
The first thing that you need to know when you are learning how to play Texas Hold’em Poker is what a poker hand is. There are 8 different types of poker hands that you could have. Ranked in order, starting with the best and working downwards these include:
- Straight flush. This occurs when you have five cards in sequence, all of the same suit.
- Royal flush. ÂThis occurs when you have the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10 cards in sequence. ÂA royal flush is the highest-ranking standard poker hand, excluding 5 of a kind.
- A 5-high straight flush, a. k. a. a steel wheel. This occurs whenever you have a 5, 4, 3, 2 and Ace.
- Four of a kind a. k. a. quads. This occurs whenever you have a hand, which contains four cards of one rank, and an unmatched card. It ranks above a full house and below a straight flush. Â If you have a higher-ranking quad it will defeat a lower-ranking quad.
- Full house a. k. a. a boat or a full boat. This occurs when you have 3 of what card and 2 of another. It ranks below a 4 of a kind but above a flush.
- Flush. This occurs when you have a hand that contains five cards of the same suit, but they are not in sequence. This ranks above a straight but below a full house.
- Straight. This occurs when you have 5 cards of sequential rank, but of varying suits. Â This ranks above a three of a kind but below a flush.
- Three of a kind a. k. a. trips. This occurs when three cards of the same rank, plus two unmatched cards. It ranks above two pair and below a straight.
- Two pair. This occurs when you have two cards of the same rank, plus two cards of a different rank, which match each other but do not match the first pair, and one unmatched card. This ranks above one pair and below three of a kind.
- One pair. This occurs when you have a hand that contains two cards of the same rank, plus three unmatched cards. It ranks above any high card hand, but below all other poker hands.
- High-card or no-pair. This occurs when you do not have two cards of the same rank, the five cards are not in sequence, and the five cards are not all the same suit. Â It ranks below all other poker hands.