Poker is a popular card game that has been played for centuries. It involves a combination of chance, strategy, and skill to win.
In poker, the best hand wins. But what does your poker hand mean? In this tutorial, we will go through the different types of hands in poker and what they mean.
Firstly, let’s start with the basics. A standard deck of 52 cards is used in poker.
Each card has a suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs or spades) and a rank (2 to 10, jack, queen, king or ace). The aim of the game is to make the best possible five-card hand using your two hole cards and the five community cards on the table.
Now let’s get into the different types of hands in poker:
1. High Card: This is the lowest ranking hand in poker.
If you don’t have any pairs or combinations in your hand, your highest card determines your hand value. For example, if you have a queen-high card and your opponent has a ten-high card, you win.
2. Pair: A pair consists of two cards with the same rank.
For example, two queens or two fives would be considered a pair. If multiple players have pairs, then the highest ranking pair wins.
3. Two Pair: As the name suggests, this type of hand consists of two pairs of cards with the same rank. For example, if you have two queens and two fives in your hand then it would be considered as two pairs.
4. Three of a Kind: This type of hand consists of three cards with the same rank. For example, three kings or three sevens would be considered as three-of-a-kind.
5. Straight: A straight consists of five consecutive ranked cards regardless of their suits. For example, 5-6-7-8-9 would be considered as a straight.
6. Flush: A flush consists of five cards of the same suit but not in sequence. For example, if you have five diamonds in your hand, it would be considered as a flush.
7. Full House: This type of hand consists of three cards with the same rank and two cards with another rank. For example, if you have three kings and two fives, it would be considered as a full house.
8. Four of a Kind: This hand consists of four cards with the same rank. For example, four jacks or four tens would be considered as four-of-a-kind.
9. Straight Flush: This is the second highest-ranking hand in poker.
It consists of five consecutive cards of the same suit. For example, 5-6-7-8-9 all in diamonds would be considered as a straight flush.
10. Royal Flush: This is the highest-ranking hand in poker and is also called a ‘natural royal flush’. It consists of 10, jack, queen, king and ace – all in the same suit.
In conclusion, understanding what your poker hand means is crucial to winning at poker. By knowing what hands are possible and how they rank against each other, you can make better decisions when playing this exciting game.
Remember that even if you have a weaker hand than your opponent’s at first, there’s always room for improvement once the community cards are revealed on the table!
Good luck at the tables!
