Poker is played with a 52-card deck composed of four suits: spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. There are thirteen ranks in each suit.
The ace is the highest-ranking card, followed by the king and so on. In a split-pot game, an ace is also used as the lowest ranking card for forming a low straight or a low hand. In such “split” games, aces are like two cards in one, simultaneously the highest- and lowest-ranking card in the deck.
Hand rankings are arranged in order of probability.
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Royal Flush
Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace of the same suit
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Straight Flush
Straight with all five cards in the same suit.
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Four of a Kind
Four cards of the same number or face value ("quads").
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Full House
Three cards of one number or face value and two cards of another number or face value. If more than one player has a full house, the full house with the highest ranking three of a kind ("trips") wins.
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Flush
Five cards of the same suit. If there is more than one flush, the hand with the highest card(s) wins.
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Straight
Five cards in sequence. Cards can be in any suit. An Ace can be used in the highest straight (10, J, Q, K, A) and the lowest straight (A, 2, 3, 4, 5).
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Three of a Kind
Five cards in sequence. Cards can be in any suit. An Ace can be used in the highest straight (10, J, Q, K, A) and the lowest straight (A, 2, 3, 4, 5).
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Two Pair
If two players have two pair, the hand with the highest pair wins. If they have the same high pair, whoever has the second highest pair wins. If they have the same two pair, whoever has the highest fifth card ("kicker") wins.
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One Pair
Two cards of the same number or face value. If two players have the same pair, the highest outside card(s) wins.
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High Card
The hand with the highest card(s) wins.
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