If you and at least one other player have stayed in the hand through every betting round you will be required to declare your hand. In Texas Hold’em the highest ranking hand wins. The rarer the hand is statistically, the more valuable it becomes. Hand ranking is listed below, starting with the most valuable hands:
Royal Flush
A Royal flush is five cards of the same suit in sequence, starting with an ace. For example:
A of Clubs K of Clubs Q of Clubs J of Clubs 10 of Clubs
Straight Flush
A straight flush is five cards of the same suit in sequence, but not starting with an ace. For example:
9 of Hearts 8 of Hearts 7 of Hearts 6 of Hearts 5 of Hearts or 6 of Clubs 5 of Clubs 4 of Clubs 3 of Clubs 2 of Clubs
The latter hand is less valuable than the former hand because its sequence starts with a lower card.
Four of a Kind (also known as “quads”)
A hand containing four cards of the same rank, and one unrelated card. For example:
7 of Clubs 7 of Diamonds 7 of Hearts 7 of Spades 10 of Spades
Full House
Three cards of one rank combined with a pair of another rank. For example:
6 of Spades 6 of Clubs 6 of Diamonds J of Hearts J of Clubs (referred to as “sixes full of jacks”) or A of Diamonds A of Hearts A of Clubs K of Clubs K of Spades (aces full of kings).
Flush
Any five cards of the same suit. For example:
A of Hearts 10 of Hearts 7 of Hearts 5 of Hearts 4 of Hearts or J of Clubs 10 of Clubs 8 of Clubs 5 of Clubs 3 of Clubs
The latter hand is less valuable than the former hand because the former hand contains a higher card (ace).
Straight
Five sequenced cards, not of the same suit. For example:
Q of Diamonds J of Clubs 10 of Clubs 9 of Hearts 8 of Diamonds or K of Clubs Q of Diamonds J of Diamonds 10 of Hearts 9 of Spades
The latter hand is more valuable because its sequence starts with a higher card.
Three of a Kind
A hand containing three cards of the same rank, and two unrelated cards. For example:
7 of Clubs 7 of Spades 7 of Diamonds Q of Diamonds 2 of Clubs
Two Pair
Two cards of one rank combined with two cards of another rank, and one unrelated card. For example:
Q of Clubs Q of Diamonds 10 of Hearts 10 of Spades 7 of Clubs or K of Hearts K of Spades 3 of Clubs 3 of Spades 4 of Spades
The latter hand is more valuable than the former because it contains a higher pair (kings).
One Pair
Two cards of identical rank, and three unrelated cards. For example:
K of Hearts K of Clubs 10 of Spades 8 of Spades 4 of Hearts
High Card
Five unrelated cards that do not form any of the above hands. For example:
Q of Spades 10 of Hearts 6 of Spades 5 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds or K of Clubs 9 of Spades 8 of Diamonds 4 of Hearts 2 of Clubs
The latter hand is more valuable than the former hand because it contains a higher card (king).
Please note that an ace can either count as a high card or as a low card.
The Kicker
On many occasions in Hold’em two players will go head-to-head with virtually identical hands. For example, imagine that Mr A is holding A of Spades Q of Clubs and Mrs B is holding A of Clubs J of Hearts. The dealer then deals A of Diamonds 10 of Spades 8 of Diamonds 7 of Clubs 4 of Hearts.
Both players have a pair of aces, so who wins?
This is where the “kicker” comes in. The dealer (or whoever is running the game) would then look at who has the highest other card. In this case Mr A has a queen, whilst Mrs B has a jack. Therefore, Mr A wins with a queen kicker.
Split Pot
Let’s look at another situation. Mr C has A of Spades 4 of Clubs and Miss D has A of Clubs 6 of Hearts. The dealer then deals A of Hearts K of Diamonds 10 of Spades 9 of Hearts 8 of Spades.
Who wins the pot?
On this occasion, the pot is shared. For both players, their best 5 card hands will consist of the ace that they are holding, the ace on the board, and also the K, 10 and 9 on the board. The second hole card for both players is deemed redundant when they are evaluating their best 5 card hand.
The next section of this tutorial explains how betting rounds work.