How Are Winning Poker Hands Determined?

Poker is a card game that is played with a standard 52-card deck. The object of the game is to have the highest-ranking hand at the end of the betting rounds.

The ranking of hands from highest to Lowest is as follows: royal flush, 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 highest-ranking hand in poker and is made up of an ace, king, queen, jack and ten of the same suit. A straight flush is the second-highest ranking hand and is made up of five cards in sequence that are all of the same suit. Four of a kind is the third-highest ranking hand and is made up of four cards of the same rank. A full house is the fourth-highest ranking hand and is made up of three cards of the same rank and two cards of another rank. A flush is the fifth-highest ranking hand and is made up of five cards that are all of the same suit. A straight is the sixth-highest ranking hand and is made up of five cards in sequence that are not all of the same suit.

PRO TIP:When playing poker, the winning hand will always be determined by the highest ranked combination of five cards. A Royal Flush is the highest possible ranked hand and is comprised of a Ten, Jack, Queen, King and Ace all in the same suit. The next highest ranked hand is a Straight Flush which is five cards in consecutive order and all in the same suit. After that comes Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair and then finally one Pair.

Three of a kind is the seventh-highest ranking hand and is made up of three cards of the same rank. Two pair is the eighth-highest ranking hand and is made up of two pairs of cards with different ranks. One pair is the ninth-highest ranking hand and is made up of two cards with the same rank. High card is the tenth-highest ranking hand and consists of five cards that do not form any other combinations.

The order in which poker hands are ranked from highest to Lowest helps determine who wins when two or more players have similar hands. For example, if two players have a flush, then the player with the highest-ranking card in their flush wins.

If both players have the same high card, then they compare their next highest card, and so on until one player has a higher-ranking hand than their opponent.