Famous Poker Hands

What is a poker tell?

• Poker Hand Nicknames
• What Beats What In Poker

The worst statistical starting hand in Hold’em with its tongue-in-cheek nickname of “The Hammer” With the literal poker explosion in the last several years and millions of new players flocking the the game, poker hand nicknames have become more prevalent and popular than ever. With poker television announcers spreading the word and old-time cardroom regulars passing along the word like. Moneymaker: The winning poker hand of the famous poker player Chris Moneymaker at the 2003 WSOP. Five-three (5-3) 5♣, 3 ♥ Juggernaut: From Magic: The Gathering. The artefact card had the power. 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.

Poker tells are the habits, behaviours and physical actions of your opponents in a poker game that will give you insight into their likely holdings.

The World Series of Poker was only in its seventh year in 1976, yet it featured one of the most memorable hands of all time. While heads-up in the Main Event against Jesse Alto, Doyle “Texas Dolly”. CardPlayer.com is the world's oldest and most well respected poker magazine and online poker guide. Since 1988, CardPlayer has provided poker players with poker strategy, poker news, and poker.

Poker hand rankings is the first thing you need to learn when starting with poker, and this page will teach you everything you need to know. We will cover poker hands list in order, best poker hands in Texas Holdem and detailed examples of how to analyze your hands when playing. 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 winning poker hand of the famous poker player Chris Moneymaker at the 2003 WSOP. Juggernaut From the Magic: The Gathering where the artifact card had the power of five and toughness of three.

Being able to pick up on some of these tells will give you a huge advantage when playing poker, particularity if you are playing in a live poker game.

Studying Poker Tells

Studying poker tells is effectively studying body language. One of the key principles of studying body language is you have to establish a baseline.

For example, if you were part of the FBI interrogating a murder suspect you wouldn’t assume the suspect committed the crime because he is nervous: of course he is nervous, he is suspected of committing murder; wouldn’t you be nervous?

The same can be applied to studying poker players. If there is a particularly nervous player at the table, you wouldn’t say he is bluffing because he spilt his chips while betting – he probably always does that.

On the other hand, if a typically flamboyant player suddenly stops talking and looks nervous when making a bet, this may be an indication that he is giving away a tell.

So, you have to find a baseline (for example nervous or confident) and then see if there is any deviation from that baseline.

No conclusions can be drawn from a single expression, emotion or movement. It always has to be in context.

In addition, a tell shouldn't be overly weighted – a tell should adjust your decision and not make your decision completely.

So with that said here is a poker tells list with some of the most common tells you will come across at the poker table.

Appearance-based live poker tells:

Table Of Contents

#1 Buying in for short stack

Watch how much players buy into your game for (applicable for either online or live).

Players who buy in for less than the full amount (less than 100bb) in a cash game are typically not going to be strong players (there are exceptions of course).

This applied to both online and live play but is especially reliable online as it indicates the player doesn’t often play in these particular games or doesn’t have a bankroll.

The only caveat is that the player may be playing a short stack strategy although this is becoming less and less common nowadays.

#2 How does he/she act before joining the table?

Are they loud, full of energy and aggressive or is he quiet, passive and keeps to himself?

The way he acts off the table will correlate quite well with how he acts on the table.

Be prepared to call down some of the louder folk with weaker holdings (as they are more likely to be bluffing) and keep folding the medium strength hands to the quieter players.

#3 How does your opponent dress?

A conservative approach to dressing often means a conservative style of poker.

Whereas if you see a young player with a hoody, sunglasses and headphones, don’t expect to be able to run him over.

They are usually from the online world and know how to fight back (betting strategy).

#4 Does your opponent talk poker strategy?

Players who talk strategy on the table (not advised) are typically inexperienced.

Experienced players know not to give away anything about how they play.

You can also use this precious information he is giving away while rambling to your advantage.

#5 Is their chip stack organised?

A careful, well-thought opponent, will typically have a well-organised stack. If your opponent is has a sloppy disorganized stack he will likely be loose and sloppy with his betting and calling.

Take advantage of these opponents by calling down with weaker hands and by value betting thinner than usual.

#6 How do they handle their chips?

Following on from the last tell, can they do chip tricks or even have their chip stack modelled into sculptures?

These aren’t the typical fish you can take crush – they are most likely the shark and you and you are their bait.

Beware of the chip sculptures!

Physical Poker Tells Which Indicate Strength

#7 Is the player looking disinterested while continuing to bet

They are probably trying to throw you off: acting weak means strength.

To think of it another way: if they were bluffing they would be paying very close attention trying to pick up on any hints you have a strong hand (i.e. are you likely to call).

