an odd card to make the hand up to five cards. When comparing hands with two pairs, the hand with the highest pair wins, irrespective of the rank of the other cards - so J-J-2-2-4 beats 10-10-9-9-8 because the jacks beat the tens. If the higher pairs are equal, the lower pairs are compared, so that for example 8-8-6-6-3 beats 8-8-5-5-K. Finally, if both pairs are the same, the odd cards are compared, so Q-Q-5-5-8 beats Q-Q-5-5-4.
8. Pair
A hand with two cards of equal rank and three cards which are different from these and from each other. When comparing two such hands, the hand with the higher pair is better - so for example 6-6-4-3-2 beats 5-5-A-K-Q. If the pairs are equal, compare the highest ranking odd cards from each hand; if these are equal compare the second highest odd card, and if these are equal too compare the lowest odd cards. So J-J-A-9-3 beats J-J-A-8-7 because the 9 beats the 8.
9. Nothing
Five cards which do not form any of the combinations listed above. This combination is often called High Card and sometimes No Pair. The cards must all be of different ranks, not consecutive, and contain at least two different suits. When comparing two such hands, the one with the better highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal the second cards are compared; if they are equal too the third cards are compared, and so on. So A-J-9-5-3 beats A-10-9-6-4 because the jack beats the ten.
Hand Ranking in Low Poker
There are several poker variations in which the lowest hand wins: these are sometimes known as Lowball. There are also 'high-low' variants in which the pot is split between the highest and the lowest hand. A low hand with no combination is normally described by naming its highest card - for example 8-6-5-4-2 would be described as '8-down' or '8-low'.
It first sight it might be assumed that in low poker the hands rank in the reverse order to their ranking in normal (high) poker, but this is not quite the case. There are several different ways to rank low hands, depending on how aces are treated and whether straights and flushes are counted.
Poker Hands What Beats What
Ace to Five
This seems to be the most popular system. Straights and flushes do not count, and Aces are always low. The best hand is therefore 5-4-3-2-A, even if the cards are all in one suit. Then comes 6-4-3-2-A, 6-5-3-2-A, 6-5-4-2-A, 6-5-4-3-A, 6-5-4-3-2, 7-4-3-2-A and so on. Note that when comparing hands, the highest card is compared first, just as in standard poker. So for example 6-5-4-3-2 is better than 7-4-3-2-A because the 6 is lower than the 7. The best hand containing a pair is A-A-4-3-2. This version is sometimes called 'California Lowball'.
When this form of low poker is played as part of a high-low split variant, there is sometimes a condition that a hand must be 'eight or better' to qualify to win the low part of the pot. In this case a hand must consist of five unequal cards, all 8 or lower, to qualify for low. The worst such hand is 8-7-6-5-4.
Deuce to Seven
The hands rank in almost the same order as in standard poker, with straights and flushes counting and the lowest hand wins. The difference from normal poker is that Aces are always high , so that A-2-3-4-5 is not a straight, but ranks between K-Q-J-10-8 and A-6-4-3-2. The best hand in this form is 7-5-4-3-2 in mixed suits, hence the name 'deuce to seven'. The next best is 7-6-4-3-2, then 7-6-5-3-2, 7-6-5-4-2, 8-5-4-3-2, 8-6-4-3-2, 8-6-5-3-2, 8-6-5-4-2, 8-6-5-4-3, 8-7-4-3-2, etc. The highest card is always compared first, so for example 8-6-5-4-3 is better than 8-7-4-3-2 even though the latter contains a 2, because the 6 is lower than the 7. The best hand containing a pair is 2-2-5-4-3, but this would be beaten by A-K-Q-J-9 - the worst 'high card' hand. This version is sometimes called 'Kansas City Lowball'.
Ace to Six
Many home poker players play that straights and flushes count, but that aces can be counted as low. In this version 5-4-3-2-A is a bad hand because it is a straight, so the best low hand is 6-4-3-2-A. There are a couple of issues around the treatment of aces in this variant.
- First, what about A-K-Q-J-10? Since aces are low, this should not count as a straight. It is a king-down, and is lower and therefore better than K-Q-J-10-2.
- Second, a pair of aces is the lowest and therefore the best pair, beating a pair of twos.
It is likely that some players would disagree with both the above rulings, preferring to count A-K-Q-J-10 as a straight and in some cases considering A-A to be the highest pair rather than the lowest. It would be wise to check that you agree on these details before playing ace-to-six low poker with unfamiliar opponents.
