The standard poker hands in descending order.

In poker, players construct hands of five cards according to predetermined rules, which vary according to the precise variant of poker being played. These hands are compared using a standard ranking system, and the player with the highest-ranking hand wins that particular deal. Although used primarily in poker, these hand rankings are also used in other card games, and with poker dice.

The strength of a hand is increased by having multiple cards of the same value, all the cards being from the same suit, or having all the cards with consecutive values. The position of the various possible hands is based on the probability of being randomly dealt such a hand from a well-shuffled deck.

General rules

The following general rules apply to evaluating poker hands, whatever set of hand values are used.

• Individual cards are ranked A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A. Aces only appear low when part of an A-2-3-4-5 straight or straight flush. Individual card ranks are used to compare hands that contain no pairs or other special combinations, or to compare the kickers of otherwise equal hands. The ace only plays low in ace-to-five and ace-to-six lowball games, and only plays high in deuce-to-seven lowball.
• Suits have no value. The suits of the cards are mainly used in determining whether a hand fits a certain category (specifically the flush and straight flush hands). In most variants, if two players have hands that are identical except for suit, then they are tied and split the pot (so 3♠ 4♠ 5♠ 6♠ 7♠ does not beat 3♦ 4♦ 5♦ 6♦ 7♦). Sometimes a ranking called high card by suit is used for randomly selecting a player to deal. Low card by suit usually determines the bringing bettor in stud games.
• A hand always consists of five cards. In games where more than five cards are available to each player, each player must choose some five-card subset according to the rules of the game, and comparing that five-card hand against the five-card hands of the other players. Whatever cards remain after choosing the five to be played are of no consequence in determining the winner.
• Hands are ranked first by category, then by individual card ranks: even the lowest qualifying hand in a certain category defeats all hands in all lower categories. The smallest two pair hand (2♦ 2♠ 3♦ 3♣ 4♠), for example, defeats all hands with just one pair or high card. Only between two hands in the same category are card ranks used to break ties.

Standard ranking

For ease of recognition, poker hands are usually presented with the most important cards on the left, with cards descending in importance towards the right. However, a poker hand still has the same value however it is arranged. There are 311,875,200 ways of being dealt five cards from a 52 card deck, but since the order of cards does not matter there are possible distinct hands.

There are 40 possible straight flushes, including the four Royal Flushes. The probability of being dealt a straight flush is

There are 624 possible hands including four of a kind; the probability of being dealt one is

A four of a kind hand including four kings is occasionally known as a "Four Horsemen"

There are 3,744 possible full houses; the probability of being dealt one in a five-card hand is

There are 5,148 possible flushes, of which 40 are also straight flushes; the probability of being dealt a flush in a five-card hand is

A hand such as A♣ K♣ Q♦ J♠ 10♠ is an ace-high straight, and ranks above a king-high straight such as K♥ Q♠ J♥ 10♥ 9♣. The ace may also be played as a low card in a five-high straight such as 5♠ 4♦ 3♦ 2♠ A♥, which is colloquially known as a wheel. The ace may not "wrap around", or play both high and low: 3♣ 2♦ A♥ K♠ Q♣ is not a straight, but just ace-high no pair.

There are 10,240 possible straights, of which 40 are also straight flushes; the probability of being dealt a straight in a five-card hand is

There are 54,912 possible three of a kind hands which are not also full houses; the probability of being dealt one in a five-card hand is

There are 123,552 possible two pair hands that are not also full houses; the probability of being dealt one in a five-card hand is

There are 1,098,240 possible one pair hands; the probability of being dealt one in a five-card hand is

The lowest possible high card is seven-high (such as 7♠ 5♣ 4♦ 3♦ 2♣), because a hand such as 6♦ 5♣ 4♠ 3♦ 2♥ would be a straight.

Of the 2,598,960 possible hands, 1,302,540 do not contain any pairs and are neither straights nor flushes. As such, the probability of being dealt "no pair" in a five-card hand is