#8 Does your opponent protect his hole cards?

Does he do this with only strong hands he intends to play or both strong hand weak hands?

Some players only place their card protector on hands they intend to enter a hand.

So if you see a player seated to your left who only protects their strong hand, look left and see where his protector is placed before you enter the pot.

You might have one less player to worry about! (Every player you can discount matters – see the difference between 6max and full ring)

#9 Acting weak by sounding weak

When your opponent sighs, tuts or makes a sound like he is deliberating a decision, he is most likely acting.

He likely has a strong hand and wants you to call or bet. But you have to make the decision whether he is doing it deliberately or subconsciously.

If he is tutting or sighing subconsciously it could be a sign of weakness but this is unlikely as players are often aware of the impression they are giving off on the poker table.

#10 Sits back in their chair suddenly, while calling or betting

This would indicate a release of tension and that they have the hand ‘locked up’. I.e. they don’t think they can lose this one.

Be very careful of anyone who suddenly becomes to be comfortable in a big pot.

However, make sure you take this poker tell in context of the board texture – could the card have improved your opponent's hand?

#11 Looks at the chips when a card has been dealt

When a player looks at his chips or their opponents when his hole cards/flop/turn/river have been dealt you should read that as a sign of strength.

I personally used this one very successfully/unsuccessfully recently when playing live in Vegas.

I was playing 1/2 nl at the MGM and a passive player who I didn't have very much information on limped preflop followed by 2 others.

I looked down at 85o in the big blind so checked behind to see a 852 flop with around $8 in the pot.

I checked around intending to check-raise my opponent (I should have bet in retrospect) who obliged with a $5 bet which I raised to $18 – I immediately noticed he looked straight to my chip stack so took that as a major sign of strength.

All other opponents folded and he shipped over $300 into the pot instantly.

I deliberated for 2-3 minutes before folding top 2 pair assuming he had me beat with a set. There are only 5 combos of sets which is why I had to think for so long.

He turned over AA after I folded so I was completely right, he was not bluffing. He thought he was value raising with his AA!

The takeaway: even though I likely would have taken down a huge pot if I had of called, my read was right. He believed he had a really strong hand and was going to win all of my chips.

It's just too bad that he didn't understand hand values!!

Poker Hand Nicknames

Hence when being dealt your hole cards/the flop/turn/river is being dealt, do not look at the cards – look at the players and see their reaction. This is a very reliable tell which I have used on many occasions to good success.

#12 Sliding chips delicately into the pot

If your opponent passively puts chips into the pot he/she is trying not to intimidate you. Weak means strong. Strong means weak.

#13 If your opponent’s pupils are dilated

This can mean that he has a strong hand and they can’t hide their excitement. You cannot control your pupil dilation and hence this is quite a reliable tell. This poker tell will take some training to really get right, but worth the effort.

#14 Sudden straightening of posture

means your opponent is now interested in the hand and therefore likely has a strong hand. This is especially useful if the board texture has changed drastically on the last card. For example, a straight draw, or flush just filled up. This tell should also be carefully taken in context.

#15 How does he/she react to chat?

Players with a strong hand have an easier time answering questions and talking. They are confident they are going to win the pot. A player with a weak hand would be afraid of giving away information about the weak holding.

#16 Showing hole cards to a friend often indicates strength

Newer players want to show that their friends that they are a skilled card player and are likely to win the hand (basically showing off) – hence sharing the good experience with their friend.

If they aren’t sure they will win the hand when bluffing they won’t want to show just in case it doesn’t come off and they look like a fool. Note: showing cards to your friends is typically not allowed outside of home games.

#17 Trying to end the hand quickly

“I will show you if you call” – usually indicates strength.

However, this can easily be used as a reverse tell so be careful with this one against tricky opponents.

#18 Trembling Hands

Shaky hands mean he is bluffing, right? Wrong!

Trembling hands are often caused by a release of stress rather than stress its self – so an opponent who is trembling probably has a big hand and has the pot locked up.

Be wary of trembling hands. A player’s tension won’t be released until after the hand when bluffing.

#19 Long deliberated decisions before raising

Some poker players could be nominated for an Oscar with the show they sometimes put out when feigning a ‘difficult decision’.

Often they are facing a bet on the turn or river, only to raise your bet. This is a transparent trick so don’t fall for it.

The only decision a player would have to make in that case would be how much to raise (poker players don’t raise thin enough, they want to get to showdown).

You would be pushed to find many card players who would deliberate for that long on how much to raise, even in their most thoughtful state.

#20 The nitty guy just raised

This player always wants to make sure that he has a good hand before betting to see the flop.

He doesn't like betting on draws and him almost never bluffs.

