Level 1 · Lesson 1

Hand rankings: who wins the pot

Every decision in poker rests on one thing — knowing which five-card hand beats which. Get this cold and the rest of the game has a floor to stand on. After this lesson, you'll know all ten hands in order cold — the foundation every serious player has so automatic they never think about it.

The ten hands, strongest to weakest

In Texas Hold'em you make the best five-card hand you can from your two private "hole" cards plus five shared community cards. Hands rank as follows:

Royal FlushA♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥ 10♥ — A-K-Q-J-10, one suit
Straight Flush9♠ 8♠ 7♠ 6♠ 5♠ — five in a row, one suit
Four of a KindQ♠ Q♥ Q♦ Q♣ 7♠ — all four of a rank
Full HouseK♠ K♥ K♣ 4♦ 4♠ — three + a pair
FlushA♦ J♦ 8♦ 5♦ 2♦ — five of a suit, any order
Straight9♣ 8♦ 7♠ 6♥ 5♣ — five in a row, mixed suits
Three of a Kind8♠ 8♥ 8♣ K♦ 2♠ — three of a rank
Two PairA♠ A♦ 9♣ 9♥ 4♠ — two different pairs
One Pair10♠ 10♥ K♣ 7♦ 3♠ — two of a rank
High CardA♠ J♦ 8♣ 5♥ 2♠ — nothing made

The shortcut to remembering the order: rarer hands rank higher. A flush is harder to hit than a straight, so it beats it. Quads are rarer than a full house, so they win. Whenever the order slips, ask yourself: which is harder to be dealt?

A note on tie-breakers

When two players make the same type of hand, the higher cards decide it — a King-high flush beats a Queen-high flush. Leftover cards used to break ties are called kickers. (We'll go deeper on kickers in a later lesson.)

Check yourself — no peeking

Answer each from memory. Retrieving the answer is what builds lasting recall; the feedback is instant.

🃏 Keep the printable hand-rankings cheat-sheet beside you while you play your first hands.