Almost every poker variant is scored with the same ten-hand ladder, so learning it once covers hold'em, Omaha, stud and draw games alike. The ranking order follows rarity: the scarcer a hand is among all possible five-card combinations, the higher it sits.
The frequencies below are exact, not estimates. There are 2,598,960 distinct five-card hands in a 52-card deck, and the count of hands matching each category is a fixed number.
The Ten Hands in Order
Frequencies are the share of all 2,598,960 possible five-card hands drawn from a single 52-card deck.
How Ties Are Settled
Two players often reach the same category, and the comparison then moves inside it. The rule is always the same: compare the cards that define the hand first, then the remaining cards in descending order.
| Category | Compared first | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Straight and straight flush | The highest card of the run | Nothing; equal runs split the pot |
| Four of a kind | The rank of the quads | The fifth card, known as the kicker |
| Full house | The rank of the three cards | The rank of the pair |
| Flush | The highest card | Each remaining card in turn |
| Three of a kind | The rank of the trips | The two side cards in turn |
| Two pair | The higher pair | The lower pair, then the fifth card |
| One pair | The rank of the pair | The three side cards in turn |
| High card | The highest card | Each remaining card in turn |
Points That Cause Arguments
- The ace plays at both ends of a straight: A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest and T-J-Q-K-A the highest. A sequence may not wrap around, so K-A-2 is not a straight.
- A straight flush headed by the ace is a royal flush; there is no separate hand above it.
- Three of a kind is called a set when two of the three cards are private and trips when two come from shared cards. The distinction matters for strategy, not for ranking.
- A hand is always exactly five cards. A player holding four of a kind on a board with a pair still has quads plus one kicker, not a six-card hand.
- In hi-lo variants such as Omaha hi-lo a second, inverted ranking decides the low half of the pot, where straights and flushes do not count against the hand.
Why the Order Is What It Is
The ladder is a frequency table read upside down. A flush beats a straight because there are 5,108 flushes against 10,200 straights in a single deal — the rarer hand wins. That logic holds for five-card deals, which is how the ranking was fixed.
It does not always hold for games that build a hand from more cards. In short-deck hold'em, where the deuces through fives are removed, flushes become harder to make than full houses, so most rooms rank a flush above a full house in that variant. The ranking follows the maths of the deck in play, which is covered in the short-deck guide.
For the probabilities that matter during a hand rather than at the showdown — how often a draw completes, how often a pair becomes a set — see the probabilities page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which hand is higher, a flush or a straight?
A flush. It is the scarcer hand in a five-card deal, 5,108 combinations against 10,200, and the ranking follows scarcity. Short-deck hold'em is the common exception, where the shortened deck reverses the frequencies of flushes and full houses.
Does a royal flush in a particular suit beat another?
No. Two royal flushes are equal, and in games with shared cards the pot would be split. No suit outranks another in standard poker.
What beats three of a kind?
A straight, a flush, a full house, four of a kind and a straight flush, in that order. Two pair does not, even when the pairs are high.
How often is a pair dealt in five cards?
Exactly one pair appears in 42.26% of five-card hands, which makes it the second most common outcome after a hand with no pair at all.