He doesn't like taking chances and only bets big when he has a monster.

If you are heading up and this player bets aggressively, it is very likely that he has a very good hand.

It would be best for you to fold against him unless you're also holding close to the nuts of course.

#21 Getting Angry

Has your opponent been folding hand after hand for the last few rounds, only to now raise? Look how he reacts when people fold or call.

Players can sometimes show signs of anger and frustration that the people in front of him are folding to his raise. Beware! He likely has a strong hand.

#22 A Check Raise

A check raise is a good indication of a strong hand unless the opponent is quite skilled.

Most players never check-raise as a bluff and hence it is only ever a really strong hand.

This is one of the most reliable poker tells in live poker situations as a live poker check raise (at low stakes) is usually weighted heavily towards value.

Physical Poker Tells Which Indicate Weakness

#23 Forcefully putting chips into the pot

This is the reverse of the putting the chips in weakly.

It is likely that your opponent is trying to intimidate you, however, before drawing any conclusions you should know does he always put chips in the pot in this way?

#24 Staring at the board for an extended period of time

Often means they didn’t connect very well. They are searching for a way that they can win the hand, either through a backdoor draw or by bluffing.

This typically will happen when the flop is dealt.

#25 Your opponent is staring right at you

Again your opponent is trying to psych you out. If he had a value hand would he be being so intimidating? (Strength means weakness.)

#26 Counting Up Chips

Asking for a chip count is again an intimidating move. This is especially true when there are still many streets and a lot of chips left behind.

Your opponent is basically threatening to put all your chips at stake which will make you more likely to fold to his bets.

There will be some cases where a chip count is required, however, so take that into account.

#27 Chatty opponent

This is a big online poker tell. It is a show of weakness if an online poker player is always in the chat box. An experienced poker player will be too focused on the game to worry about chatting, especially because experienced players will be playing more than one table.

There isn't much to glean from this one when playing live, unless the opponent suddenly becomes very chatty or very quite in compared to his usual demeanour – be on your toes if sudden changes in chattiness levels occur.

#28 Peeking at Cards the Second Time

Some players may find it hard to resist the urge to peek at their cards a second time.

This could tell you that this player has the potential of making draw and is checking to see if one of the cards laid in the flop matches one of the cards in his hand.

Sometimes this is because the player only remembers the suits of the cards and not the number.

However, it is something you should be aware of when betting against this player.

When playing live, try to memorise your cards at the beginning of the hand like the pros so you don't need to go back and look a second time.

#29 Eyeballs rolling

If this is a subtle cue then it could be true and reveals discontent with their hands. If it’s over-exaggerated and obvious it is most likely a reverse tell and indicates strength.

#30 A player who freezes when waiting on opponents actions is often bluffing

Freezing indicates they are afraid to give away any information and are worried you might call. Do not confuse with someone who is comfortable but remains still and quiet.

#31 A fake smile when looking at their cards

Counter a real smile in the previous section, a fake smile is forced and is revealed by a lack of participation of the eyes in the expression.

Be wary that the play just isn’t trying to be friendly by fake smiling at a bad conversation or joke.

#32 Rubbing of body parts (hands, arms, legs, neck, hair, nose) to soothe oneself

These are mechanisms we all use to some extent to pacify ourselves in stressful situations.

Playing with Jewellery is also applicable here.

#33 Treating hole cards carelessly

How would you treat your cards if there were two aces lying there preflop? Take that into account the next time you see a player being sloppy with hole cards.

#34 Hands and arms moved closer to the body

This is defensive body language and indicates that the player is not comfortable hence potentially has a weak hand.

Take this in context – is the player naturally introverted and always sits in a closed body position, or just in this hand?

#35 Immediate call without considering raising

This does not necessarily mean he has a weak hand but it means he at least doesn’t have a very strong hand.

If your opponent had a very strong hand, wouldn't he consider raising?

You can take advantage of this by overbetting the size of the pot.

Famous Poker Hands

Overbetting against capped ranges is one of my favourite strategies to use on the table!

#36 Staring at hole cards

If he had a strong hand he wouldn’t want to draw attention to his hole cards by staring too long.

#37 Hands in front of the mouth

Tournoi poker vacances. This again is closed body language which indicates they are trying to hide something (i.e they are lying) and could be weak when betting.

Click here to find out more information on hand-face gestures and their meaning.

#38 The limper

Limping is a very strong tell that the player is weak.

Limping is a poor poker strategy that is adopted by almost all novice players. If you see a player limping you know they are a weak player and can hence target them on the table.

Learn more about why limping is bad with our texas holdem strategy guide.

