Poker is an overarching name for many different variants of the game, with the most popular being Texas Hold’em. The Texas Hold’em rules are one of the most commonly known, but they differ from Razz and Omaha. However, there is one thing that all Poker games have in common, and it’s the hands. In Poker your hand is worth so much, it can be a winning hand or one that just missed the mark. Read on to discover which is the best hand to have.
Royal Flush
Starting with the Crème de la Crème, The Royal Flush. This hand is the ultimate win if you manage to get one of these during a game, you no doubt, have the best hand on the table. A Royal Flush consists of all the following cards in the same suit: Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10. The highest cards available in a suit, in the same suit. A difficult hand to achieve but the best, even the suits are ranked, with Clubs the lowest, then Diamonds, Hearts and Spades the highest and best Royal Flush.
Straight Flush
After a Royal Flush, you’ll find a Straight flush. Similar in that all the cards must be in numerical order, but with a Straight Flush it doesn’t matter what numbers the cards are, as long as they are all the same suits. Suits rank the same as a Royal flush with Clubs being the lowest and Spades the highest, but you can have any consecutive numbers (or face cards) from Ace to King.
Four of a Kind
Four of a kind is exactly as it sounds. To have one particular card in every suit. You could have four of a kind with Kings, or 2s. With every suit in use, there isn’t the rule of ranking suits, but instead numerical rankings. For example, four 4s would ranker lower than four 9s, as the highest card wins.
Full House
A Full House is the next ranked hand and consists of a three of a kind and a pair in your hand. The entire hand must consist of two different cards in order to be a Full House. This can be any pairing of cards and you don’t need any particular suit. However if another player was to place a Full House, the highest cards win, the ultimate hand being Aces full of Kings.
Flush
A similar hand to the Royal and Straight Flush, but a lot less difficult to obtain. Simply have a hand full of the same suit. These cards can be in any order, as long as each one is from the same suit. Two Flush’s in a round would be judged on suits, ranking lowest is Clubs, then Diamonds, Hearts and highest is Spades.
Three of a Kind
Three of a Kind requires you to have three of the same card, whether it be a King or a 2. The three cards would rank against other player’s hands depending on the numerical order, for example, if another player had Three of a Kind Queens and you have 5s, your opponent would win over you. The other two cards in your hand can be whatever, it doesn’t affect your Three of a Kind.
Two Pairs
Two pairs is exactly what it says, but it must be two different pairs. This hand ranks on numbers, so if someone else was to put down Two Pairs, whoever had the highest set of pairs would win against the other.
One Pair
A single pair is the same as two pairs but just one. One of the easiest hands to achieve but not worth a lot against other hands. To achieve this hand you simply need to collect two of the same cards from differing suits.
High Card
Finally, a High Card. The least ranking hand in Poker, the High Card is the easiest to achieve and more than likely will not win you anything. The High Card means whichever card is highest is favoured. If the highest card in your hand is an 8, then you have a High Card of 8… not very impressive!