What is the order of poker hand rankings from weakest to strongest?

High Card, Pair, Two Pair, Three of a Kind, Straight, Flush, Full House, Four of a Kind, Straight Flush, and Royal Flush. A flush always beats a straight, and a full house always beats a flush, regardless of the specific card values.

How many hole cards does each player get in Texas Hold'em?

Two private hole cards, dealt face down and seen only by that player. These combine with five shared community cards (dealt across the flop, turn and river) to make each player's best possible five-card hand.

What are the four betting rounds in a hand of Texas Hold'em, in order?

Pre-flop (after hole cards, before community cards), the flop (first three community cards), the turn (fourth community card), and the river (fifth and final community card) — each followed by a betting round before the next cards are dealt.

Poker hand rankings and Texas Hold'em rules explained

Last updated: 2026-07-30 · Written by Priya Nair

Texas Hold'em is the poker variant behind almost every major tournament and cash game in the world, and its rules and hand rankings are the foundation every other poker format — Omaha, Ultimate Texas Hold'em, video poker — builds on in some way. This covers the full hand ranking order from weakest to strongest, and how a hand actually plays out from the first cards dealt to the showdown.

Hand rankings, weakest to strongest

From weakest to strongest: High Card (no matching cards, ranked by the highest card held), Pair (two cards of the same rank), Two Pair (two separate pairs), Three of a Kind (three cards of the same rank), Straight (five cards in sequence, any suits), Flush (five cards of the same suit, not in sequence), Full House (three of a kind plus a pair), Four of a Kind (four cards of the same rank), Straight Flush (five sequential cards of the same suit), and Royal Flush (the highest possible straight flush, 10 through Ace of the same suit). Every hand in poker, across every variant, is compared using this same ranking order — a flush always beats a straight, and a full house always beats a flush, regardless of the specific cards involved.

How a hand deals: hole cards and position

Each player is dealt two private hole cards face down, seen only by that player. Two forced bets, the small blind and big blind, are posted by the two players to the left of the dealer button before any cards are even seen, which is what guarantees there's always money in the pot to play for. The dealer button rotates one seat clockwise after every hand, so every player takes a turn in every position — including the disadvantaged blind positions — over the course of enough hands.

The four betting rounds, in order

Pre-flop is the first betting round, happening right after hole cards are dealt and before any community cards appear. The flop deals three community cards face up in the middle of the table, shared by every remaining player, followed by a second betting round. The turn deals a fourth community card and a third betting round. The river deals the fifth and final community card, followed by the last betting round before showdown. At showdown, each remaining player makes their best possible five-card hand using any combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards — a player can use both hole cards, one, or neither, playing the board itself if it's stronger than what they're holding.

Why position and the community cards change the math

Because Texas Hold'em shares five community cards among every player at the table, the strength of any given hole cards changes dramatically depending on what appears on the board — a strong starting hand like pocket Aces can still lose to a flush or straight that completes on the turn or river, which is why reading pot odds and equity at each betting round matters more than the raw strength of the starting hole cards alone, similar to how pot odds and poker equity explained breaks down comparing the cost of a call against a hand's actual winning chances. Acting later in the betting order (closer to the dealer button) is also a real structural advantage, since a player in late position sees how every earlier opponent acted before deciding their own move.

Payment speed doesn't change the maths of gambling — only bet what you can afford to lose; gambling should be entertainment, never a way to make money. Set limits and get help here.

FAQ

What is the order of poker hand rankings from weakest to strongest? High Card, Pair, Two Pair, Three of a Kind, Straight, Flush, Full House, Four of a Kind, Straight Flush, and Royal Flush. A flush always beats a straight, and a full house always beats a flush, regardless of the specific card values.
How many hole cards does each player get in Texas Hold'em? Two private hole cards, dealt face down and seen only by that player. These combine with five shared community cards (dealt across the flop, turn and river) to make each player's best possible five-card hand.
What are the four betting rounds in a hand of Texas Hold'em, in order? Pre-flop (after hole cards, before community cards), the flop (first three community cards), the turn (fourth community card), and the river (fifth and final community card) — each followed by a betting round before the next cards are dealt.

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