In poker, each possible hand you can make is ranked by its rarity, with the rarer hands being more valuable and therefore ranked higher than more common hands. However, it’s important to note that not all games use the same hand ranking system, as the rules between variants can differ greatly. The above poker hand rankings chart applies to the following games.

• Texas Hold’em
• Omaha
• Stud
• Five-Card Draw

Other games, such as Short Deck, Razz, and Badugi, do not use traditional poker hand rankings and instead have their own unique ranking system.

POKER HANDS PROBABILITY

One of the things you’ll notice when checking out the poker hand rankings is that the higher-ranked hands are much harder to make. The probability of making these hands is very low, which is what makes them so valuable.

While it’s not necessarily important to know that you only get a royal flush one in every 650,000 times or so, it’s good to understand just how rare these hands are as it puts your opponent’s possible range into perspective. If you do want to get a better understanding of the important poker math, make sure you check out our poker odds calculator, where you can explore the equities of different hands on the flop, turn, and river.

A mistake beginners make is always assuming that their opponent has a much stronger hand than them. Even if they hold a strong hand, they convince themselves that their opponent must have a better one if they’re continuing to bet. However, being able to look at how rare these hands are should help you put into perspective how infrequently your opponent will have these hands, allowing you to play with more freedom.

If you’re a bit of a math aficionado and want to know how it’s calculated, here’s how it’s done.

We start by working out the number of possible five-card hands. This can be found with the equation 5⁵², which equals 2,598,960.

Then, we divide the possible number of hand combinations by that number. For example, there are four possible ways to make a royal flush, so the calculation is 4/2,598,960, which can be simplified to 1 in 649,739.

WINNING POKER HANDS: WHAT ARE THE BEST HANDS?

Let’s delve into the realm of winning poker hands and explore the optimal combinations that can lead to victory. In order to enhance your understanding, we’ll present you with specific examples involving both hole cards and community cards, showcasing the precise composition of your most favorable five-card hand. By offering this practical context, you’ll gain a clearer grasp of the rankings and how they materialize in real gameplay situations.

To make things easier, we’ve split the possible hand rankings into three groups – weak hands, strong hands, and the strongest poker hands. Hands that fall into the weak hands category are the most common hands you’ll make in poker, and while they may win you the pot some of the time, you’ll find that they’re regularly beaten by stronger ones.

Hands that fall into the strong hands category are a lot harder to make, and therefore will win you the pot a lot more often. However, these hands are not infallible, as there are still a number of hands that can beat them. This brings us to the strongest poker hands – these hands are incredibly hard to make, and you are almost certain to win the pot if you make one of these hands.

By offering this practical context, you’ll gain a clearer grasp of the poker hand rankings and how they materialize in real gameplay situations.

On occasion, you are going to find yourself in a situation where the best hand at the table is being shared by more than one player. In these instances, in order to break the tie and declare a winner, the extra cards that are not directly contributing to the best hand come into play.

These cards are known as ‘Kickers.’ When two or more players have the exact same hand rank, the player with the highest kicker takes the pot. Let’s look at an example:

Choosing the correct hands to start betting with preflop is very important and can get a beginner player winning poker hands right off the hop. We are going to break down the top 20 Texas Hold’em starting hands so that you can start playing preflop with confidence:

1. POCKET ACES

This is the best starting hand that a player could be dealt. It has the highest odds of winning against any other poker hand.

2. POCKET KINGS (COWBOYS)

Commonly called Cowboys, pocket kings are second in line behind the aces as the top starting hand. Go into your preflop situation confident, but be wary if you see an ace on the flop.

3. POCKET QUEENS

At the number 3 spot comes the lovely queens. Like the two pairs before it, pocket queens are an excellent starting hand and should be played in almost all situations.

4. POCKET JACKS (FISHHOOKS)

Despite some players consistently complaining about being dealt pocket jacks, this is still a very good hand. Aggressive play preflop can reap some nice rewards if done correctly.

5. ACE-KING SUITED (BIG SLICK)

Number 5 on our list is the first non-paired hand we have seen – ace-king suited. Despite going into preflop behind any pocket pair, this hand gives you a ton of top pair potential, flush/straight draw potential, and puts you ahead of all the other unpaired hands going into the flop.

6. POCKET TENS

Pocket tens comes in at number 6 due to its potential to collect a lot of value with the proper preflop raising strategy. Be careful not to go too deep in a situation where your opponents are heavily raising and 3-betting, as chances are you are going into the flop as the underdog.

7. ACE-KING OFFSUIT

While this hand lacks the flush draw potential that Ace-King suited has, it is still a very strong hand with great potential to land a top pair on the flop.

8. ACE-QUEEN SUITED

Ace-Queen suited brings a lot of possibilities and a lot of potential to hit some big pairs, a nut flush, and a straight draw. Preflop, look to play aggressively with this hand, and be sure to pay attention and evaluate your opponent’s response.

9. POCKET NINES

Much like pocket tens, pocket nines lack the flash that other high pairs have but should still be played aggressively preflop. This pair comes with great odds and can be deadly if you happen to catch a nine on the flop.

10. ACE-JACK SUITED

Ace-Jack suited shares similar qualities with Ace-Queen suited in terms of playability. This hand has a good chance of hitting some dominating pairs and gives you both a flush and a straight draw, but be cautious of the deadly Ace-King.

