In the card game of poker, certain combinations of cards or hands will outrank other hands based on the frequency with which the particular combinations appear.

The player with the best poker hand when the hands are shown wins the pot.

No poker hands can beat the Royal flush.

See also

• Poker Hand Rankings
• The Straight Flush

They often have both communal and non-communal cards. The “hand” may refer to a single round of play, including a deal, or it may refer to one or more rounds of betting and possibly a showdown of cards by all players.

Individual cards are ranked A, K, Q, J, and 10-2. Sometimes the Ace is at the bottom of the rankings. The highest known points are given to a royal flush which is the combination of A, K, Q, J, 10 in the same suit in the same hand. Any other consecutive five card run is called a straight or a straight flush. The suits otherwise have no value. The suits are primarily of value in determining the relative value of whether or not a hand falls into the category of a flush or just a straight. In a situation where individuals have hands that are identical except for suit, the game is considered tied and the pot is split.

The hand always consists of five cards. In games where more than five cards are available to the players, the hands are ranked by choosing some five-card subset according to the rules of the game. Whatever cards remain after choosing the five to be played are of no consequence to the player.

Hands are ranked first by category and then by individual card ranks. It’s possible that even the minimum qualifying hand in a certain category defeats the other hands. The smallest hand with two pairs, for example, will defeat all hands with just one pair or a high card. Only between hands in the same category are card ranks used to break ties. Therefore a pair of jacks beats a pair of tens and two pairs involving two kings and two queens beat two pair hands with two queens and two jacks. The highest card in each flush or straight is used to break ties. This is why the Ace is the top card in a royal flush.

The winning straight flush is determined by the highest card in the straight. The royal flush is declared the highest ranking hand.

The low ace rule also applies and a five-high straight flush with the Ace being low is known as a “steel wheel”. It is not ranked any differently from any other straight.