LEARN / POKER HAND RANKINGS
Poker hand rankings.
Highest to lowest.
In standard high-hand poker, the strongest hand is a royal flush and the weakest category is high card. Compare the best five-card hand; a sixth or seventh card does not break a tie.
Published · Mavopoker
The standard
ranking chart.
This order applies to standard high-hand Hold’em and Omaha. The examples are original five-card illustrations. Short Deck differences are explained below.
Reference: PokerStars official hand rankings.
| Order | Hand | What it contains | Five-card example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush | Ace-high straight flush; the highest possible straight flush | A♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥ 10♥ |
| 2 | Straight flush | Five consecutive ranks, all one suit | 9♣ 8♣ 7♣ 6♣ 5♣ |
| 3 | Four of a kind | Four matching ranks and one other card | K♦ K♣ K♥ K♠ 2♦ |
| 4 | Full house | Three of one rank and two of another | J♠ J♥ J♦ 4♣ 4♥ |
| 5 | Flush | Five cards of one suit, not a straight flush | A♣ J♣ 8♣ 5♣ 2♣ |
| 6 | Straight | Five consecutive ranks, not all one suit | 8♦ 7♣ 6♥ 5♠ 4♦ |
| 7 | Three of a kind | Three matching ranks and two different side cards | 10♠ 10♦ 10♥ K♣ 3♠ |
| 8 | Two pair | Two different pairs and one side card | Q♠ Q♦ 6♣ 6♥ A♠ |
| 9 | One pair | Two matching ranks and three different side cards | 9♠ 9♥ A♦ J♣ 4♣ |
| 10 | High card | No pair, straight, flush or higher category | A♠ J♦ 8♥ 6♣ 3♦ |
A royal flush is the ace-high form of a straight flush. It is listed separately here because the name is commonly used in ranking charts.
How are equal
categories compared?
First compare the hand category. Within the same category, use the ranks that make that hand, then any remaining side cards that count toward its five-card value.
Straights and straight flushes
Compare the top card of the sequence. In standard high-hand poker, A–2–3–4–5 is five-high, while 10–J–Q–K–A is ace-high. Sequences do not wrap around: Q–K–A–2–3 is not a straight.
Four of a kind, three of a kind and one pair
Compare the matching rank first. If it ties, compare the remaining cards from highest to lowest. These side cards are called kickers.
Full houses
Compare the three matching cards first, then the pair. Queens full of twos beats jacks full of aces because the three queens rank above the three jacks.
Two pair
Compare the higher pair, then the lower pair, then the fifth card. A higher kicker matters only when both pairs are equal.
Flushes and high-card hands
Compare all five ranks from highest to lowest until they differ. In standard high-hand comparisons, suits have equal value; spades do not beat hearts.
For the matching-rank and kicker conventions, see WSOP’s poker hand guide. The PokerStars full-house guide explains why the three-of-a-kind rank is compared before the pair.
When is the
pot split?
If eligible players have equal five-card hands, they share the pot according to the table’s settlement rules. A card outside the best five cannot make one of those hands stronger.
For example, if a Hold’em board is A♣ K♣ Q♣ J♣ 10♣, every player still in the hand can use that royal flush. Their other cards cannot improve it.
Omaha still requires exactly two hole cards and three board cards. A strong five-card board alone does not give every Omaha player that hand.
Short Deck
uses different rules.
Mavopoker’s current Short Deck rules use a 36-card deck from six through ace. They place a flush above a full house, keep a straight above three of a kind, and treat A–6–7–8–9 as the lowest straight.
Those differences mean the standard chart above should not be applied unchanged to Short Deck. Always read the final rules for the table and format.
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