I ran into a friend of mine yesterday who was jealous because a bunch of our mutual friends were playing Texas holdem Saturday night. She was bummed because she never learned to play poker.
- An ace can be counted as low or high, so 5 4 3 2 A is a straight flush, but its top card is the five, not the ace, so it is the lowest type of straight flush. The cards cannot “turn the corner”: eg: K A 2 3 4 is not valid. Four cards of the same rank – such as four queens. The fifth card can be anything.
- 18+ Can Ace Be High And Low In Texas Holdem T&C Apply – To receive the welcome bonus a minimum deposit of £/€/$ 10 is required. The minimum deposit for other offers that require a deposit will be clearly communicated.
I told her it was easy to learn, and the first thing she needed to do was learn about poker hands and poker hand rankings.
And that gave me the subject for my latest blog post.
Can An Ace Be Used As A One In Texas Holdem Live and Online Gaming Operators to form an unbiased opinion and present it to readers. Does not offer a service but acts as a resource / informational site. Can Ace Be Low In Texas Holdem, Jackpot Slots Game Online, Coin Roll Hunting Casino, Videoslots Casino 5000 Fs Tournament 76.
Poker Hands Are Almost Always Made Up of Five Cards
In fact, I’m not sure of an exception to this rule. Poker isn’t one game, of course, it’s multiple games that have a couple of things in common:
- They have a betting structure where you can decide to continue to play or not
- They use five-card hands that usually win based on the standard poker hand rankings
The variations are nearly infinite. But one thing most variants have in common is that, no matter how many cards are used in the game, you win the pot if you have the best five-card hand at the end of the hand.
If you’re playing Seven-Card Stud, for example, you get seven cards, but you use the best five-card hand you can make to determine the winner.
If you’re playing Texas holdem, you have two cards in your hand and five face-up cards that you share with other players. You make the best five-card hand you can using any combination of those seven cards.
If you’re playing Omaha, you have four cards in your hand and five face-up cards that you share with the other players. But you still make the best five-card hand that you can, using two cards from your hand and three cards from the community cards.
Ranks and Suits
Can Ace Be High Or Low In Texas Holdem
Poker is almost always played with a standard 52-card deck of playing cards. Each card has two attributes:
- A rank
- A suit
You have four suits—clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. In each of those suits, you have 13 ranks—2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace. The ace is unusual because it can be the highest OR the lowest card. It can rank above the king, but it can also count as a “1.”
Flushes, Straights, and Straight Flushes
The ranks and suits become important when you have a flush, a straight, or a straight flush.
A flush is just five cards of the same suit. They can all be clubs, diamonds, hearts, or spades, it doesn’t matter. If you face an opponent who also has a flush, the player whose flush has the highest ranked card wins. An ace would be the highest card in any flush.
A straight is just five cards where the ranks are in succession. It doesn’t matter what suit the cards are, it only matters that the cards are made up of consecutive ranks.
For example, an A2345 is a straight, but so is a 10JQKA.
In the prior example, the ace counts as 1, but in the second, the ace counts as the highest card in the hand, above the king.
If multiple opponents have a straight, the one with the highest card in the straight wins. But if the ace is used as a 1 to make an ace to 5 straight, it counts as a low card for this purpose.
A straight flush is a hand where the cards are all consecutive, AND they’re all of the same suit.
Pairs, Trips, Quads, and Full Houses
All the other possible poker hands you can make have nothing to do with consecutive ranks or suited cards. They have to do with how many cards of a specific rank you have.
A pair, for example, is a hand where you have two cards of the same rank and three other cards. If you and your opponent both have a pair, the higher-ranked pair wins. A pair of aces beats a pair of kings, for example.
Two pair is a hand made up of two cards of one rank and two cards of another rank, plus a third card of still another rank. Three of a kind is a hand made up of three cards of the same rank and two other cards.
A full house is a three of a kind with a pair, three cards of one rank and two cards of another. And, of course, four of a kind is four cards of the same rank.
In all these examples, the highest-ranked card determines the winner.
The Standard List of Poker Hand Rankings
So far, I’ve discussed the various poker hands you can have in relation to the attributes of the cards. I haven’t given them a ranking. Almost all poker games use the same ranking system.
From best to worst, here are the poker hand rankings:
- Straight flush
- Four of a kind
- Full house
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a kind
- Two pair
- A pair
A straight flush always beats four of a kind or anything lower. A four of a kind always beats a full house or anything lower. And so on, through the end of the poker hand rankings list.
The first element of poker strategy any new poker player should master is the poker hand rankings. If you don’t know what beats what in poker, you can’t possibly make the correct decisions.
