Texas Hold'em Basic Guide P3: Texas Hold'em Hand Rankings

Texas Hold'em is a form of poker played with two-hole cards and a maximum of five community cards that all players can use to create the best hand. Knowing the hierarchy of hands in poker is important, and Texas Hold'em games are no exception. Let's refresh your memory so you know the poker hand rankings and what cards make up each hand.

The Texas Hold'em hand rankings, in ascending order

The hand rankings used in Texas Hold'em include nine hands, which we have ordered from lowest to highest value and which we will discover as we progress through the following lines. To give you an idea, the ranking from lowest to highest in Texas Hold'em would be as follows: high card (the least valuable hand), pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, flush, full house, poker, straight flush and royal flush.

High Card

Although many people think that the worst hand a player can get in a poker game is a pair, this is not the case. According to the strict rules of the game, the high card in poker, and in Texas Hold'em without exception, is the worst hand a player can have. It is a card that does not have a side card or any other support to increase its value.

As such, the high card can be considered to be any hand that does not fall into one of the categories below. In the event of a tie, the highest card wins, hence the name.

Pair

A pair is when you get two cards of the same value (e.g. two aces, two ladies or two sixes), and all other cards are unpaired. A more 'pro' variant is the double pair, which is shown below.

Double pair

A player has a double pair when he has two cards of the same rank (two kings, for example), two cards of the same rank again (two aces) and a kicker, which is the card that remains unpaired. Far from being useless, the kicker can be decisive in establishing a tie-breaker, since, in the case of an identical hand, the higher kicker determines the winner.

Three of a kind

A three of a kind occurs when a player has three cards of the same rank (e.g. three checkers) and two cards that are two of a kind. In the event of a tie, the first unpaired card is used to break the tie and, if necessary, the second card (the kicker) is used to determine the winner.

Straight

A straight in poker, including Texas Hold'em, involves being in possession of five cards of consecutive value, but of different suits. For example, a four of diamonds, a five of clubs, a six of diamonds, a seven of hearts and an eight of spades. In the event of a tie, the player with the highest card wins.

Flush

This hand is often one of the most overlooked. A flush is a hand made up of five cards of the same suit that are not consecutive. In fact, if they were, we would be talking about a straight flush, which is not the case. A tie may occur (unlikely, but isn't poker a game of chance and, above all, probability?), in which case the player with the highest card wins.

Full house

A full house in poker, including Texas Hold'em, is a hand made up of three cards of the same value and a pair of a different value to the rest. For example, three queens and two tens. In this case you would say you have a full house of queens and tens. In the event of a tie, it is the three of a kind that determines the winner.

Poker

After a straight, in poker and in Texas Hold'em especially, the most powerful hand is the poker hand. A poker hand is formed when four cards of the same value and an unpaired card, which is the kicker, come together.

For example, four kings and a nine of diamonds. In the event of a tie, the kicker determines who wins. As always, the winner is the one with the highest value.

Straight flush

This is a big one. The straight flush is made up of five consecutive cards of the same suit and is usually referred to as the highest hand above full house and poker - in Texas Hold'em the royal flush is often considered a variant of the straight flush, so it is often common to hear the straight flush referred to as the highest hand.

If there is a tie and two players make a straight flush at the showdown, the winner is the player with the higher value straight. In this case, the last card of the straight would be the benchmark for establishing who wins the hand. For example, in a tie between a straight of 2-3-4-5-6 diamonds and a straight of 5-6-7-8-9 hearts, the latter would win.

Royal flush

This is the unbeatable hand. It is actually a straight flush with the highest-valued cards of each suit, so it should always be made up, in ascending order, of a 10, a jack, a queen, a king and an ace, and always in that order, since the highest card in poker, including Texas Hold'em, is an ace.

It is a common mistake that many novices fall into to misplace the ace by taking it as a joker and placing it before the 10, when in fact it is the face that closes the straight.