Poker Hand Rankings, With the Odds
From best to worst, the ten poker hands are: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card. A higher hand always beats a lower one; between two hands of the same type, the higher cards win. In Texas Hold'em you make the best five-card hand from seven cards, so strong hands come up more often than you might think: you'll finish with at least a straight about 10% of the time.
The ten hands
The chance column is how often each hand is your best five cards out of seven, as in Texas Hold'em when you play to the river.
| Rank | Hand | Example | What it is | Chance (7 cards) | About 1 in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush | A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ | Ace-high straight, all one suit | 0.0032% | 30,940 |
| 2 | Straight flush | 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥ | Five in a row, all one suit | 0.028% | 3,590 |
| 3 | Four of a kind | Q♣ Q♦ Q♥ Q♠ + any | Four cards of one rank | 0.17% | 595 |
| 4 | Full house | K♠ K♥ K♦ 7♣ 7♠ | Three of a kind plus a pair | 2.6% | 38 |
| 5 | Flush | A♦ J♦ 8♦ 6♦ 2♦ | Five of one suit, not in a row | 3.0% | 33 |
| 6 | Straight | 10♣ 9♦ 8♠ 7♥ 6♣ | Five in a row, mixed suits | 4.6% | 22 |
| 7 | Three of a kind | 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ + two others | Three cards of one rank | 4.8% | 21 |
| 8 | Two pair | J♣ J♦ 4♠ 4♥ + one other | Two different pairs | 23.5% | 4 |
| 9 | One pair | 10♠ 10♣ + three others | Two cards of one rank | 43.8% | 2 |
| 10 | High card | A♣ Q♦ 9♠ 5♥ 3♣ | None of the above | 17.4% | 6 |
These are the exact combinatorial figures for 7-card hands. We checked them by dealing 3 million random hands through our own evaluator: every figure matched to within a few hundredths of a percent.
Wait, high card is rarer than one pair?
With seven cards, yes: you're more likely to end up with a pair (43.8%) or two pair (23.5%) than with nothing at all (17.4%). The ranking still puts high card at the bottom because poker hands are ranked by how rare they are with five cards, where high card is the most common hand of all, about 50%. Seven-card games kept the old five-card order, so a few hands in the middle don't line up with their seven-card odds. Three of a kind and straight are almost equally common in hold'em, for example.
How ties are broken
When two players have the same type of hand, the cards decide:
- Higher cards win within a hand type. A pair of kings beats a pair of queens; a king-high flush beats a queen-high flush.
- Kickers. If the main cards tie, the highest remaining cards (kickers) decide, one by one. A♥ A♣ K♠ beats A♦ A♠ Q♥.
- Full house: the three-of-a-kind part decides first. 7-7-7-2-2 beats 6-6-6-A-A.
- Two pair: the higher pair first, then the lower pair, then the kicker.
- Suits never break ties. Two identical flushes or straights split the pot.
- The ace plays high or low in straights. A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight; 10-J-Q-K-A the highest. It can't wrap around: Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.
- Only five cards count. If the best five are all on the board, every remaining player "plays the board" and the pot is split.
Your starting cards
How often you're dealt each kind of starting hand in hold'em:
| Starting hand | Chance per hand | About 1 in |
|---|---|---|
| Pocket aces | 0.45% | 221 |
| Any pocket pair | 5.9% | 17 |
| Ace-king (suited or not) | 1.2% | 83 |
| Two suited cards | 23.5% | 4 |
Classic matchups: who's the favorite?
When two players are all-in before the flop, their chances depend on both hands. We dealt each matchup 150,000 times to the river.
| Hand | vs | Hand | Wins | Ties | Loses | Nickname |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A♠ A♦ | vs | K♠ K♦ | 82.4% | 0.6% | 17.0% | Aces vs kings, the classic cooler |
| A♠ K♦ | vs | Q♠ Q♥ | 43.0% | 0.4% | 56.6% | The coin flip (the pair is a small favorite) |
| A♠ K♠ | vs | 2♦ 2♣ | 49.8% | 0.6% | 49.6% | A true coin flip |
| A♠ K♦ | vs | Q♠ J♥ | 64.8% | 0.5% | 34.8% | Domination by higher cards |
| A♠ A♦ | vs | 8♥ 7♥ | 76.7% | 0.3% | 23.0% | Even aces lose almost 1 time in 4 |
| K♠ K♦ | vs | A♠ 5♦ | 70.0% | 0.5% | 29.5% | Kings vs an ace |
| J♠ 10♠ | vs | A♠ K♦ | 39.7% | 0.5% | 59.8% | Suited connectors aren't far behind |
| 7♠ 2♦ | vs | A♠ A♥ | 11.6% | 0.5% | 87.9% | The worst hand vs the best |
The lesson: preflop, very few hands are big favorites. Even pocket aces lose about 1 time in 7 against a random hand, and almost 1 in 4 against a suited connector. That's why a single "bad beat" proves nothing about a game; more on that in 10 casino myths, tested.
Drawing odds: will your card come?
On the flop you often have a hand that isn't made yet but can improve. The cards that complete it are your outs.
| Your draw | Outs | Hit on the next card | Hit by the river (from the flop) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flush draw (four of a suit) | 9 | 19% | 35% |
| Open-ended straight draw (e.g. 8-9-10-J) | 8 | 17% | 31% |
| Flush draw + open-ended straight draw | 15 | 32% | 54% |
| Gutshot straight draw (e.g. 8-9-J-Q) | 4 | 9% | 16% |
| Pocket pair hoping for three of a kind | 2 | 4% | 8% |
A quick way to estimate: on the flop, multiply your outs by 4 for the chance of hitting by the river; on the turn, multiply by 2 for the river alone. Nine outs × 4 = 36%, close to the true 35%.
Two more numbers worth knowing: a pocket pair flops three of a kind 11.8% of the time, and ace-king pairs at least one of its cards on the flop 32.4% of the time.
Common questions
Does a flush beat a straight? Yes. A flush is rarer, so it ranks higher.
Does a full house beat a flush? Yes. Full house is rank 4, flush rank 5.
Is an ace high or low? Both, in straights (A-2-3-4-5 or 10-J-Q-K-A). Everywhere else it's the highest card.
Which is better, two pair or three of a kind? Three of a kind.
What's the best starting hand in hold'em? Pocket aces. They win about 85% of the time against one random hand and about 73% against two.
How we calculated this
The 7-card chances are the standard counts out of all 133,784,560 possible seven-card hands. Our evaluator picks the best five of seven cards; we ran 3 million random hands through it to confirm the counts, then dealt 150,000 random boards for each matchup. Drawing odds are exact: for example, a flush draw on the flop misses on both cards with probability (38/47) × (37/46).
Put the chart to use at a free Texas Hold'em table in the lobby. New to the game? Start with how to play Texas Hold'em. Wondering how poker compares with the house games? See which game has the best odds.