Poker Hand Ranks

Before playing poker with us, Absolute Poker recommends that you review the poker hand ranks and have a basic understanding of how the game works. This page will give you the poker hand ranks for both High and Low poker games. Knowing the best poker hand you can hold at any given time is essential to winning in poker. In addition to this guide and our various poker rules pages, you can learn more about the language of the game with our online poker glossary.

Five Card Poker Hand Values for High

Royal Flush: An Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten of the same suit. This is the best poker hand you can have in high.

In the event of a tie:
Two or more Royal Flushes split the pot.

Straight Flush: Five cards in sequence, of the same suit.

In the event of a tie:
Highest rank at the top of the sequence wins.

Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank, and one side card.

In the event of a tie:
Highest four of a kind wins.
In community card games where players have the same four poker hands of a kind, the highest fifth side card ("kicker") wins.

Full House: Three cards of the same rank, and two cards of a different, matching rank.

In the event of a tie:
Highest three matching cards wins the pot. In community card games where players have the same three matching cards, the highest value of the two matching cards wins.

Flush: Five cards of the same suit.

In the event of a tie:
The player holding the highest ranked card in the poker hands wins. If necessary, the second-highest, third-highest, fourth-highest, and fifth-highest cards can be used to break the tie.

Straight: Five cards in sequence.

In the event of a tie:
Highest ranking card at the top of the sequence wins.

Note: The Ace may be used at the top or bottom of the sequence, and is the only card which can act in this manner.

Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank, and two unrelated side cards.

In the event of a tie:
Highest ranking three of a kind wins. In community card games where players have the same three of a kind in their poker hands, the highest side card, and if necessary, the second-highest side card wins.

Two Pair: Two cards of a matching rank, another two cards of a different matching rank, and one side card.

In the event of a tie:
Highest pair wins. If players have the same highest pair, highest second pair wins. If both players have identical pairs in their poker hands, highest side card wins.

One Pair: Two cards of a matching rank, and three unrelated side cards.

In the event of a tie:
Highest pair wins. If players have the same pair, the highest side card wins, and if necessary, the second-highest and third-highest side card can be used to break the tie.

High Card: Any poker hand that does not qualify under a category listed above.

In the event of a tie:
Highest card wins, and if necessary, the second-highest, third-highest, fourth-highest and smallest card can be used to break the tie.

Five Card Poker Hand Values for Low

It is important to note that suits and sequences are irrelevant for low. A flush or straight does not "break" a low poker hand. Aces are the lowest card when considering a low poker hand.

Five High, or Wheel: The Five, Four, Three, Deuce and Ace.

In the event of a tie:
All Five-high poker hands split the pot.

Six High: Any five unpaired cards with the highest card being a Six.

In the event of a tie:
The lower second-highest ranking card wins the pot. Thus 6, 4, 3, 2, A defeats 6, 5, 4, 2, A. If necessary, the third-highest, fourth-highest and fifth-highest cards in the hand can be used to break the tie.

Seven High: Any five unpaired cards with the highest card being a Seven.

In the event of a tie:
The lower second-highest ranking card wins the pot. If necessary, the third-highest, fourth-highest and fifth-highest cards in the hand can be used to break the tie.

Eight High: Any five unpaired cards with the highest card being an Eight.

In the event of a tie:
The lower second-highest ranking card wins the pot. If necessary, the third-highest, fourth-highest and fifth-highest cards in the hand can be used to break the tie.

An Eight High is the weakest poker hand that qualifies for low in games where the pot is split between the best high and low hands.

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