It’s important to know the primary principles of poker to win the game. To improve your poker skills, you must understand and be familiar with the basic rules of the game, including which hands are superior to others.
The key to winning any poker game is knowing the right poker hands to play. Follow our lead as we explore some of the best poker hands to play;
Full house in poker – rules you need to know
In poker, a full house refers to a hand that comprises three cards of the same ranks, and a pair (two cards) of different matching ranks. You can learn the fundamentals of the game of poker at our online crypto casino.
A full house looks like 9♣ 9♥ 9♦ 3♠ 3♣ or 4♠ 4♣ 4♦ 6♦ 6♠.
A full house is also the highest-ranking poker hand after Four-of-a-kind.
The most important thing to remember about a full house in poker is that the rank of the three cards is of utmost importance compared to the rank of a pair (2 cards). So in a game of poker, 9♣ 9♥ 9♦ 3♠ 3♣ ranks higher and is more important than the ranking of 4♠ 4♣ 4♦ 6♦ 6♠.
Poker Hands From Best To Worst
Wondering which poker hands are the best to play or the worst to play? Below are the best and worst poker hands to play:
Royal Flush: In Texas hold ’em poker, the best possible hand to play is a combination of the same suit of Ten, Queen, Jack, Ace, and King. This hand is called the Royal flush.
Straight Flush: The next best hand after the royal Flush is the straight flush, this is a combination of 5 cards in sequential order of the same suit. An example of the straight flush is a 5,6,7,8,9 all hearts.
Four of a Kind: The third best poker hand to play is four of a kind. This is a hand of any 4 cards of the same numerical value. An example is four 3’s different suits.
Full House: Another good poker hand is the full house. The full house is a combination of a pair of the same hand, and three of a kind.
Flush: In poker, a flush is any random five cards of the same suit.
Straight: A straight hand is five cards in sequential or numerical order of the same suit.
Three of a Kind: This is any 3 random cards of the same numerical value.
Two pairs: A hand with two different pairs. An example is a hand with two 9 and two kings.
A pair: A pair is a hand with any two cards of the same number. Example two 10’s or two 5’s.
High Card: This is the worst poker hand to play. A high card is the card of the highest ranking in your hand. An ace is the highest.
Understanding Winning Poker Hands
Newbies in the poker world, especially in holds’em poker find it difficult to know which poker hands are the best to play.
The main objective of Texas holds ’em poker is to simply have the best five poker cards when it’s a showdown.
Showdown begins after the final betting round, with the players beginning from the last raiser or bettor showing their hands face up on the poker table. The player with the best hand at the table wins the pot.
It’s possible to win without showing your hand if you force another player to fold before the river. However, to know which hands beats which in poker, let’s assume we are at a showdown.
Good Poker Hands
The best good poker hand is Three-of-a-kind (also called trips or sets). You have a higher chance of winning the pot with Three-of-a-kind than any other poker hand. It’s a combination of three cards of equal ranks.
An example of a Three-of-a-kind in Texas hold’em poker is having a poker hand with K Clubs, K diamonds, K hearts, 7 Diamonds, and Q clubs. This hand means you have Thre-of-a-kind Kings, a very powerful hand.
The only hand that beats Three-of-a-kind is straight.
A straight is a sequential arrangement of five cards, with at least one of the cards from a different suit. An example of a straight hand is 6-Spades, 5-Clubs, 4-Hearts,3-Diamonds, and 2-Spades.
Two straights have nicknames that you must remember as a poker player;
A wheel: This is a straight that starts from an Ace-to-a five.
A Broadway: This is the strongest straight hand in Texas hold ’em poker, it runs from a Ten-to-an ace.
Most Common Poker Hand
In Texas hold ’em poker, one pair is the most common poker hand. This hand can help win you a very good amount of money.
An example of one pair hand is when you have an Ace of spades and a King of Spades when the board comes to an Ace of diamonds, 5 Clubs, 8 spades, 2 clubs, and 3 diamonds. Meaning that your five community cards hand will be an Ace of Spades, an Ace of diamonds, King of Spades, 5 Clubs, and 8 Spades, you have a pair of aces.
A two pair poker hand is another very common poker hand. The difference is that two pairs of hands rank higher than one pair because it comprises two different pairs of cards.
The Stronger Hands in Poker
The set of poker hands we will be discussing now are so rare, if you can hold them, the probability that they are winning hands is very high.
Four of a Kind(Quads): This is a hand of four cards of equal ranking or the same rank.
This is the least hand you need to beat a player with a full house. An example of a Four-of-a-kind is 10-Spades, 10-Diamonds, 10-Clubs, 10-Hearts, and 7-Diamonds. An extremely powerful hand.
The only way Four-of-a-kind can be beaten is a hand of a Royal flush or a straight flush.
Poker Hands Probability
Like most poker players who are into numbers, you might wish to know the probability of most poker hands.
