Taking a Look at the Interesting Poker Hand Rankings

Poker hand rankings are significant elements of poker. Most of the variations or kinds of poker use these hand rankings to determine winners. In other kinds of poker, hand rankings are important to know how much payouts players will receive. These are the reasons why poker players should have enough knowledge on poker hand rankings before they attempt to make a career in playing this wonderful game.

Most variations of poker use ten poker hand rankings. The hand rankings are easy to determine and understand. Because these rankings are basic elements of the game, it is just necessary that new players pay attention and learn each one of them.

High Card and Pair

High card is the weakest poker hand. It consists of five cards that are very different from each other, no two cards that have the same value or rank, five cards that have different suits or symbols and five cards that are not in order. Unlike high card, pair consists of five cards that bear two cards that have the same value.

Two pair and Three of a Kind

Two pair consists of five cards that have two sets of cards that bear the same rank or value. An example of two pair is ace of spades, ace of diamonds, three of clubs, three of hearts and five of diamonds. Meanwhile, three of a kind has five cards that have three cards that bear the same rank such as ace of diamonds, ace of spades, ace of hearts, two of diamonds and three of clubs.

Straight and Flush

Straight composes of five cards that are in order. A good example of this hand is five of clubs, six of diamonds, seven of hearts, eight of spades and nine of hearts. On the other hand, flush consists of five cards that bear the same suit like five of clubs, seven of clubs, nine of clubs, jack of clubs and king of clubs.

Full House and Four of a Kind

Full house consists of three of a kind and pair. A good example of such hand is four of hearts, four of diamonds, four of spades, ace of hearts and ace of spades. Four of a kind consists of five cards wherein four of the cards have identical ranks.

Straight flush and Royal Flush

Straight flush and royal flush are similar hands in the sense that both hands consist of five cards that bear the same suit and are in order. However, royal flush is stronger than straight flush because it consists of five cards that have the same suit which bear the ranks, ten, jack, queen, king and ace.

A background on poker hand ranking is important to win in poker competitions and money games. Without knowledge on poker hand ranking, gamblers may have a difficult time understanding other aspects and elements of this enticing card game. Hence, for new gamblers who want to make a living from the game, an essential element of poker that they must study first is poker hand ranking.