Famous Hands In Poker

#39 Maniacs

The maniacs play the game with a do-or-die approach, going in with every hand.

This takes place, in most cases, when the tournament is just beginning.

It is very easy to put them to a stop because they are quite easy to spot. To do that, just wait for a hand that is good and then give a call to their all-in.

#40 Staring at Other Players

Gawping at another player with a clear outward appearance is frequently exceptionally off-putting for the other player.

If you see a player taking a gander at you, they might be attempting to intimidate you to give you the impression their hand is much stronger than it really is!

#41 The Flop Guy

Okay, this is more of a tendency than a tell, but it still useful.

This player always wants to see the flop, no matter what kind of hand he has.

He will call or limp infrequently to try and see if he can improve his bad hand on the flop – he is a pretty bad player and is likely to play fit or fold.

This type of player lacks caution and experience and can be very easily taken advantage of by a talented opponent.

Exploit him by raising him a lot preflop and cbetting the flop and turn regularly.

Bet Sizing Specific Poker Tells

#42 Bet sizing tell

Do they bet small with weak hands and large with strong hands or vice versa?

Some players believe they need to bet large with weak hands to maximise value, while small with bluff to minimise risk.

While others want to maximise the probability a player will fold with a large bet when bluffing and induce a call with small bets when value betting.

Figure out what their bet sizing strategy is and use to your advantage.

#44 Patterns in Betting

When you become observant of the players at the table with you, you will start to notice whether or not there are patterns to their betting.

Being aware of this will also help you avoid displaying a pattern in your betting that others can pick up on.

Take note of a player who always checks when he/she has made the nuts or one that always folds when you re-raise. These signs will help you overcome the odds and become the winner in such a hand.

Online Poker Tells

#45 Response time

This is a tell that is very common with online poker. It is a quick sign that the player is not experienced, he is not an expert if he is slow at responding to the opponent's moves.

On the other hand, a pro will usually know what he will do before you even bet!

So if you come up against a player who responds very slowly, take note and try to play more pots with him.

#46 How many tables are they playing

The final piece of advise I will give is to check to see how many tables your opponent is playing (online).

You can usually use the search feature in your poker room which will tell you how many tables and what stakes he is playing.

If your opponent has the search feature blocked (which is just a setting you can change), you know he at least isn't the biggest fish in the poker room and knows something about poker!

Here is an old but gold list of poker tells video which helped inspire this post:

Final Words On Poker Tells

That's it for the list of the top poker tells. They should help you improve your poker game and takedown more money at the tables. I would recommend reading Zachary Elwood's tells poker book: Reading Poker Tells – you can find out more about that book here.

This post works with 5-card Poker hands drawn from a standard deck of 52 cards. The discussion is mostly mathematical, using the Poker hands to illustrate counting techniques and calculation of probabilities

Working with poker hands is an excellent way to illustrate the counting techniques covered previously in this blog – multiplication principle, permutation and combination (also covered here). There are 2,598,960 many possible 5-card Poker hands. Thus the probability of obtaining any one specific hand is 1 in 2,598,960 (roughly 1 in 2.6 million). The probability of obtaining a given type of hands (e.g. three of a kind) is the number of possible hands for that type over 2,598,960. Thus this is primarily a counting exercise.

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Preliminary Calculation

Usually the order in which the cards are dealt is not important (except in the case of stud poker). Thus the following three examples point to the same poker hand. The only difference is the order in which the cards are dealt.

These are the same hand. Order is not important.

The number of possible 5-card poker hands would then be the same as the number of 5-element subsets of 52 objects. The following is the total number of 5-card poker hands drawn from a standard deck of 52 cards.

The notation is called the binomial coefficient and is pronounced “n choose r”, which is identical to the number of -element subsets of a set with objects. Other notations for are , and . Many calculators have a function for . Of course the calculation can also be done by definition by first calculating factorials.

Thus the probability of obtaining a specific hand (say, 2, 6, 10, K, A, all diamond) would be 1 in 2,598,960. If 5 cards are randomly drawn, what is the probability of getting a 5-card hand consisting of all diamond cards? It is

This is definitely a very rare event (less than 0.05% chance of happening). The numerator 1,287 is the number of hands consisting of all diamond cards, which is obtained by the following calculation.

The reasoning for the above calculation is that to draw a 5-card hand consisting of all diamond, we are drawing 5 cards from the 13 diamond cards and drawing zero cards from the other 39 cards. Since (there is only one way to draw nothing), is the number of hands with all diamonds.

If 5 cards are randomly drawn, what is the probability of getting a 5-card hand consisting of cards in one suit? The probability of getting all 5 cards in another suit (say heart) would also be 1287/2598960. So we have the following derivation.

