Hand rankings and ties

Compare five-card hands by category, then the relevant ranks—not the suit.

9 minutes · beginner · Original Poker4Quant lesson

What you will learn

Compare simple showdown hands and recognize when all five relevant cards tie.

Categories before kickers

From strongest to weakest: straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. A royal flush is the ace-high straight flush, not a separate rule. A flush needs five cards of one suit; a straight needs five consecutive ranks.

An ace can be high in 10-J-Q-K-A or low in A-2-3-4-5. A straight does not wrap around: Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight. In an ace-low straight the five is the highest card for comparison.

Only the best five count

For one pair, compare the pair rank first, then the three remaining cards (kickers) in descending order. For two pair, compare the higher pair, then the lower pair, then the kicker. For a full house, compare the three-of-a-kind rank before the pair.

If two players have the same best five ranks in the same category, they tie. A sixth or seventh card does not break the tie. Suits have no ranking in standard hold’em. A split may require an odd-chip house rule; our mathematical exercises assume divisible chips unless stated.

Worked example

Compare A♠ A♥ K♣ 8♦ 4♠ with A♦ A♣ Q♠ J♥ 9♣.

Both hands have one pair of aces, so the pair ranks tie.
Compare the highest kicker: king versus queen.
The king kicker wins; do not add the ranks of all three kickers.

The first hand wins. A higher first differing kicker decides the comparison.

Common mistakes

Ranking a flush by its suit rather than its card ranks.
Using an unused sixth card as a tie-breaker.
Allowing a straight to continue through the ace from king to two.

Keep these ideas

Compare categories first.
Within a category, compare the relevant ranks in order.
A tied best five splits; unused cards and suits do not decide it.