Selecting from more than five cards
Note that in games where more than five cards are available, the player is free to select whichever cards make the lowest hand. For example a player in Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better whose cards are 10-8-6-6-3-2-A can omit the 10 and one of the 6's to create a qualifying hand for low.
Poker Hand Ranking with Wild Cards
A wild card card that can be used to substitute for a card that the holder needs to make up a hand. In some variants one or more jokers are added to the pack to act as wild cards. In others, one or more cards of the 52-card pack may be designated as wild - for example all the twos ('deuces wild') or the jacks of hearts and spades ('one-eyed jacks wild', since these are the only two jacks shown in profile in Anglo-American decks).
The most usual rule is that a wild card can be used either
- to represent any card not already present in the hand, or
- to make the special combination of 'five of a kind'.
This approach is not entirely consistent, since five of a kind - five cards of equal rank - must necessarily include one duplicate card, since there are only four suits. The only practical effect of the rule against duplicates is to prevent the formation of a 'double ace flush'. So for example in the hand A-9-8-5-joker, the joker counts as a K, not a second ace, and this hand is therefore beaten by A-K-10-4-3, the 10 beating the 9.
Five of a Kind
When playing with wild cards, five of a kind becomes the highest type of hand, beating a royal flush. Between fives of a kind, the higher beats the lower, five aces being highest of all.
The Bug
Some games, especially five card draw, are often played with a bug. This is a joker added to the pack which acts as a limited wild card. It can either be used as an ace, or to complete a straight or a flush. Thus the highest hand is five aces (A-A-A-A-joker), but other fives of a kind are impossible - for example 6-6-6-6-joker would count as four sixes with an ace kicker and a straight flush would beat this hand. Also a hand like 8-8-5-5-joker counts as two pairs with the joker representing an ace, not as a full house.
Wild Cards in Low Poker
In Low Poker, a wild card can be used to represent a card of a rank not already present in the player's hand. It is then sometimes known as a 'fitter'. For example 6-5-4-2-joker would count as a pair of sixes in normal poker with the joker wild, but in ace-to-five low poker the joker could be used as an ace, and in deuce-to-seven low poker it could be used as a seven to complete a low hand.
Lowest Card Wild
Some home poker variants are played with the player's lowest card (or lowest concealed card) wild. In this case the rule applies to the lowest ranked card held at the time of the showdown, using the normal order ace (high) to two (low). Aces cannot be counted as low to make them wild.
Double Ace Flush
Some people play with the house rule that a wild card can represent any card, including a duplicate of a card already held. It then becomes possible to have a flush containing two or more aces. Flushes with more than one ace are not allowed unless specifically agreed as a house rule.
Natural versus Wild
Some play with the house rule that a natural hand beats an equal hand in which one or more of the cards are represented by wild cards. This can be extended to specify that a hand with more wild cards beats an otherwise equal hand with fewer wild cards. This must be agreed in advance: in the absence of any agreement, wild cards are as good as the natural cards they represent.
Incomplete Hands
In some poker variants, such as No Peek, it is necessary to compare hands that have fewer than five cards. With fewer than five cards, you cannot have a straight, flush or full house. You can make a four of a kind or two pairs with only four cards, triplets with three cards, a pair with two cards and a 'high card' hand with just one card.
The process of comparing first the combination and then the kickers in descending order is the same as when comparing five-card hands. In hands with unequal numbers of cards any kicker that is present in the hand beats a missing kicker. So for example 8-8-K beats 8-8-6-2 because the king beats the 6, but 8-8-6-2 beats 8-8-6 because a 2 is better than a missing fourth card. Similarly a 10 by itself beats 9-5, which beats 9-3-2, which beats 9-3, which beats a 9 by itself.
Ranking of suits
In standard poker there is no ranking of suits for the purpose of comparing hands. If two hands are identical apart from the suits of the cards then they count as equal. In standard poker, if there are two highest equal hands in a showdown, the pot is split between them. Standard poker rules do, however, specify a hierarchy of suits: spades (highest), hearts, diamonds, clubs (lowest) (as in Contract Bridge), which is used to break ties for special purposes such as:
- drawing cards to allocate players to seats or tables;
- deciding who bets first in stud poker according to the highest or lowest upcard;
- allocating a chip that is left over when a pot cannot be shared exactly between two or more players.
