Poker Card Hand Rankings
1. Straight Flush
Three cards in sequence of the same suit.An Ace can count as either high or low - e.g. A-K-Q or 3-2-A
Ties are broken by the highest ranked card in the hand except 3 is used for a 3, 2, Ace straight flush.
2. Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank.Ties are broken by the rank of the three cards.
3. Straight
Three cards in sequence.Ties are broken by the highest ranked card in the hand except 3 is used for a 3, 2, Ace straight.
4. Flush
Three cards of the same suit.Ties are broken by rank of the highest card, if still tied by the rank of the second highest card and if still tied by rank of the third highest card.
5. Pair
Two cards of the same rank and a third card of different rank.Ties are broken by rank of the paired cards and if still tied by rank of the unpaired card.
6. Nothing
Three cards of different rank and suit, not in sequence - i.e. not any of the above ranked hands.Ties are broken by rank of the highest card, if still tied by the rank of the second highest card and if still tied by rank of the third highest card.
BONUS: Mini Royal
The highest straight flush: A-K-Q all of the same suit.Once you have studied Omaha Hi-Lo Poker Rules, the next step is to learn Omaha hi-lo hand rankings. In Omaha hi-lo, the pot is divided evenly between the high hand and the low hand.
Use our poker hands reference chart until you are 100% certain of hand rankings. Poker hands from strongest to weakest Royal Flush: Five card sequence from 10 to the Ace in the same suit (10,J,Q,K,A). Starting ranks and pot odds will be covered soon, but first up, learning the slightly different hand rankings is a must -if you don’t know what wins and loses you’re in big trouble! Because the game is only played with 36 cards instead of the traditional 52 (all the 2’s, 3’s, 4’s. Poker Starting Hands - Comprehensive guide to which poker hands you should play, including a 2021 Texas Hold'em poker starting hands chart. A high card hand consists of five cards that don’t make a pair or any other kind of made hand. The lowest-ranking hand in the poker hand rankings, high card hands can only beat other high card hands. Ace-high represents the strongest high card hand, while the lowest possible five-card high card hand is six-high. At PokerStars, we deal many varieties of poker, some of which use different hand rankings. Hold’em, Omaha and Seven Card Stud all use the traditional ‘high’ poker rankings. Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz and Stud Hi/Lo use the ‘Ace to Five’ (‘California’) low hand rankings for low hands. Know your stuff? Play our interactive game at the bottom of this page.
The high hand ranking is similar to Texas Holdem and Omaha. Keep in mind that the ranking reflects how rare it is to form a hand. Let’s take a look at all the high hand rankings.
3 Card Poker Hand Rankings
High Hand Rankings (ordered by increasing value)
| Hand | Example | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 10. High card | Unrelated and unpaired cards | |
| 9. One pair | Two cards of the same rank | |
| 8. Two pair | Two different pairs | |
| 7. Three of a kind (or set) | Three cards of the same rank | |
| 6. Straight | Five consecutive cards | |
| 5. Flush | All cards of the same suit | |
| 4. Full house | Three of a kind with a pair | |
| 3. Four of a kind (or quads) | Four cards of the same rank | |
| 2. Straight flush | Five consecutive cards, all of the same suit | |
| 1. Royal flush | Ace-High Straight Flush |
Low and the Eight or Better Qualifier
Not all hands qualify for the low. Furthermore, if no player makes a low hand, the high wins the entire pot. A valid low hand consists of five different cards, so no pair, ranked eight or lower, with the ace counting as the lowest card. Straights and flushes are ignored, so the following hands are valid low hands.
Hands that contain any pair or any card nine to king do not qualify for the low. So the following hands do not count as low.
Low Hand Rankings
Two Card Poker Hand Rankings
In a low hand, the lower the card denominations are, the stronger the hand is. Low hands are evaluated, starting from the highest rank card (remember, the ace counts as the lowest), in a top-down approach. The player with the lowest card from the top wins. If the cards are even, the second card from the top is taken into account, and so on.
Poker Card Hand Rankings
For example, consider that Player A has 8♥5♠4♣3♥2♥, and Player B has 8♥6♠4♣2♥A♣. To determine who has the best low, we first compare the first cards starting from the top. As they both have an eight, the second card from the top is examined. Player A has the smallest, the five, so he wins. Let’s take a look at some examples.
3 Card Poker Hand Rankings
Low Hand Examples (ordered by increasing value)
5 Card Poker Hand Rankings
| Example | Name |
|---|---|
| Worse qualifying low | |
| Eight high low | |
| Seven high low | |
| Seven high low | |
| Six high low | |
| Six high low | |
| The wheel, best possible low! |
Three Card Poker Hand Rankings
Do you have any questions about Omaha hi-lo starting hands? Or more tips to add to this post? Let us know in the comments section below!