Knowing that there are 52 cards in a play, and the possible ways of combining these 52 cards are 2,598,960, makes it easy to compute the probability.
All you need to do is divide the number of possibilities to build a certain poker hand by the total number of poker hands.
The table below helps you calculate the probability of all possible poker hands.
| Poker Hand | No of Ways of combination | Probability |
| Royal Flush | 4 | 0.000,001,539 |
| Straight Flush | 40 | 0.000,015,39 |
| Four-of-a-kind | 624 | 0.000,240,1 |
| Full House | 3,744 | 0.001,440,58 |
| Flush | 5,108 | 0.001,965,4 |
| Straight | 10,200 | 0.003,924,65 |
| Three-of-a-kind | 54,912 | 0.021,128,45 |
| Two pairs | 123,552 | 0,047,539,02 |
| A pair | 1,098,240 | 0,422,569.03 |
Hold’em Probabilities
When playing Texas hold’em poker, there are 3,774 ways of making a full house. The table below contains all the probabilities of having a full house hand in Texas hold ’em poker during pre-flop, flop, turn, and river betting rounds.
| Betting Round | Probability | Basis |
| Pre-flop | 0.14% | 5 cards randomly drawn from a standard deck |
| Flop | 0.09% | Three-of-a-kind hand plus a pocket pair. |
| Turn | 12.77% | From a set on the flop |
| River | 19.57% | From the set of a turn |
Omaha Probabilities
The table below contains all the probabilities of having a full house hand in Omaha poker during pre-flop, flop, turn, and river betting rounds.
| Betting Round | Probability | Basis |
| Pre-flop | 0.14% | 5 cards randomly drawn from a standard deck |
| Flop | 0.65% | When you have a Three-of-a-kind hand |
| Turn | 13.33% | When you have a Three-of-a-kind hand |
| River | 20.45% | When you have a Three-of-a-kind hand |
Poker Hand Rankings F.A.Q.
Here, we answer all your possible questions about poker hands, poker hand rankings, and what beats a full house in poker.
What is the order of poker hands?
The order of poker hands from the best to the worst are:
Royal flush
Straight Flush
Four-of-a-kind
Full House
Flush
Straight
Three-of-a-kind
Two pair
One pair
High card
What is the best hand in poker?
The best poker hand possible is the royal flush. You will need the same suit of Ace, a King, a Queen, Jack, and a 10 to have a royal flush in hand.
What beats what in poker?
As stated earlier in the article, the order of poker hands determines which hands beat which in a poker game. Poker rankings works in this manner:
One pair beats a high card
Two pair beat a pair
Three-of-a-kind beats Two pairs
A Straight hand beats Three-of-a-kind
Flush beats a Straight
Full House beats a flush
Four-of-a-kind beats a full house
Straight flush beats Four-of-a-kind
Royal flush beats a Straight hand.
A Royal flush is the highest and best poker hand, no hand beats it.
What beats a flush in poker?
The following hands beat a flush in poker:
Full Houses
Four-of-a-kind
Straight Flush and
Royal flush
Is Full House good in Poker?
Depending on the type of poker you are playing, a full house in poker is usually a very strong hand. If you are playing Omaha poker, the full house is not as strong as in Texas hold’em poker. In Texas hold ’em poker, a full house ranks fourth in the poker hands Ranking, and it’s a very strong hand.
What beats a Full House in Poker?
When playing Texas hold’em poker, Four-of-a-kind, a straight flush, and a royal flush always beats a full house at all times. Also, a full house with a higher poker ranking will beat a poker hand of a full house with a lower ranking.
What if both players have a Full House In poker
In the possibility that both players have a full house, a Three-of-a-kind hand ranking is used to determine who wins the game. For example, if a player has 9-Spades, 9-hearts,9-clubs,8-clubs,8-diamonds, and his opponent has 5-diamonds, 5-Spades, 5-Clubs, 8-diamonds, 8-spades, the first player will win the game because the nines rank higher than the fives.
However, if the players have the same Three-of-a-kind hand, the pair is used to determine the winner. Both players win the game if their full house hands only differ by suits but have an equal ranking.
What is the highest suit in poker?
In poker, all suits have the same value. However, in some poker games, different values are assigned to different suits. If this is the case, the value of the suits from highest to lowest is; Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. Spades become the highest suit.
How many poker hands are there?
In a game of poker, using the 52 decks of cards, there are 2,598,960 possible hands. This means there are 2,598,960 different ways of combining these 52 cards when playing poker.
Are the suits ranked in Texas hold’em?
In Texas hold’em poker, the suits are not ranked, but other types of poker have various ranks for suits.
There are two in-game tabs that provide information on Texas Hold’em regulations and the best poker hands for new players, helping them understand the game. Since poker is a game played among family members, these tabs are especially helpful for those who are new to the game.