How These Hand Rankings Are Determined
The poker hand rankings are sorted this way based on the probability you’ll be dealt such a hand. The less likely it is to get a hand, the more it’s worth.
For example, the probability of getting a four of a kind is 72,192 to 1. The probability of getting a full house, on the other hand, is 4,165 to 1. That’s a dramatic difference.
Also, most poker hand ranking lists include a separate listing for a royal flush, which is just the highest possible straight flush you can have. The only thing that makes it different from any other straight flush is how high your highest card ranks, but we don’t break four aces into a separate listing.
So, I don’t break a royal flush out into its own listing either.
Starting Hand Rankings in Texas Holdem
I could write about poker hand rankings all day, but for now, let me just address starting hands in Texas holdem.
Your starting hand in a game of Texas holdem consists of the two cards you get face down at the beginning of the game. These are the two cards you get to look at before deciding whether to play the hand at all.
The best possible starting hand in Texas holdem is a pair of aces. Often, a pair of aces can win a hand even if it doesn’t improve with the other cards. The rankings continue from there like this:
Can Ace Be Low In Texas Holdem
- Pocket aces
- Pocket kings
- Pocket queens
- Ace king suited
- Pocket jacks
- Pocket 10s
- Ace queen suited
- Ace king (not suited)
- Ace jack suited
- King queen suited
This might seem like a hard chart to memorize, but think about it like this… These are the best possible starting hands in the game. You should raise with any of them unless you have reason to believe that someone else has a better starting hand.
For example, if you have a pair of queens, you should raise with it, unless a couple of stingy players in front of you have already bet and raised. Even then, it often makes sense to raise with the queens.
Also, these hands all fall into categories. First are the pairs. Any pair of 10s or higher is a premium starting hand, even though there’s a huge difference between pocket 10s and pocket aces.
Then, you have the suited aces. An ace and a king, an ace and a queen, or an ace and a jack are great hands if they’re of the same suit. You have the potential to make the best possible flush, the best possible straight flush, and the best possible straight.
And if you miss those, you still might catch another ace or pair one of the other big cards, in which case, you’ll have a big pair with the best possible kicker.
Ace king offsuit is prized mostly for its high pair potential, but also for its high straight potential. And king queen suited has lots of potential to make big flushes and straights.
Conclusion
Poker hands aren’t that hard to understand, but if you’re a beginner, it’s probably the first thing you should learn.
Of course, the second thing you should learn is your betting options at various points in the game.
Can Ace Be Low In Texas Hold'em
Did you already know everything about poker hand rankings? Did I leave something out? Let me know in the comments.
Learning the Poker Hand Rankings is perhaps the most important step for a beginner. It is impossible to play well if you don’t know what you hold in your hand and whether it is likely to win.
To start with you should ensure you understand the High Hand Rankings, as this is used in the most popular variants of poker such as Texas Holdem.
Some variants, such as Razz Poker have a different aim and use the Low Hand Ranking, and some other variants use both the high and the low hand rankings splitting the pot between the players with the best high hand and the best low hand.
The Low Hand Rankings are also explained below however you only need to learn and understand these if you decide to play a poker variant that uses it. If you simple want to play Texas Holdem then you can ignore the Low Hand Rankings.
High Hand Rankings
There are 10 different high hand rankings in Poker. These are detailed below with number 1 being the best poker hand possible and number 10 being the lowest ranking hand. You’ll never not know the winning poker hand again!
