Poker Winning Hands Order
Knowing your poker hands is crucial to playing a solid game at the table, and regardless of whether you’re playing Texas Hold’em, or Omaha, you’ll always want to know the value of your hand. When you have this knowledge at your disposal, you’ll be able to make an informed decision on whether to raise, check, call, or fold your hand when it matters most.
In this post, we’re going to look at the winning poker hands structure of two different games; Texas Hold’em, and Omaha – and we’ll begin by taking a look at a poker hands chart, followed by the best and worst starting hands. We’ll also show you a list of poker hands to help you make the right decisions in your game.
Poker Hands in Order Hand Rankings List and Poker Hierarchy Pictures Below. Keep the List Handy and Book Mark this Page so you can refer to our ultra easy to follow Poker Hands Order Listing of Winning Hands High to Low. Very easy and quick to use and memorize Poker Hand Listings Ranked Below that should enable you to make the decisions needed.
- Hi-Lo Hand Rankings - Low Winning Poker Hands. For low hands to rank as winning hands, they must consist of five differently numbered cards. Suits and ranked runs like flushes and straights don’t count when ranking low hands, which means that low hands can be both the lowest or highest hand.
- Texas Hold’em is the most popular poker variant in the US. It is also the ranking game internationally, dwarfing other poker games by a long margin. This Poker Hands Guide is based on Texas Hold’em hand rankings, and it will reveal the best-kept secrets to forming winning hand combinations.
- Official Poker Hand Rankings Know your poker hand order. A poker hand consists of five cards, which fall into several categories. Below is the complete list of poker hands, from highest to lowest. Please note that hand rankings for Short Deck are slightly different. Find out more about the short deck poker hand rankings on the dedicated page.
Texas Hold’em Winning Poker Hands Ranking
In this guide, you’ll see that there are a total of 10 hands in Texas Hold’em poker (or 9 if you don’t count ‘no pair’ as a hand), and we’ll detail these below. (The winning poker hands chart below shows a list of poker hands, ranked best, to worst).
Royal Flush: Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, all of the same suit.
Straight Flush: Any 5 cards of the same suit, in consecutive order. (I.e. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of spades).
4-of-a-kind: 4 cards of the same value (i.e. the 5 of spades, the 5 of hearts, the 5 of clubs, and the 5 of diamonds).
Full House: A full house consists of one 3-of-a-kind hand, and one pair, so for instance, a full house could be the 2 of spades, the 2 of diamonds, the 2 of clubs, and a pair of Aces.
Flush: Five cards of the same suit (i.e. 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9 of hearts).
Straight: Five cards in consecutive order (i.e. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, off-suit).
3-of-a-kind: Three cards of the same value (I.e. 3 of clubs, 3 or spades, and the 3 of hearts).
Two Pair: Two pairs in one hand – i.e. a pair of 2’s, and a pair of 3’s.
One Pair: One singular pair – i.e. a pair of Aces.
No Pair: A no pair hand is when you don’t have any of the above. In this instance, you have what is known as a ‘high card hard’.
Use the poker hands chart above to ensure you’re always in full control of your game!
Omaha Poker Hands Ranking
Omaha uses the exact same hand-ranking process as Texas Hold’em does, and while it may seem as though that’s a little ‘odd’ at first, remember that Omaha is almost identical, aside from the fact that players have four cards, and that betting is usually pot-limit.
This means that a Royal Flush is the best possible hand in a game of Omaha, and high-card (while incredibly unusual due to the 4 cards each player holds) is the lowest possible hand.
For a full guide on playing Omaha, be sure to check out our How to Play Omaha guide.
Best Starting Poker Hands
Knowing your winning poker hands is crucial if you want to play a solid game of poker – and below, we share how to determine whether or not you have a winner on your hand!
Texas Hold’em: The best starting hand is a pair of Aces. A pair of aces (also known as pocket rockets) are a favourite pre-flop over any other starting hand and is almost always one of the best winning poker hands. The second, and third best starting hands are a pair of Kings and Queens respectively, followed by Ace-King suited, pocket Jacks, pocket Tens, and then Ace-Queen suited. The 10th best starting hand is Ace-King Offsuit – which is actually still a very strong hand.
