How Poker Hands are Ranked and Which Ones You Should Play

Poker is a game that offers many variants, but the ranking system remains fairly consistent across them. In popular versions, like Texas Hold’em, a standard poker hand order chart is used to determine who wins at showdowns.

Often referred to as a poker cheat sheet, in reality, it simply outlines the rules for determining which is the winning hand when playing land-based poker or playing at online poker sites.

Knowing these rankings is fundamental knowledge you will need before you start playing poker.

Which Poker Hands are the Best?

Poker hand rankings are based upon the probability of them occurring, with the rarest holdings offering the highest value. While the probabilities and rankings may differ slightly between different game versions, Texas Hold’em Poker hands are determined in this order:

Royal Flush - The best hand in poker, this is a very rare occurrence. The highest possible straight flush consists of A, K, Q, J and 10 of the same suit.

Straight Flush - This hand consists of any straight flush that does not run from A-10. 

Four-of-a-Kind - Also known as ‘quads’, this hand is made up of four cards of the same value, along with one extra card.

Full House - Often referred to as a ‘boat’, this hand consists of three-of-a-kind and a pair.

Flush - A flush is a hand where all five cards are the same suit.

Straight - A straight is made up of five cards of consecutive value, but a differing suit

Three-of-a-Kind - This hand is made up of three cards of the same value, along with two non-matching additional cards. This is commonly known as ‘trips’ if the board is paired, or a ‘set’ if the player holds a pocket pair.

Two Pair - A hand that includes two pairs, plus one extra card.

One Pair - A hand that includes two cards of the same value, plus three other non-matching cards.

High Card - When your hand consists of five non-matching cards that do not make up a flush or a straight, the hand with the highest-value single card will win.

What is a Poker Hand?

A poker hand is made up of five cards. Once all the board cards have been dealt, Texas Hold’em players will construct their best hand using any combination of the five board cards and their own two hole cards. The two remaining unused cards are disregarded.

Playing The Board

Some poker variants, such as Omaha, need players to use (some of) their hole cards in order to build their five-card poker hand. However, this is not the case with Texas Hold’em Poker.

This means that in Texas Hold’em, it is possible for the five best cards in a hand to be the board cards, in which case, any players that are still left in the pot after the final round of betting would tie and equally split the pot amongst themselves.

What if Multiple Players Have The Same Hand Value?

In poker, it is possible for multiple players to hold hands of equal strength. When this occurs with a hand that utilises all five cards - like a full house, flush or straight - that also has identical card values, the pot is split equally among them

However, with poker hands that do not use all five cards - such as pairs, two pairs, three-of-a-kind and four-of-a-kind - the winner will be determined by the hand that has the highest value extra card. This is commonly known as ‘the kicker’.

For example, if two players have the same two pairs, the players with the highest fifth card will win the pot. If they happen to have the same kicker, they would split the pot and share the winnings equally. The kicker plays a crucial role in breaking ties and determining the ultimate winner when players have hands of equal rank.

Card Suits

The only purpose of suits in a game of poker is to complete flushes. There is no hierarchy amongst the suits, with them all holding equal rank. 

Which Starting Hands Should You Play?

What is the best poker hand to start a game with? That’s easy! Everyone knows that a pair of Aces is the best possible starting hand in a game of Texas Hold’em Poker. But let’s take this opportunity to take a look at the other good starting hands you will be hoping to be dealt.

All of the hands in our list are premium starters that will often be winning poker hands that can be opened with from almost any position.

While improving your poker game will rely on hours and hours of practice, we wanted to outline a few crucial things you should be aware of as you start your poker journey.

Position

This refers to the position of players at the poker table relative to the dealer - which is also known as ‘the button’. Poker is a turn-based game, with the action moving in a clockwise direction around the table after each hand. Each player will take it in turns to be ‘the dealer’ as the action moves around the table - if you are playing at an online UK casino, the cards will always be dealt by the live or automated dealer.