I have, however, heard from several home poker players who play by house rules that use this same ranking of suits to break ties between otherwise equal hands. For some reason, players most often think of this as a way to break ties between royal flushes, which would be most relevant in a game with many wild cards, where such hands might become commonplace. However, if you want to introduce a suit ranking it is important also to agree how it will apply to other, lower types of hand. If one player A has 8-8-J-9-3 and player B has 8-8-J-9-3, who will win? Does player A win by having the highest card within the pair of eights, or does player B win because her highest single card, the jack, is in a higher suit? What about K-Q-7-6-2 against K-Q-7-6-2 ? So far as I know there is no universally accepted answer to these questions: this is non-standard poker, and your house rules are whatever you agree that they are. Three different rules that I have come across, when hands are equal apart from suit are:
- Compare the suit of the highest card in the hand.
- Compare the suit of the highest paired card - for example if two people have J-J-7-7-K the highest jack wins.
- Compare the suit of the highest unpaired card - for example if two people have K-K-7-5-4 compare the 7's.
Although the order spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs may seem natural to Bridge players and English speakers, other suit orders are common, especially in some European countries. Up to now, I have come across:
- spades (high), hearts, clubs, diamonds (low)
- spades (high), diamonds, clubs, hearts (low)
- hearts (high), spades, diamonds, clubs (low) (in Greece and in Turkey)
- hearts (high), diamonds, spades, clubs (low) (in Austria and in Sweden)
- hearts (high), diamonds, clubs, spades (low) (in Italy)
- diamonds (high), spades, hearts, clubs (low) (in Brazil)
- diamonds (high), hearts, spades, clubs (low) (in Brazil)
- clubs (high), spades, hearts, diamonds (low) (in Germany)
As with all house rules, it would be wise to make sure you have a common understanding before starting to play, especially when the group contains people with whom you have not played before.
Stripped Decks
What Does A Full House Beat In Poker Games
In some places, especially in continental Europe, poker is sometimes played with a deck of less than 52 cards, the low cards being omitted. Italian Poker is an example. As the pack is reduced, a Flush becomes more difficult to make, and for this reason a Flush is sometimes ranked above a Full House in such games. In a stripped deck game, the ace is considered to be adjacent to the lowest card present in the deck, so for example when using a 36-card deck with 6's low, A-6-7-8-9 is a low straight.
Playing poker with fewer than 52 cards is not a new idea. In the first half of the 19th century, the earliest form of poker was played with just 20 cards - the ace, king, queen, jack and ten of each suit - with five cards dealt to each of four players. The only hand types recognised were, in descending order, four of a kind, full house, three of a kind, two pairs, one pair, no pair.
No Unbeatable Hand
In standard poker a Royal Flush (A-K-Q-J-10 of one suit) cannot be beaten. Even if you introduce suit ranking, the Royal Flush in the highest suit is unbeatable. In some regions, it is considered unsatisfactory to have any hand that is guaranteed to be unbeaten - there should always be a risk. There are several solutions to this.
In Italy this is achieved by the rule 'La minima batte la massima, la massima batte la media e la media batte la minima' ('the minimum beats the maximum, the maximum beats the medium and the medium beats the minimum'). A minimum straight flush is the lowest that can be made with the deck in use. Normally they play with a stripped deck so for example with 40 cards the minimum straight flush would be A-5-6-7-8 of a suit. A maximum straight flush is 10-J-Q-K-A of a suit. All other straight flushes are medium. If two players have medium straight flushes then the one with higher ranked cards wins as usual. Also as usual a maximum straight flush beats a medium one, and a medium straight flush beats a minimum one. But if a minimum straight flush comes up against a maximum straight flush, the minimum beats the maximum. In the very rare case where three players hold a straight flush, one minimum, one medium and one maximum, the pot is split between them. See for example Italian Poker.
In Greece, where hearts is the highest suit, A-K-Q-J-10 is called an Imperial Flush, and it is beaten only by four of a kind of the lowest rank in the deck - for example 6-6-6-6 if playing with 36 cards. Again, in very rare cases there could also be a hand in the showdown that beats the four of a kind but is lower than the Imperial Flush, in which case the pot would be split.
What Does A Full House Beat In Poker Card Game
Hand probabilities and multiple decks
The ranking order of poker hands corresponds to their probability of occurring in straight poker, where five cards are dealt from a 52-card deck, with no wild cards and no opportunity to use extra cards to improve a hand. The rarer a hand the higher it ranks.
This is neither an essential nor an original feature of poker, and it ceases to be true when wild cards are introduced. In fact, with a large number of wild cards, it is almost inevitable that the higher hand types will be the commoner, not rarer, since wild cards will be used to help make the most valuable type of hand from the available cards.
Mark Brader has provided probability tables showing the frequency of each poker hand type when five cards are dealt from a 52-card deck, and also showing how these probabilities would change if multiple decks were used.
