Texas Hold’em Hands Guide

Before you take your seat at the Ignition Poker tables, you need to know all the different card combinations, or "hands," that you can make in this game. Familiarizing yourself with these Texas Hold'em hands is essential when you’re learning how to play poker.

This comprehensive guide, forged by our team of poker experts, will show you everything you need to know about Texas Hold’em hands. We will walk you through all the different hand rankings and show you the probability of making each hand, so you can start making better decisions right away with the cards you’re dealt.

Texas Hold’em Poker Hand Rankings

Whether you’re a professional or a beginner, before delving into the game of Texas Hold’em, you should master the combinations of poker hands.

The world’s top poker players are skilled enough to accurately narrow down what cards their opponents might be holding, assess their own relative hand strength, and optimize which plays to make in response. But before they can do all that, they have to learn the fundamentals – beginning with the standard poker hand rankings.

Whether you’re playing Texas Hold’em or Omaha at Ignition Poker, the hand rankings remain the same. They are as follows:

Royal Flush

The strongest hand in poker, containing the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten of the same suit. The only time a Royal Flush won’t scoop the whole pot is in Texas Hold’em, when the five cards used to make the hand are all community cards; in this very rare case, the pot is divided equally among any players remaining in the hand.

Straight Flush

Features five consecutively ranked cards of the same suit, such as a Nine, Eight, Seven, Six and Five of Spades. When multiple players have a Straight Flush, the one with the highest-ranked cards wins the pot. As with the Royal Flush (which is essentially an Ace-high Straight Flush), if multiple players have the same Straight Flush, the pot is divided equally among them.

Four of a Kind

A hand containing four cards of the same rank, such as four Aces or four Jacks. If multiple players have Four of a Kind, the one with the highest-ranked foursome wins. Should multiple players have the same Four of a Kind, the player with the highest fifth card (aka the kicker) wins the pot.

Full House

Comprises three matching cards of one rank and two of another, like three Kings and two Tens, or three Fours and two Aces. When multiple players have a Full House, the one with the highest-ranked set of three cards wins; if those three cards are tied, the other two cards are compared and the pot awarded to the player with the highest rank.

Flush

A hand consisting of five cards of the same suit (Hearts, Spades, Clubs or Diamonds). When two or more players have a Flush, the player with the highest card wins. If the highest cards match, the next-highest cards are compared, and so on until one of the kickers is higher than the others.

Straight

Consists of a five consecutive cards of various suits, like Six, Five, Four, Three and Deuce. When two or more players have a Straight, the one with the highest card wins the pot. If multiple players have the same Straight, the pot is divided equally among them. The suits themselves do not play a role in determining the value of Straights or any hand in standard poker.

Three of a Kind

Consists of three cards of the same rank, such as three Jacks. When two or more players have Three of a Kind, the one with the highest-ranked set wins; if they have the same set, the kickers are compared to determine the winner.

Two Pair

A hand with two matching cards of one rank and two of another, such as two Tens and two Sixes. When multiple players have Two Pair, the one with the higher pair wins; if they have the same high pair, the one whose second pair is higher wins. If both pairs are the same, then the winner is determined by the rank of the kicker.

Pair

Two cards of the same rank, such as two Aces or two Jacks, plus three other cards that do not match in any way. When two or more players have a Pair, the one with the highest Pair wins. If multiple players have a Pair of the same value, the kickers are compared until a winner is determined or the pot is split.

High Card

Any combination of unmatched cards that doesn’t fit in with the other ranks. When one or more players have High Card, the one with the highest-ranked card wins; if they are of the same value, the winner is determined by the second-highest card, the third-highest, and so on as required.

Learn How to Play Poker Hands

Now that you know the standard poker hand rankings, it’s time to look at “starting” hands, meaning the hole cards you’re dealt at the beginning of your turn. Starting Texas Hold’em hands vary in their probability of winning, with the strongest hand (AA) winning against two random cards 85% of the time at showdown if both players go “all-in” before the community cards are dealt.

To increase your chances of taking down the pot, it is generally recommended to stick with a “tight” strategy, playing only the best Texas Hold’em starting hands. These hands are classified by strength, with AA at the top and 72o (an off-suit Seven and a Deuce, meaning their suits don’t match) at the bottom.

For beginners, playing with the strongest starting hands is the best tactic for winning pots. The best five starting hands you can be dealt are pocket Aces (AA), pocket Kings (KK), pocket Queens (QQ), pocket Jacks (JJ) and Ace-King suited (AKs); these hands represent about 2% of the 169 possible starting hands in Hold’em, and will ultimately win a typical player about half the profit they will ever make at the poker table.

Whichever hole cards you’re dealt, each hand of poker should be played based on factors such as your opponents’ moves, their stack sizes (and yours), and your position at the table. Printing off a  chart of the different starting hands you’ll normally use from each position will help you make quick and informed decisions while you’re learning the ropes; be sure to check our guide on how to play Texas Hold'em to learn more.

Poker Hand Win Probabilities

To make a smart decision about whether to enter a pot, you have to consider the relative value of your starting hand, along with other factors such as preflop betting, stack sizes, and more. Another important factor to consider is the odds of improving your hand on the flop – that’s the first three community cards to hit the board.

Here is a breakdown of the odds for all the different starting hands (from left to right are suited, and from top to bottom are offsuit) before the flop in Texas Hold’em:

Ties and Kickers

Before we wrap up, remember that in poker, ties can occur when two or more players have the same hand ranking. When this happens, the pot is split equally among the tied players. However, ties are not always straightforward, since the kicker, or the highest card that is not part of the made hand, can come into play.

For example, if two players have a pair of Queens, but one has a King kicker and the other has a Jack, the player with the King wins the hand. Understanding the importance of kickers is a must if you want to evaluate your hands and make informed decisions at the poker table, so keep working on your game here at Ignition Poker, and we’ll see you on the felt.

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