Poker Hands and Basic Rules

Poker hand ranking is used in most of the cards game you play at the casino, such as video poker, Caribbean poker, pai gow, and ride on poker.

A poker hand contains 5 cards. Each card has a rank and a suit. The rank of the number cards is set as their face value from 2 (low) to 10 (high), and above them rank the face cards in this order: Jack, Queen, and King. The Ace is the highest card, except when it is used as 1 to complete a straight.

The suits are Diamond (red), Heart (red), Spade (black) and Club (black).

Here are the hands from highest to lowest:

Straight Flush
5 cards with consecutive ranks and the same suit. The highest hand in poker is the royal flush: A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit.
When comparing two straight flushes, the one with the higher high card wins. For example, a hand made up of suited 6-7-8-9-10 will lose over suited 7-8-9-10-J.

Four of a Kind
4 cards of the same rank (Example: K-6-6-6-6). The hand with the four higher cards will beat the hand with four lower cards.

Full House
A hand that has a Pair plus a 3 of a kind (Example: K-K-4-4-4). The hand which has the higher three of a kind beats the hand which has the lower three of a kind.

Flush
Five cards all of which are the same suit (Example: K-8-2-J-6 of spades). When comparing two flushes, the one with the higher high card wins. If both hands have the same high card, the next high cards determine the winner, and so on.

Straight
Five cards with consecutive ranks. (Example: 8-9-10-J-Q of different suits). When comparing two straights, the hand with the highest high card wins. The highest possible straight is A-K-Q-J-10. The lowest is 5-4-3-2-A (ranks as 1 here).

Three of a Kind
A hand with 3 cards of the same rank (Example: 6-7-J-J-J). The higher-ranking three of a kind beats the lower-ranking three of a kind. Three 2s are the lowest while three aces are the highest. In case of equal 3 of a kinds, the next high card determines the winning hand.

Two Pair
A hand with two pairs, each of different rank. (Example: 8-8-5-5-2). When comparing hands that each have Two Pairs the one with highest Pair wins. If the higher pairs are equal the low pairs are compared and higher of them wins. If bothe the high and low pair are equal the highest fifth card determines the winner.

Pair
Two cards of the same rank (Example: Q-Q-7-3-2). The hand with the higher-ranking beats a hand with lower-ranking pair. If both pairs are equal the hand with the highest ranking single card of the remaining three cards wins. If both hands have the same high card, the next high cards are compared, and so on.

High Card
When comparing two hands that none of them does not have a Pair or any higher combination, the players compare their high cards – the card with the highest in rank in their hand. The hand with the highest high card wins. If both hands have the same high card, then the next high cards are compared, and so on.

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