A Quick Sneak-Peek on The Poker Hand Rankings

If you want to win at the game of Poker, you obviously need to have a knowledge of the cards that you’ve been dealt and what hands win. In this article, we’ll take a look at the list of Poker hands ranking from highest to lowest, as well as the top starting hands for Texas Hold’em. Read on!

Poker hand rankings

When playing poker at NJ online casinos, players from sets of five playing cards called hands. Each hand has a rank which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. Below we’ve explained Poker hand rankings in detail:

Royal Flush

This is the best hand in online Poker. It consists of A, K, Q, J, and 10, all of the same suit. It’s basically an ace-high straight flush.

Straight Flush

A straight flush is any hand made up of five cards of sequential rank in the same suit. If two players get a straight flush, the hand with the highest-ranking card wins.

Four of a Kind

A four of a kind is made up of four cards of the same rank, and the last card is of another rank. If two players at the table have a four of a kind, the hand with the highest-ranking four of a kind wins.

Full House

A full house consists of three cards of one value and two of another. If two players have a full house, the one with the highest triplet wins. If the triplet happens to be the same, the player with the highest pair wins.

Flush

A flush is any hand where all five cards are of the same suit. The cards don’t need to be in sequential order.

Straight

A straight hand contains five cards in sequential rank, which can be of any suit.

Three of a Kind

Sometimes called a set, a three of a kind is a hand consisting of three cards of the same rank.

Two Pair

A two pair hand consists of two cards of one rank, two cards of another rank, and the last card of another rank.

One Pair

One pair is simply a hand that contains two cards of the same rank.

High Card

A high card means you haven’t got any of the above hands, so your hand will be determined by the simple-highest ranking card you have.

Top starting hands in Texas Holde’em Poker

Pocket Aces

Also known as “Pocket Rockets”, this is the best starting hand in hold’em poker that can be played from any positions – early, middle, and late positions. Pocket aces are a strong pre-flop favourite over any other two cards and they’re 4:1 favourite over almost any hand in poker.

Pocket Kings

This is the second-best hand in hold’em poker and will win you some big pots. Kings roughly have 70% equity versus any ace. You will almost always be happy to get your money in pre-flop with pocket kings.

Pocket Queens

Pocket queens is a very good hand in Video Poker. Of course, aces and kings will beat you, but you’ll always have an upper hand over jacks, tens or below cards.

Ace-King Suited

Often nicknamed ‘Anna Kournikova’ by recreational players, Ace-King is another premium hand in poker. As with all premium hands in poker, the pot you play with AK will typically be bigger than average.

Pocket Jacks

Also known as “hooks”, this is again one of the best starting hands in poker. Generally, you will win almost 20% of the time with this hand.

Pocket tens

Pocket tens is a strong starting hand and a real poker classic. You don’t need another 10 on the flop and you can still win with tens.

Ace-Queen Suited

Also known as “little slick”, Ace-queen is better than jacks and tens for many players. For others, it’s the second-best drawing hand, and when suited, it will win over 20% of the time.

Ace-King Offsuit

Like ace-king and ace-queen, this hand can give you are royal flush if it’s suited. Generally, it will win about 18% in combination with five up cards.

Ace-Ten

Ace-ten is also a good hand, as you’ve got the high card ace. But you must be careful when playing it too strong, especially if it’s unsuited. It’s a good hand with over 17% winning percentage in combination with five cards.

King-Jack/ Queen-Jack

King-jack is a good starting hand to play, but it can be beaten by any of the bigger hands listed above. If someone at the table raises higher hand before, it’s better to fold. King-jack suited will win more than 19% of the time, but the winning percentage for unsuited drops to as low as 15%.