♠ Poker Hands Ranking – Know the Worth of What You Hold
Poker hand is the combination of five cards, which decide how much your luck favours you in a poker session. As per the poker rules, there are following different hand combinations, which can decide your position in the game.
Royal Flush
A royal flush combination is obtained, when you have an ace, a king, a queen, a jack and a ten from the same suit in your hand. Needless to say, it is the highest hand in a poker game and can’t be beaten by any other hand.
Straight Flush
A straight flush combination is formed, when you have five consecutive cards from the same suit in your hand. For instance, 10-9-8-7-6 is known as a straight flush, with 10 as the top card and 6 being the lowest. However, 3-2-1-K-Q is not a valid straight flush.
Four of a Kind
Also known as quads, the combination of four of a kind represents four cards of similar rank from each of the suit. The remaining 5th card can be of any other rank from any of the suit. For instance, 4-4-4-4-A is called the four of a kind combination.
Full House
On the next rank, you have full house hand combination, which represents 3 out of the 5 cards of same rank and other 2 cards of different rank. For example, 4-4-4-3-3 is called the full house hand. In case two players have full house combination the hand with higher rank of 3 similar cards has an upper hand. For instance, 5-5-5-4-4 is higher than 4-4-4-3-3.
Flush
Flush is a hand combination in which all five cards belong to the same suit. For instance 9-7-5-4-3 from spade suit forms a flush hand. In case two players have flush hands, then one having top card with higher rank can beat another. However, if top cards are same, then second cards are compared and so on. For instance, among 9-8-6-4-2 and 9-8-6-5-2, the second combination beats the first one, as 5 at the fourth position beats 4 in the first combination.
Straight
In a straight hand combination, the five cards belong to different suits, but form a sequence of consecutive numbers. This means that 5-4-3-2-A forms the straight hand, if each one of these cards belongs to different suite.
Three of a Kind
Also known as trips or prile, the three of a kind combination denotes three cards of equal rank from three different suits. In this, remaining two cards may be anything and may belong to any of the four suites.
Two Pairs
As the name suggests, in two pairs you have two different pairs of cards having similar ranks. For instance, 10-10-9-9-6 forms two pairs hand. In case two players have combination as 10-10-9-9-6 and 10-10-8-8-6, then first one beats the second.
One Pair
Simply, the combination with a pair of equal rank cards forms one pair hand combination. For instance, 9-9-7-5-3 is one pair hand.
High Card
The hand with combination, which doesn’t represent any of those mentioned above, is called the high card. When two players get a high card hand, one with highest ranking top card beats another. Thus, 9-6-4-3-2 beats 8-6-3-2-A.
To understand poker playing easily, you should learn about the rank and meaning of each hand combination. This will help you to manage your bankroll efficiently and maintain your presence in the game until desired.