Poker Texas Holdem Hands

Getting Familiar with the Texas Holdem Hands

Below you will find a list of poker hands in order from highest to lowest to help you get started, as well as the top starting hands for Texas Hold'em. Click the button on the right to get a cheat sheet that displays the traditional poker hand rankings, which are used in the most popular variants of poker (such as Texas Hold‘em). Ace rag is almost definitely the most overplayed and overrated hand in Texas Holdem. Even professionals will occasionally overplay the ace if they’ve been dealt junk for hours. The truth is, unless you are in position or shorthanded, these hands are unlikely to generate you much money or help build your stack much. Winning poker hands are more about how you play them than the numbers. Take, for example, the poker percentages of AK, one of the few extremely powerful hands in Texas Hold’em. Technically, it wins less than a middle pocket pair like 7-7. In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high games, like Texas hold 'em and seven-card stud, the highest-ranking hands win.

One of the most important parts of learning Texas Holdem is getting familiar with the different winning hands. This is a major but simple step in learning poker since the hands are fairly easy to learn and memorize. Let us learn all the winning card combinations by reading the sections found below.

Texas Holdem Poker Winning Hands

The Royal Flush

The Royal Flush, as the name suggests, is the best possible hand in Texas Holdem. This hand combination is made up of the five highest cards in a deck – the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and the number 10. The royal flush must have all these characters of the same suit. This means that if the Ace card bears the heart suit, all the other cards should hold the same suit on them.

Straight Flush

Next to the Royal Flush, the Straight Flush is another winning card combination. It is made of cards in a sequenced order such as 7-8-9-10-J. You can also make other Straight Flush combinations such as Ace-2-3-4-5.

Four of a Kind

Four of a Kind are a group of cards with the same rank but may have different suits. You can have a group of four Kings or four Aces with this combination. The hand with the higher four-card combination wins.

Full House

A Full House is three cards of the same kind plus a pair. For example, 3 Aces can be used plus another two cards which are a pair. The hand with the higher three-card combination wins. If for some reason the three pairs cannot be determined, use the two pairs to decide who wins.

Flush

A Flush is a hand where all of the five cards are in the same suit. For example, cards which are not sequenced in the proper order can form a winning hand if all of them bear the same suit. When the Flush ties with another player, then follow the rules for High Card.

Straight

A Straight is a five-card combination which is ranked in order but does not hold the same suit. An example of this winning combination is 3-4-5-6-7. The Ace can be taken as either a high or low card. For example, it can be used as one in an A-1-2-3-4 combination or it can also be used as the highest card in a 10-J-Q-K-A combination.

Three of a Kind

Poker Texas Hold'em Pogo

Three of a Kind is a combination of three cards of the same rank with another two cards not being a pair. A player can use J-J-J-2-3 and form this kind of hand. The hand with a higher 3-card combination is declared the winner of the game.

Two Pair

Poker Texas Holdem Starting Hands

A two pair is a combination of 'two pairs of cards' with the 5th card being anything. The highest pair wins the game. However, if the hands have the same high pair, the second pair wins.

Pair

A pair is a combination of two same cards and three dissimilar cards. The hand with the highest pair wins.

High Card

Poker Texas Hold'em Rules Hands

The high card – despite its name – is the losing combination in a Texas Holdem game. If your cards do not match the combinations listed above, then the winning hand comes down to the one who holds the highest ranking card. If there is a tie on the first card, the second and the succeeding cards will be the basis of whoever wins the Texas Holdem game. Good luck!