11. KING-QUEEN SUITED

Poker’s original power couple, this hand is valuable because of how well it flops. It’s common to make strong flush draws, strong straight draws, and good top pairs. However, if you do flop top pair, you’re vulnerable to someone having AK or AQ, so be careful.

12. ACE-TEN SUITED

The lowest of the broadway Ax hands, ATs still has a decent amount of value because of its straight potential, which makes it much stronger than A9s. You can flop nut flush draws and top pair top kicker with a ten-high flop, but be wary on ace-high boards.

13. ACE-QUEEN OFFSUIT

Slightly further down the rankings, thanks to its lack of suitedness, AQo is still a very strong hand. Whenever you flop a pair, it’s likely to be the best hand, and you can still make the broadway straight.

14. POCKET EIGHTS

Pocket pairs suffer from an exponential decline the smaller they get, which holds true for pocket eights vs. pocket nines. The smaller the pair, the more likely it is that overcards will flop, and the higher chance of being caught set under set. However, 88 is still a strong hand and should be played as such.

15. KING-JACK SUITED

While slightly weaker than KQs, KJs still flops a lot of strong pairs, strong draws, and strong flush draws. You would only need to be wary on king-high boards when a lot of money starts to go in, as it’s likely someone has a king with a higher kicker.

16. KING-TEN SUITED

Slightly weaker still is KTs, but it remains a strong hand and a respectable 16th in the rankings. It can still make broadway and king-high straights, as well as strong flush draws. However, similarly to KJs, you should be wary if there’s a lot of action on a king-high board.

17. QUEEN-JACK SUITED

Any two cards that are suited and connected always feel strong when you play them, and that’s certainly the case for QJs. There are lots of great straight and flush draws you can pick up on the flop, but the only downside is the top pairs it makes aren’t the strongest and are often beaten by other common hands people play.

18. ACE-JACK OFFSUIT

Losing its suited value really hurts AJo, as it’s just not as strong of a hand without it. While you’ll likely be in good shape on jack-high flops, it doesn’t perform as well on ace-high boards, particularly if you play this hand aggressively preflop.

19. KING-QUEEN OFFSUIT

Another hand that’s hurt by a lack of suited value is KQo. Not being able to flop a flush draw is a big reason why this hand is 19th, but it’s still great at flopping pairs, and there are still plenty of straight draws to give you equity.

20. QUEEN-TEN SUITED

The last hand in our rankings is QTs, a hand that’s starting to look a lot weaker than some of the hands in our top ten. While there’s the potential for broadway straights and good flush draws, its pairs are often dominated by strong hands, which can make it a tough hand to play.

While these hands are generally considered the 20 best preflop hands, there are some factors that we will discuss in the next sections that will influence both the value of these hands and the decisions you make.

POSITION AFFECTS YOUR HAND VALUE

The most important aspect to consider when choosing your starting hands is the value of position. In Texas Hold’em, having position is a huge advantage, so you want to be as close to the Button as possible (the Button is the last person to act after the flop). The closer you are to the button, the more hands you can profitably play. Conversely, the further away you are from the button, the more hands you must fold preflop.

When you are in positions like the SB (Small Blind) and BB (Big Blind), your starting poker hands EV drops significantly in Texas Hold’em. This is due to the fact that you often end up betting or calling in these positions with hands that are much weaker than you would normally play.

In addition, people behind you get to see your actions, so they are in a better position to perform tricky moves or steal the pot if necessary. This is why many Texas Hold’em experts say that if you observe a game, that money tends to flow toward the direction of the Button.

This means that you want to tighten up your starting hand selection early in the game and drop questionable hands like [KT], [QT], [JT], [T9] – and possibly even [KJ] or [QJ] – in early position. These hands will lose you money in the long run in Hold’em if you play them too frequently – a mistake that many beginners make. In late position, however, you can relax your starting hand selection to include these hands. You can also begin playing pocket pairs a bit more liberally in late position, as it’s less likely someone will have a higher pocket pair.

ABSOLUTE VALUE VS. RELATIVE VALUE

Another concept that players should understand with regards to their poker hands, is that each hand has both; an absolute value and a relative value. Absolute value is the value of the hand on its own, whereas relative value refers to the value of a hand with respect to the community cards and your opponent’s range.

Let’s look at an example:

Player 1:

A♥ + A♠

The Board: 

10♣ + 9♣ + 5♥ + 6♣ + J♠

The absolute value of this pocket pair is quite high. A pair of aces is a good hand, but it’s vulnerable to a lot of other hands. Given the cards that are on the board, the relative value of Player 1’s hand is significantly lower, and an opponent could win the pot with a combination of different poker hands, such as two pair, a straight, a set, or a flush. Therefore, it’s best if Player A acts with caution on this river; otherwise, they could be at risk of losing a big pot.

Staying conscious of values and playing hands based on their relative value is a vital part of being a winning poker player.

Summary

The poker hand rankings are vital information that every player must know before starting their poker journey. It’s the perfect place to start for any beginner, as the poker hand rankings will form the foundation of the rest of your poker knowledge. From here, we’d recommend checking out our article on the rules of Texas Hold’em so you can build on the knowledge you’ve learned here today.