Omaha: Working out winning poker hands in Omaha is a little more complex than Texas Hold’em, when looking at the best starting hands, although mathematically, the best starting hands can be determined.
For example, the strongest hand is AAKK, followed by AAJT, AAQQ, and AAJJ. It’s worth noting however, that the best possible hand in Omaha holds little value against a full-ring of players, hence the need to play aggressively, pre-flop and post-flop; see our poker hands chart for more details.
Worst Poker Starting Hands
Determining the worst starting hands in poker is a little more challenging – largely due to the fact that most players simply have knowledge of the better starting hands – yet knowing what the worst starting hands are is just as important, as it allows you to know when to throw away your hands pre-flop. Below, we look at the worst starting hands for both Texas Hold’em and Omaha.
Texas Hold’em: 2-7 offsuit (this is well-known as the worst starting hand in poker, due to the fact that it’s often used as side-bets in games.) 7-2 offsuit is followed by 8-2 offsuit, 8-3 offsuit, 7-3 offsuit, 6-2 offsuit, 9-2, 9-3, and 9-4 offsuit.
Omaha: Unfortunately, with Omaha, there isn’t an ‘official’ list of worst poker hands – purely due to the fact that there would be too many to list. However, most professionals and poker experts agree that any starting hand that combines any of the worst starting hands in Texas Hold’em generally constitute a very poor starting hand in Omaha too – so it’s worth throwing these away most of the time, pre-flop. If in doubt, consult the list of winning poker hands ranking above.
Established in the mid 19th century in the USA, Stud is a classic poker game. Unlike other popular versions, Stud is an “open” one offering the opportunity to each player see most of the cards on the table. This way, players can gain insight into the strength of their opponents’ hands and make better decisions. However, first of all, you must know the winning hands in 5 Card Poker in order to be effective in any given game situation.
Despite the fact that Five-Card Stud was supplanted by the seven-card variation of this game, it is still played in some places. You can find 5 Card Stud at various online casinos and poker rooms to play for fun or for real money. So, read on to find out about all the important features of this game.
How to Win in 5 Card Stud
Order Of Winning In Poker
This game uses a standard 52-card deck. Since each player is dealt 5 cards, the maximum number of players at the table cannot exceed 10. Before you start, you should learn the rules of the game.
5-Card Stud Rules Explained
Winning Poker Hands In Order Printable
As in a classic poker game, the cards are dealt clockwise in turn. Actions take place as follows:
- Each player must place ante to the pot. This is the initial bet that is required to participate in the game.
- Each player receives two cards – the first one face down and the second one face up – then the first betting round begins.
- Next, each player receives the third, fourth and fifth cards, all face up. Before each of these cards is dealt, the first, second and third betting rounds take place. After the fifth card is dealt to each player, the final betting round takes place.
- Now, it’s time to compare winning hands in 5 Card Poker (Stud) to determine the winner – that’s all there is to know about how to play Five Card Stud initially.
However, the decisions you make in the game should depend on what combination you have. So, you need to know Stud hand rankings.
Stud Poker (5 Cards) – Win the Game Knowing about Hand Rankings
Since we are dealing with a classic game, standard poker hand rankings apply. Here are some of the highest combinations in this game:
- Royal Flush is the most powerful combination that has an A-K-Q-J-10 pattern – all cards are of the same suit.
- Straight Flush is also among the strongest winning hands in 5 Card Poker (Stud) – probably your poker tutor told you about this combination – featuring five cards of the same suit in sequence.
- Four of a Kind is a more likely to hit combination consisting of 4 cards of the same rank and the fifth of any card. As a rare hand, FOAK is still one of the top 5 Card Poker winning hands.
- Full House is a hand that can be obtained by collecting 3 cards of the same rank and the other two cards of a pair. Use poker probability calculator to calculate your odds of hitting this combination.
- Flush. With 5 cards of the same suit, this hand will provide you with good winning odds. Since these cards don’t have to go in sequence, the chance of hitting Flush is pretty high.
As for other winning hands in 5 Card Poker, there are many tables and charts on the internet with detailed information including odds and probabilities. Use free Stud trainers and probability calculators to improve your game in practice without investment.