Poker Hand Rankings in Texas Holdem
The different poker hand rankings is a must know in the Texas Holdem game. One cannot play this poker variant without knowing this basic knowledge. These rankings are integral to the very game itself and cannot be separated from it. These are rules that would determine who will win any particular round in Texas Holdem poker games. Poker hand actually refers to the best possible five card set that a player can create out of the five community cards and that individual's two private cards.
It is but right to discuss these rankings from the lowest. Whenever players cannot form any card combination from the cards they have, this hand is called a high card. The value of these cards would entirely be based on the highest card in the set. So if a player gets a K, 10, J, 6 and 8, that individual is said to have a king-high hand. The high card combination is not a good one to have in poker for it has a very minimal chance of winning.
This poker hand is then followed by a one pair. One pair card combinations can easily beat high cards but are less powerful than the rest of the poker hand rankings. An example of a one pair poker hand is the combination 5, 5, 7, 9 and K. The power of this card combination lies on the 5 pair.
Next in the poker hand rankings is the two pair. As the name indicates, this card combination contains a couple of pairs plus another individual card. One basic example of a two pair poker hand is the card combination K, K, 7, 9 and 9. This poker hand can easily beat lower two pair poker hands, one pair poker hands, as well as players having high card combinations. However, this poker hand cannot stand up against higher poker hands such as the three-of-a-kind, straight, flush, full house, four-of-a-kind, straight flush, and royal flush.
The three-of-a-kind poker hand completes the non-five card combination. This card combination only needs three cards having the same values going with any non-pair two cards. One good example of this would be the card combination 4, 4, 4, 6 and 8. Next in line would be a straight. This poker hand is basically made up of five cards that can be arranged in sequential order. A good example would be 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. To differentiate it from a straight flush, a simple straight card combination should have different suits.
The rest of the poker hand rankings go like this. It starts with a flush, followed by a full house, a four-of-a-kind, a straight flush, and a royal flush. These are the five highest ranking poker hands. An example of a flush would be the card combination 3, 6, 7, 8 and K, all of which should have the same suit. An example of a full house would be 5, 5, 5, 6 and 6. An example of a four-of-a-kind would be a 6, 6, 6, 6 and 8. A good example of a straight flush would be a 7, 8, 9, 10 and J, all under a single suit. And lastly, a good example of a royal flush would be a 10, J, Q, K and A, all having the same suit.
