Poker is one of the most interesting game with a wide variety of hand values. Players wanting to really do well in the game are advised to learn the many hand combinations that are possible. An important consideration is the poker variant being enjoyed – some games require high-ranking hands, others require low-ranking hands. A good sampling of poker hands and their ranks follows herewith:
Note that in the event of a tie with various combinations, the ‘kicker’ cards will determine the winners. High-value poker hands include the following:
1. Straight Flush – 5 cards of the same suit, in sequence. The Royal Flush is the best possible combination of cards.
2. Four of a Kind – 4 cards of the same rank with a 5th card as the side card.
3. Full House – 3 cards sharing the same rank, plus any 2 cards of a matching but different rank.
4. Flush - A flush is represented by 5 cards of the same suit – the higher the rank of the 5 cards the better the flush.
5. Straight – A straight is represented by 5 cards in sequence; the closer the 5 cards are to the royals, the stronger the straight.
6. Three-of-a-kind – This is represented by 3 cards of the same rank and 2 unrelated cards
7. Two pair – As its namesake suggests, this is represented by 1 pair of equal value cards and another pair of equal value cards, plus a side card.
8. One pair – This is near the bottom of the poker chain and is as its namesake suggests merely a pair of card of the same value.
9. High Card – This is simply the highest value card in a hand. Note that every player, regardless of his/her hand will always have a high card. The higher the ‘high card’ the better the hand when there is a tie.
As stated earlier, poker has many variants and the hand-ranking system will vary depending on the particular game being played. Games like Ace to Five Lowball the best hand is any 5-4-3-2-A. And both straights and flushes don’t count against a player’s hand. There are many possible combinations such as 5 low, 6 low, 7 low and 8 low. In the event of a tie the hand with the lower second-highest ranking hand wins the bounty. Other poker games with different hand rankings include Badugi Hand Ranks and Deuce to 7 Lowball Hand Ranks,