Thus getting a hand with all cards in one suit is 4 times more likely than getting one with all diamond, but is still a rare event (with about a 0.2% chance of happening). Some of the higher ranked poker hands are in one suit but with additional strict requirements. They will be further discussed below.

Another example. What is the probability of obtaining a hand that has 3 diamonds and 2 hearts? The answer is 22308/2598960 = 0.008583433. The number of “3 diamond, 2 heart” hands is calculated as follows:

One theme that emerges is that the multiplication principle is behind the numerator of a poker hand probability. For example, we can think of the process to get a 5-card hand with 3 diamonds and 2 hearts in three steps. The first is to draw 3 cards from the 13 diamond cards, the second is to draw 2 cards from the 13 heart cards, and the third is to draw zero from the remaining 26 cards. The third step can be omitted since the number of ways of choosing zero is 1. In any case, the number of possible ways to carry out that 2-step (or 3-step) process is to multiply all the possibilities together.

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The Poker Hands

Here’s a ranking chart of the Poker hands.

The chart lists the rankings with an example for each ranking. The examples are a good reminder of the definitions. The highest ranking of them all is the royal flush, which consists of 5 consecutive cards in one suit with the highest card being Ace. There is only one such hand in each suit. Thus the chance for getting a royal flush is 4 in 2,598,960.

Royal flush is a specific example of a straight flush, which consists of 5 consecutive cards in one suit. There are 10 such hands in one suit. So there are 40 hands for straight flush in total. A flush is a hand with 5 cards in the same suit but not in consecutive order (or not in sequence). Thus the requirement for flush is considerably more relaxed than a straight flush. A straight is like a straight flush in that the 5 cards are in sequence but the 5 cards in a straight are not of the same suit. For a more in depth discussion on Poker hands, see the Wikipedia entry on Poker hands.

The counting for some of these hands is done in the next section. The definition of the hands can be inferred from the above chart. For the sake of completeness, the following table lists out the definition.

Definitions of Poker Hands

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Counting Poker Hands

Straight Flush
Counting from A-K-Q-J-10, K-Q-J-10-9, Q-J-10-9-8, …, 6-5-4-3-2 to 5-4-3-2-A, there are 10 hands that are in sequence in a given suit. So there are 40 straight flush hands all together.

Four of a Kind
There is only one way to have a four of a kind for a given rank. The fifth card can be any one of the remaining 48 cards. Thus there are 48 possibilities of a four of a kind in one rank. Thus there are 13 x 48 = 624 many four of a kind in total.

Full House
Let’s fix two ranks, say 2 and 8. How many ways can we have three of 2 and two of 8? We are choosing 3 cards out of the four 2’s and choosing 2 cards out of the four 8’s. That would be = 4 x 6 = 24. But the two ranks can be other ranks too. How many ways can we pick two ranks out of 13? That would be 13 x 12 = 156. So the total number of possibilities for Full House is

Note that the multiplication principle is at work here. When we pick two ranks, the number of ways is 13 x 12 = 156. Why did we not use = 78?

Flush
There are = 1,287 possible hands with all cards in the same suit. Recall that there are only 10 straight flush on a given suit. Thus of all the 5-card hands with all cards in a given suit, there are 1,287-10 = 1,277 hands that are not straight flush. Thus the total number of flush hands is 4 x 1277 = 5,108.

Straight
There are 10 five-consecutive sequences in 13 cards (as shown in the explanation for straight flush in this section). In each such sequence, there are 4 choices for each card (one for each suit). Thus the number of 5-card hands with 5 cards in sequence is . Then we need to subtract the number of straight flushes (40) from this number. Thus the number of straight is 10240 – 10 = 10,200.

Three of a Kind
There are 13 ranks (from A, K, …, to 2). We choose one of them to have 3 cards in that rank and two other ranks to have one card in each of those ranks. The following derivation reflects all the choosing in this process.

Two Pair and One Pair
These two are left as exercises.

High Card
The count is the complement that makes up 2,598,960.

The following table gives the counts of all the poker hands. The probability is the fraction of the 2,598,960 hands that meet the requirement of the type of hands in question. Note that royal flush is not listed. This is because it is included in the count for straight flush. Royal flush is omitted so that he counts add up to 2,598,960.

Probabilities of Poker Hands

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2017 – Dan Ma

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.)

What Beats What In Poker

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.

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

1. to represent any card not already present in the hand, or
2. 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:

1. Compare the suit of the highest card in the hand.
2. Compare the suit of the highest paired card - for example if two people have J-J-7-7-K the highest jack wins.
3. 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

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.

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.