beginner 1 min read
Poker Hand Rankings: What Beats What
Before anything else, you need to know what beats what. Here are all 10 hand ranks from strongest to weakest — and how to build your best five-card hand from your two cards plus the shared board.
The 10 Hand Rankings
- Royal Flush — A K Q J T, all the same suit
- Straight Flush — Five in a row, same suit
- Four of a Kind — Four matching cards
- Full House — Three of a kind + a pair
- Flush — Five cards of one suit
- Straight — Five cards in a row
- Three of a Kind — Three matching cards
- Two Pair — Two different pairs
- One Pair — Two matching cards
- High Card — None of the above
Build the Best Five
In Hold'em you make the best possible five-card hand out of your two hole cards and the five community cards — seven cards total.
- You do not have to use both hole cards
- A "flush" needs five cards of the same suit, not four
- A "straight" needs five in a row with no gaps
- When suits and sequences line up, the higher-ranked category always wins
Remember: Trips beat two pair. A flush beats a straight. A full house beats a flush. When in doubt, count up the list.
Which Hands Actually Win
In a typical game:
- High card or one pair wins most pots (~70% of hands)
- Two pair is strong and wins often
- Three of a kind is very strong — you should usually bet or raise
- Straight or better is a monster — get the money in
Remember: Don't overvalue one pair. It loses to two pair, sets, straights, flushes, and full houses.