Royal flush
This is the highest poker hand. It consists of ace, king, queen, jack and ten, all in the same suit. As all suits are equal, all royal flushes are equal.Straight flush
Five cards of the same suit in sequence – such as J 10 9 8 7. In the event that two players both hold straight flushes, the one containing the higher top card is ranked higher.An ace can be counted as low or high, so 5 4 3 2 A is a straight flush, but its top card is the five, not the ace, so it is the lowest type of straight flush. The cards cannot “turn the corner”: eg: K A 2 3 4 is not valid.Four of a kind
Four cards of the same rank – such as four queens. The fifth card can be anything. This combination is sometimes known as “quads”.In the event that two players both hold four of a kind, the one with the higher set of four cards is ranked higher.Full house
This consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank – for example three sevens and two tens (colloquially known as “sevens full” or more specifically “sevens on tens”). When comparing full houses, the rank of the three cards determines which is higher.For example J-J-J-5-5 beats 9-9-9-A-A. If the threes of a kind were equal, the rank of the pairs would decide.Flush
Five non sequential cards of the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the highest card determines which is ranked higher. If the highest cards are equal then the second highest card is compared; if those are equal too, then the third highest card, and so on.For example K-J-9-3-2 beats K-J-7-6-5 because the highest and second highest cards are the same, but with the 3rd highest card the nine beats the seven.Straight
Five cards of mixed suits in sequence – for example Q J 10 9 8. When comparing two straights, the one with the higher ranking top card is better.Ace can count as high or low in a straight, with A-K-Q-J-10 being the highest possible straight and A-2-3-4-5 being the lowest possible straight. The cards cannot “turn the corner” eg: K-A-2-3-4 is not valid.Three of a kind
Three cards of the same rank plus two other cards. This combination is also known as Trips or a Set. When comparing two threes of a kind the hand in which the three equal cards are of higher rank is better.So for example 5-5-5-3-2 beats 4-4-4-K-Q. If the three of a kind are of the equal rank then you have to compare the higher of the two remaining cards in each hand, and if those are also equal then the lower card is compared.Two pairs
A pair is two cards of equal rank. In a hand with two pairs, the two pairs are of different ranks (otherwise you would have four of a kind), and there is an odd card to make the hand up to five cards.When comparing hands with two pairs, the hand with the higher highest pair wins, irrespective of the rank of the other cards – so J-J-2-2-4 beats 10-10-9-9-8 because the jacks beat the tens. If the higher pairs are equal, the lower pairs are compared, so that for example 8-8-6-6-3 beats 8-8-5-5-K.Finally, if both pairs are the same, the odd cards are compared, so Q-Q-5-5-8 beats Q-Q-5-5-4.Pair
A hand with two cards of equal rank and three other cards which do not match these or each other.When comparing two such hands, the hand with the higher pair is better – so for example 6-6-4-3-2 beats 5-5-A-K-Q. If the pairs are equal, compare the highest ranking odd cards from each hand; if these are equal compare the second highest odd card, and if these are equal too compare the lowest odd cards.So J-J-A-9-3 beats J-J-A-8-7 because the 9 beats the 8.High card
Five cards which do not form any of the combinations listed above. When comparing two such hands, the one with the better highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal the second cards are compared; if they are also equal the third cards are compared, and so on. So A-J-9-5-3 beats A-10-9-6-4 because the jack beats the ten.
Study these poker hand rankings well and you will find that you get to know them off by heart in no time as you play more and more. It’s important that you know the underlying rules behind the game you are playing and is the first step on your learning curve.
Low Poker Hand Ranking
There are many variants of Poker where the object is not to get the highest poker hand, but in fact the lowest poker hand. These include, but are not limited to Razz, Omaha Hi Lo poker, Stud Hi Low (Eight or Better) and others.
Remember when looking at the low hand rankings to always read your cards from the highest to lowest to avoid misreads and to get the quickest read on the strength of your hand.
The strongest low hand is the hand which has the lowest high card, if the high card is equal then it comes down to the lowest 2nd high card, if they are equal it carries on to the 3rd high card and continues, so for example 7-5-4-2-A beats 7-5-4-3-A because even though the first 3 high cards (7-5-4) are equal the 4th high card of the first hand is a 2 and is lower than the 3 in the second hand. (Don’t worry it’ll soon click when you read the hand rankings below!)
Note: Suits are irrelevant in low hands so it does not matter if the cards are all the same suit or not – Flushes are ignored for the purposes of low hands.
Top 10 Poker Low Hands
Rank 11 to 40 Low Poker Hands
- 7-6-3-2-A
- 7-6-4-2-A
- 7-6-4-3-A
- 7-6-4-3-2
- 7-6-5-2-A
- 7-6-5-3-A
- 7-6-5-3-2
- 7-6-5-4-A
- 7-6-5-4-2
- 7-6-5-4-3
- 8-4-3-2-A
- 8-5-3-2-A
- 8-5-4-2-A
- 8-5-4-3-2
- 8-6-3-2-A
- 8-6-4-2-A
- 8-6-4-3-A
- 8-6-4-3-2
- 8-6-5-2-A
- 8-6-5-3-A
- 8-6-5-3-2
- 8-6-5-4-A
- 8-6-5-4-2
- 8-6-5-4-3
- 8-7-3-2-A
- 8-7-4-2-A
- 8-7-4-3-2
- 8-7-5-2-A
- 8-7-5-3-A
- 8-7-5-3-2
Unless you decide to focus on learning a game that uses the low hand ranks then you are probably best to just ignore them for the moment while you get to grips with the simpler High Hand Rankings that are used in Texas Holdem, which is the variant that we recommend beginners learn to play first.
Now that you understand the objective and hands you are trying to achieve, we can now move on to learning about the actual rules and procedure involved in playing the most popular variants of poker.