Transcript
Hey, I’m Nicky Numbers, Professional Poker Player, and today, we’re going to talk about poker hand rankings. What, beats what. Most of the time when you see hand rankings, you see them displayed for all forms of high card poker, rather than what you’re really interested in seeing, which is Texas Hold Em. But really what they aren’t showing you, is just the hand rankings for poker. They’re showing you the hand rankings as if its for Five Card Draw. You know, the game where you see people on t.v. playing with five cards in front of them, like this. The old version of poker. Now, it’s all Hold Em. So, in Texas Hold Em, each player has two down hole cards, and then there are five community cards. These are shared cards that can be used by any player. The best five card hand possible is a royal flush, which is not only cards in order, Ten, Jack, King, Queen, Ace, but also of the same exact suit.
This is the best hand possible in Hold Em. As for royal flushes, you really don’t need to think about it, because it almost never happens. It’s tens of thousands to one against happening. So, you’re not going to see it very often. The next best possible hand, is a straight flush. Eight, Nine, Ten, Jack, Queen, all of diamonds. After a royal flush, and a straight flush, the next best hand, is four of a kind, also known as quads. In this case, we have quad Deuces. The next best hand, is a full house, which is three of a kind, along with a pair. In this case, we have a full house of Queens, Queens full of Deuces. After a full house, is a flush.
Five cards, all of the same suit. In this case, we have a diamond flush, Three, Four of diamonds, along with the Ten, Jack and Queen of diamonds that are already on the board. After flushes, are straights. In this case, we have the best straight possible, Ace, King, on a Ten, Jack, Queen board. Note, that this Ace, King, is not suited. However, this Ace, King, is suited of the same suit. Just that difference, is the difference between a strong hand, like a straight, and an amazing hand, like a royal flush. The next best hand, is three of a kind. In this case, because there’s only four deuces in the deck, I’m going to steal the Deuce from the quads, and put it with the Deuce, Three, so, now I have one Deuce in my hand and two on the board, for three of a kind. There’s also another kind of three of a kind, though.
And that’s known as a set, which is where you have pocket pair in your hand, and just one card on the board. After three of a kind, is two pair. In this case, we have Queen, Jack, for top two pair on the board. Now, note there is already a pair on the board with Deuces, so, even if we just had a single Queen, we would still technically have two pair. However, that’s kind of like a fake two pair, because everybody already has one. Using both hole cards to make two pair, is much stronger, than two pair with one on the board. After two pair, the next best hand, is just one pair. Here we have Four, Three. Note there is no pair on the board. However, because the Deuces are a pair on the board, we technically have one pair, however, we also have the worst hand possible.
A better one pair hand is when you’re using one of your hole cards, to connect with the board. In this case, we have a Jack, Nine, which hits the Jack for one pair. However, because Deuces are already on the board, this Jack, Nine, is technically a two pair hand. If, instead of a Deuce, it was a Five, however, now this would be a true one pair hand. If no one has a pair, then it comes down to, who has the highest card. In this case, we have an Ace in our hand. So, we have Ace high. That’s how to know your hand rankings in Hold Em, which is with regard for the board.
