Texas Hold’em Hands
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In the game of poker, the winner is decided by how who has the best hand. We’ll show you what a “full-house” is, and exactly how good it is in relation to the other hands.
Here’s our guide, starting with the least impressive hand and leading up to the strongest hand. In Hold’em, your hand is made up of the best 5-card combination made up of your two cards and the five cards dealt out in front of the dealer.
1. High Card- If you don’t have any of the hands listed below, your hand is described by your highest card. Aces are the highest cards in the game of poker. So if you don’t have a pair or a better hand, but you do have an Ace, your hand is “Aces High”. If a queen is your best card and you don’t have a pair or better, you are “Queen High”. These are very weak hands.
2. Pair – this could be a 3 of hearts and a 3 of spades, for instance. Higher pairs are better than lower ones, so a pair of 10′s beats a pair of 9′s
3. Two-Pair – A pair of threes and a pair of fours is a Two-Pair hand. This beats a single pair every time. If two players hold two-pair, the best hand is the one which has the highest pair. Kings and twos, for instance, beats Queens and Jacks.
4. Three-of-a-Kind – Three 2′s, Three Jacks etc. Highest triple wins.
5. Straight – A straight is the next best hand after 3-of-a-kind. A straight is five cards numerically in a row, not of the same suit. Three-spades, four-hearts, five-spades, six-diamonds, seven-clubs is an example of a Straight. Higher straights are better:- the best straight is the one which ends in Ace (10-j-q-k-a).
6. Flush – Five cards of the same suit. Five Clubs, five Diamonds, five Hearts, five Spades. Best flush is the one with the highest card.
7. Full-House – Breathe! Calming thoughts! You should be onto a winner if you’ve got a Full House. A Full House is a pair and three-of-a-kind. For example, a pair of threes and three sevens are a Full House. A better hand would be three 8′s and two 2′s.
8. Poker – 4-of-a-kind. Four of a kind is called a poker, and is a truly great hand that is almost certain to win you the hand.
9. Straight Flush – The same as a straight, except all cards are of the same suit. You’ll be smoking Cubans for a while if you pick up this one. Make sure to take a photo of the hand, and of your buddy’s face when he sees it.
10. Royal Flush – the king of hands. A straight flush that ends with the Ace. The best Royal Flush of all, and the very best hand in poker, is a Royal Flush of Hearts. Unfortunately, you’ll probably never be dealt one. And if you’re lucky enough to ever get one, I just hope I’m not at the table to see it!