Marek Sowinski

Texas Hold'em Hands: Full Ranking Order From High Card Up

There are only 10 possible texas holdem hands, yet most players still hesitate at showdown when two similar boards collide. This guide ranks every hand from weakest to strongest, explains ties and kickers, and gives you a chart you can check mid-session. If you're still building your opening ranges rather than reading a finished board, our starting hands guide covers that decision instead.

The Texas Holdem Hands Hierarchy, Ranked

The texas holdem hands hierarchy runs from a single high card up to the royal flush, and every hand you make at showdown falls into one of these 10 categories. I've watched new players misread a flush against a full house more than once, so it's worth memorizing this order cold rather than guessing at the table.

Texas Holdem Hands List, Weakest to Strongest
Rank	Hand	Example
10	High Card	A-K-9-6-3, no pair
9	One Pair	Two 8s plus three other cards
8	Two Pair	Two Kings and two 4s
7	Three of a Kind	Three Queens
6	Straight	5-6-7-8-9, mixed suits
5	Flush	Five hearts, any rank order
4	Full House	Three Jacks and two 7s
3	Four of a Kind	Four 10s
2	Straight Flush	6-7-8-9-10, same suit
1	Royal Flush	10-J-Q-K-A, same suit

Among the strongest texas holdem hands, the royal flush sits alone at the top since it can't be tied within the same suit. Everything below it, however, can produce close calls, and that's where kickers and tie-break rules decide the pot.

How Ties and Kickers Actually Work

Texas hold em hands are built from the best five cards out of seven, so when two players share the same hand type, the unused cards — the kickers — break the tie. Suppose both players hold two pair, Kings and 4s; whoever has the higher fifth card wins the pot outright.

Flushes compare card-by-card from the highest down, not by suit. A full house is ranked by its three-of-a-kind portion first, so trip Queens with a pair of 2s beats trip Jacks with a pair of Aces every time. Straights simply compare the top card of the run.

Quick Tie-Break Rule

When hand types match, compare from the highest card down. Suits never break ties in standard Texas Hold'em — only rank does.

How Many Different Texas Holdem Hands Are There?

There are exactly 10 hand categories in the texas holdem hierarchy, but the number of possible five-card combinations within them runs into the millions. A standard 52-card deck produces 2,598,960 unique five-card combinations, and roughly half of those land as no pair or one pair. That's why premium hands like a full house or better feel rare — statistically, they are.

Knowing this ranking cold matters more once the board gets active. Deciding whether your two pair is worth a call against a scary board, though, is a strategy question — our hand strategy guide walks through those decisions in detail.

Tools That Help You Read a Live Hand

Most players learn the hierarchy through repetition — playing hands, reviewing showdowns, and slowly building pattern recognition. Some also use tracking software like Hand2Note or PokerTracker to review past sessions, or study solvers such as PioSolver away from the table to sharpen decisions before they sit down. Others look at in-the-moment assistants; NZT Poker, for example, is one option worth exploring if you want a live pot-odds and equity calculator layered on top of your hand-reading, though it's worth knowing it runs on rooms where real-time assistance breaks the terms of service, so treat that account risk as part of the decision. If you'd rather stick to the fundamentals first, our poker variants guide is a good next stop for seeing how hand rankings shift across game types.

Texas holdem hands ranking chart from high card to royal flush — The full texas holdem hands hierarchy, from high card up to royal flush.

Want a Closer Look at Live Hand Tools?

NZT Poker offers in-hand pot odds and equity readouts, if that's the kind of support you're after.

See NZT Poker Features

Once the ranking order feels automatic, the harder skill is applying it under pressure — reading what your opponent's bet size says about their own hand. That's a separate, deeper topic, but it starts with knowing exactly where you stand in the hierarchy first. For the canonical rule set, see the standard list of poker hands.

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Texas Hold'em

Texas Hold'em: Rules, Hands, Betting & Strategy

Guide

How to Play Texas Hold'em: Complete Beginner Walkthrough

What are Texas Hold'em hands?

Texas holdem hands are the five-card combinations players make from their two hole cards and the five community cards. Every hand falls into one of 10 categories, ranked from high card up to royal flush, and the highest-ranked hand wins the pot at showdown.

What hands beat what in Texas Hold'em?

The order runs high card, one pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush, then royal flush. Each category beats every category below it regardless of the specific cards involved, so a low flush still beats the highest possible straight.

How many different Texas Hold'em hands are there?

There are 10 distinct hand categories in Texas Hold'em. Within those categories, a standard deck can form 2,598,960 unique five-card combinations, which is why rarer hands like four of a kind show up far less often than one pair or two pair.

What is a flush in Texas Hold'em?

A flush is five cards of the same suit that aren't in sequential order, such as five hearts of mixed ranks. It ranks above a straight and below a full house, and ties between two flushes are broken by comparing card ranks from highest to lowest.

What is a full house in Texas Hold'em?

A full house combines three cards of one rank with two cards of another rank, like three Queens and two 7s. It ranks above a flush and below four of a kind, and when two players both hold a full house, the higher three-of-a-kind portion wins.

What is a straight in Texas Hold'em?

A straight is five cards in consecutive rank order across at least two suits, such as 5-6-7-8-9. Aces can play high or low, but a straight can't wrap around, so K-A-2-3-4 isn't valid. It ranks just below a flush.

What are the best Texas Hold'em hands?

The royal flush is the single best hand possible, followed by a straight flush and four of a kind. These top three are rare enough that most players go entire sessions without seeing one, which is part of why they're so valuable when they appear.