Texas Hold'em Poker Hand Rankings
The same hand rankings used in most common variations of poker also apply to texas hold'em. The greatest possible hand one could receive is that of a royal straight flush. This hand consists of 10, J, Q, K, and A all of the same suit. There is no greater hand in poker and therefore this hand is accurately viewed as the highest ranked hand in texas hold'em. However, it is not a hand worth holding your breath over seeing as the chances of a player achieving this hand is approximately 1 in 500,000. That is not to say you will never come across this hand, but rather that it will most probably not happen more than once in your lifetime of poker playing and that the odds are your opponent will be the one holding the hand when the chips are bet.
The next highest hand in texas hold'em, and only slightly more common with a probability of 1 in 3,217, is the straight flush. This hand consists of five cards of the same suit in ascending order. Once again this hand is not one you should hold your breath for, but it may come up once in awhile and you should be prepared with a very disciplined poker face if you manage to obtain it so that you can finish the hand with as big a pot as possible.
After the straight flush is the four of kind hand where a player manages to get four cards of the same denomination. If on the flop three 3s fall out then you better be wary of any other player having a 3 because the chances of you beating his hand are near to nil. The next hand down, and considerably more common in comparison, is the full house. A full house is a hand consisting of three cards of one denomination and two cards of another. The full house is ranked based on the denomination of the three card pair and not the two. For instance a hand with K, K, K, 2, and 2 would be called a full house with kings full over two. This hand would beat a hand like 3, 3, 3, A, and A (threes full over aces) because the K is higher up than the 3. Usually a full house guarantees you the winning hand, but there is a chance for some mighty upsets so some caution is recommended.
The next lowest hand in texas hold'em is the flush hand consisting of five cards all of the same suit. For this hand to be a possibility in texas hold'em there must be at least three cards showing of the same suit. This hand is always a source of confusion amongst beginners who usually feel that the next lowest hand, the straight, beats the flush. A straight is five cards that are in ascending order. The straight is a fun hand to pull, but the flush will take the win if it falls out so it is best to be careful with a flush draw on the table.
After a straight comes the three of a kind which is a hand with three cards all of one denomination. This hand is followed by two pair, where the player has two pairs in their hand like A, A, K, K, and 2. Two pair is ranked by the higher pair so A, A, 2, 2, 3 will beat out a K, K, Q, Q, and 4. After two pair is the simple pair which is followed by the lowest ranked hand, the high card. The high card is a hand that does not qualify for any other hand and is ranked solely on the highest card in the hand. So an A, Q, 2, 4, and 7 will beat out both an A, J, 3, 5, 6 and a K, Q, J, 10, and 4. Yet even that hand would lose to a 2, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