In a nine-handed game of poker, the positions are named in the following way:

• Button (BTN) - the player in the dealer position is considered to be ‘on the button’ - acting last on all the betting rounds.
• Cut Off (CO) - the player who is seated to the right of the player on the Button.
• Hijack (HJ) - the player seated to the right of the Cut Off, two seats to the right of the Button.
• Lojack (LJ) - the player seated to the right of the Hijack, three seats to the right of the Button.
• Under the Gun +2 (UTG+2) - the player seated to the right of the Lojack, three seats to the left of the Big Blind.
• Under the Gun +1 (UTG+1) - the player seated two seats to the left of the Big Blind.
• Under the Gun (UTG) - the player seated to the left of the Big Blind and the first to make a betting decision pre-flop.
• Big Blind (BB) - the player seated two to the left of the Button and the first to make a betting decision post-flop.
• Small Blind (SB) - the player seated to the left of the Button and the second to make a betting decision post-flop.

The small and big blinds are mandatory bets that players must make before each hand is dealt, creating the initial pot that the players will be competing for. The small blind amount is half the size of the big blind.

After the small and big blinds are posted, the other players at the table - starting with UTG - must then decide whether to call (match) the big blind, raise (increase) the bet, or fold (discard their hand). The action will proceed clockwise around the table until all players have made their decisions.

With any poker hand, a player is said to be in position on another player if they act after that player.

Blinds and Ante Bets

The two players to the left of the dealer have to post the mandatory bets before any of the cards have been dealt. The player to the immediate left of the dealer posts what is known as the ‘small blind’, while the next player will post the ‘big blind’. 

Some poker games will also have ante bets, which are posted by all players. These amounts tend to be far smaller than the blind bets.

Including blinds and ante bets ensure there is something in the pot to play for as soon as the hand begins.

Importance of Position in Poker

Position at the poker table will always play an important role in any decision-making.

If you are in an early position and are the first to make a betting decision, you have to be mindful of the fact that everyone else at the table gets to decide after you, which makes you vulnerable to raise bets.

The later your position on the table relative to the button, the fewer players there are to act after you to make a betting decision. This means that your opponents have fewer opportunities to make a raise.

In earlier positions, when you are one of the first players to act, you have to be more selective about which hands to open the pot with. For example, while raising with A2 suited in a late position might be a good idea, it’s not such a great decision if you are one of the first players to act. The earlier position makes this a marginal hand that should often fold to a re-raise from another player.

Stack Sizes

Stack sizes will also be an important consideration when it comes to making your opening move in a game of poker. 

Unless it is your first hand of a session, players will likely have varying chip stack sizes, which are best described in terms of how many big blinds worth they have. It is crucial to be aware of the stack sizes of all other players at the table, as it will help guide your betting decisions.

For example, you might want to open in a late position in order to see a flop with a speculative hand like 98 suited. However, if there is a very short-stacked player still to act behind you, it may not be a good spot for seeing a flop, as there is a high chance that the short-stacked player will make an all in bet (jam) in response to your initial raise. This would force you to either call or fold, which might not be the best choice for that particular hand.

How to Play a Small Stack

When you have a small stack, your options become limited and you’re often looking for spots to shove all your remaining chips into the middle.

Small pocket pairs might be good hands to jam with on a short stack, but position is still very important here. For example, pocket threes might be a great hand to shove with on a 15-big-blind stack on the button, but from an early position, it might not be. This is because you are more likely to run into a higher pocket pair when so many players are still to act.

Range

The range of starting hands you should decide to open a pot with is based on your position at the table and your stack size.

In early positions these ranges are quite tight, consisting mainly of the best suited starting hands on the grid and pairs, but as your position moves around the table, opening ranges become much wider. Hands that would be automatic folds in early position can be good candidates to raise with from the later spots on the table.

It is important to note that starting hands with two cards of the same suit have greater equity than those with unsuited cards. Some suited hands will be good to play from certain positions, while their unsuited counterparts might not.

Bet Sizing

While bet sizing post-flop can be extremely varied, pre-flop is much more simple.

You should probably just use one pre-flop opening bet size, as you may be giving away information about the strength of your hand if you choose varying sizes.

However, if you have a shorter stack - under 20 big blinds - you may wish to deviate and simply open with the minimum bet size permitted, in order to preserve your remaining chips for situations when you may have to fold to a re-raise.