Official poker hand rankings with cheat sheet

Hand rankings in online poker

Many online poker games such as Texas Hold’em and Omaha use different hand rankings. The below image shows the traditional Poker hand rankings to help you learn the game faster.

Poker games use 52 cards and the ranking of the individual cards goes from high to low as follows: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. There is no ranking between the suits for the purpose of comparing hands. If there is a King of Diamonds and a King of Hearts, they are both equal. However, suit ranking is at times used for other purposes including seat allocations, deciding who bets first and allocating the odd chip when splitting a pot.

A poker hand is made up of five cards. You receive the first 2 cards and then you must build a hand from the community cards on the table. Any hand that is in a higher category beats one in a lower category such as a three of a kind always beats any two pairs.

Ranking of suits

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As already mentioned, there is no ranking of suits in poker for the comparison of hands. If two hands are identical except for the suits of the cards, then they are both considered as equal. If there are two highest equal hands in a showdown, the pot is divided between the two. Standard poker rules do state a hierarchy of suit as follows: Spades (highest), hearts, diamonds, and clubs (lowest) which is used to break ties in special circumstances such as:

• Allocation of players to seats or tables
• Who bets first in stud poker depending on the highest or lowest upcards
• Allocating a chip when a pot cannot be split exactly between two or more players.

Split pot and the kicker

When you have two or more poker players reaching showdown with a hand that is of equal value, then the pot is split and each player gets the same amount. Split pots are quite common in Texas Hold’em, since five out of the available 7 are identical for all players. If the last two cards are of the same rank, or are not necessarily required to form the best possible hand, then the pot is automatically split. Same goes for both players starting with similar hands. The result is always a split pot.

The Kicker determines who wins a showdown, when two players have the same identical hand. It is not a key component in creating a hand, but it ultimately determines who wins if players have similar hands.

A hand is made up of 5 cards, but only a straight, flush, full house and straight flush use all 5 cards. When situations arise when not all cards are needed to make the hand, such as the case with a three of a kind or a two pair, the remaining cards can be pivotal.

No unbeatable hand

In standard poker games, a Royal Flush can never be beaten even if you introduce suit ranking. The Royal Flush is the highest suit available.

If you are a beginner, it might be best to keep a copy of the poker cheat sheet in this article as a reference. You can download the image and open it when you are playing poker to keep track of which hands beat others.

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