Poker Hand Rankings & The Best Texas Hold’em Poker Hands
If you want to win at poker, you obviously need to know what hand you've been dealt and what hand wins.
Below you will find a list of poker hands in order from highest to lowest to help you get started, as well as the top starting hands for Texas Hold'em.
Click the button on the right to get a cheat sheet that displays the traditional poker hand rankings, which are used in the most popular variants of poker (such as Texas Hold‘em). If you want to learn more about poker hands and rankings, read on.
Click to jump to a section:
If you want to win at poker, you obviously need to know what hand you've been dealt and what hand wins.
Below you will find a list of poker hands in order from highest to lowest to help you get started, as well as the top starting hands for Texas Hold'em.
Tap the button above to get a cheat sheet that displays the traditional poker hand rankings, which are used in the most popular variants of poker (such as Texas Hold‘em). If you want to learn more about poker hands and rankings, read on.
Tap to jump to a section:
Poker Hand Rankings
| Rank | Example | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Royal Flush | The best hand possible, a royal flush consists of A, K, Q, J and 10, all of the same suit. |
| 2 |  | Straight Flush | Also very rare, a straight flush consists of any straight that is all the same suit. |
| 3 |  | Four of a Kind | Four of a kind, or 'quads', consists of four cards of equal value along with another card known as a side card. |
| 4 |  | Full House | A full house consists of three cards of one value and two cards of another. |
| 5 |  | Flush | A flush is a hand which has all cards of the same suit. |
| 6 |  | Straight | A straight has 5 cards of consecutive value that are not all the same suit. |
| 7 |  | Three of a Kind | Also known as 'trips', three of a kind is 3 cards of the same value and 2 side cards of different values. |
| 8 |  | Two Pair | Two pair consists of two cards of equal value, another two cards of equal value, and one extra card. |
| 9 |  | Pair | One pair consists of two cards of the same value, and three extra cards. |
| 10 |  | High Card | Five cards that do not interact with each other to make any of the above hands. |
Click here to get more helpful poker cheat sheets.
Tie-breakers and Kickers
When multiple players have the same poker hands, the extra cards come in to play. These extra cards are called 'kickers'. The player with the higher kicker will take the pot when this happens.
Texas Hold'em Example:
- Player A has K♥ 9♥
- Player B has A♠ K♦
- The flop, turn and river are K♠-T♣-T♦-4♠-2♣
This means the players' final five card poker hands are:
- Player A: K♥ K♠ T♣ T♦ 9♥ for Two Pair, Kings and Tens with a Nine kicker
- Player B: K♦ K♠ T♣ T♦ A♠ for Two Pair, Kings and Tens with an Ace kicker
Both players have a pair of kings, but the winner of the pot is Player B because he has Player A 'out-kicked'.
In a high card or one pair hand tie-breaker, both players can sometimes have the same kicker. In this case the second kicker is used, and then the third, and so on. If both players’ best five card poker hands are identical, then they share the pot equally.
Ranking The Top 20 No Limit Texas Hold’em Starting Hands
I wanted to include something a bit more exciting in this article, so here's the top 20 No Limit Hold'em starting hands in terms of raw all-in equity (or percentages).
Although the order of the best poker hands to start with is sometimes contested, this list will give you a rough idea of which hands are stronger than others.
Which Poker Starting Hands Should You Play?
If you want to know which hands to play before the flop in No Limit Hold'em, we've got you covered below.
No Limit Texas Hold'em Free Starting Hands Charts
The Upswing Poker preflop guide makes it easy to play like a pro before the flop. Enter your name and email below to get it for free now!
This guide will show you exactly which hands to raise from each position before the flop. It also includes the answers to some preflop questions that many new poker players ask about.
Poker Hand Rankings FAQ
Before you go, here's that poker hand rankings cheat sheet one more time:
I hope you enjoyed this list of poker hands ranked!
Want to improve your overall poker strategy next? Read 10 Quick Poker Tips That Will Help Your Game.
If you prefer watching to reading, watch 5 Tips To Win A LOT More Money at Poker.
