Poker Hand Rankings And Odds
Not only are the hand rankings modified but so are the mathematics and odds/probabilities of the majority of hands. Before we talk about the odds and probabilities of some of the hands, let’s have a look at the hand rankings offered in Six Plus Hold’em (ranked from the highest hand to the lowest): Six Plus Hold’em Hand Rankings Comparison.
- In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high games, like Texas hold 'em and seven-card stud, the highest-ranking hands win.
- Poker Hand Rankings - Texas Holdem Starting Hands Chart At the bottom of this page is a comprehensive listing of Texas Hold'em starting hands based on their EV (expected value). Expected value is the average number of big blinds this hand will make or lose.
Poker is a very technical casino game and you can easily be overwhelmed if you are just starting out. There are different variations of online poker games each with slightly different rules.
However, the ten different types of hands you can make are constant.
Finding an easy way for a beginner to learn these hands will help you get started quickly. With this poker hand cheat sheet, you’ll get an overview of all the poker hands you can make.
Poker Hand Odds Chart
While there will be slight variations as you play different poker games, this should not deter you from getting started with the basics.
Highest value hands in Poker – the Flushes
Each hand in poker is made up of five cards. Depending on the game variant, players can make that hand from different numbers of their own and community cards.
Poker hands are ranked in value and the rules that govern the content of each hand are the same:
- The highest value hand is the Royal Flush – a straight run of five cards with values from 10 to Ace all in the same suit.
- Straight Flush is the next highest – all cards are from the same suit and run sequentially, e.g. 6 to 10 of spades or 9 to K of diamonds.
Middle value hands in poker
After the Flushes, there are several other hands that you can form to hit a win in poker. In order of value, they are:
- Four of a Kind – which involves four cards of the same rank but different suits.
- A Full House – which is a combination of three of a kind and a pair.
- A Flush – five cards from the same suit, not in any sequence.
- A Straight – five cards in a sequence, but not from the same suit.
- Three of a Kind – three cards with the same rank, but from different suits.
Lowest value hands in poker
The last three poker hands are the lowest-ranked and are:
- Two pair – Two different pairs with all cards being from any suit.
- Pair – two cards of the same rank but different suits.
- High card – This is only used when you have not made any of the hands previously described.
Poker Hand Odds Calculator
In this case, the highest card in your hand is played. One other point to remember is that if you play the same hand as the dealer, the value of the cards within that hand determines the winner.
For example, if both have four-of-a-kind, then four kings would win over four sixes.
Poker hand odds
To successfully apply what you have learnt, you need to understand the odds of different hands in various poker games.
Generally, poker hands are played with 5 cards, however, there are some variants that use 7 cards. These games have higher odds for making specific hands compared to 5-card poker, although not in all cases.
For a Royal flush, a 5-card poker game has odds of this occurring of 0.00015% compared to 0.0032% in a 7-card poker game.
However, the odds of getting a high card are 50.1% in a 5-card poker game compared to 17.4% in 7-card poker.
Using Poker tools
There are different forms of poker tools you can use to improve your skill. The most popular type is the poker simulator.
This tool mimics a real poker round, however, you will be playing against a computerized dealer.
The good thing is that it is free. Another poker tool is the Propoker tool. This is an equity calculator for various versions of poker games.
If you want a tool made for beginners, you can check out the Hold’em Poker trainer. This simple tool provides you with free online exercises to practice ranking hands, making the best hand, and more.
Poker Hand Cheat Sheet Conclusion
This poker hand cheat sheet is going to be helpful when playing in the real world of poker but there is one other important thing to bear in mind. That is positional play, which relates to your position at the table in relation to the dealer.
The three positions are termed early, middle, and late.
The early position is usually considered to be the first three seats to the left of the dealer and is considered weak. The middle position is considered better since it offers the opportunity to play based on what the early position players have. The late position is the strongest as you’ll have seen all other players’ actions.
However, when playing poker online, you play against the dealer only, regardless of whether you are playing virtual or live poker games.
For beginners, having a good grasp of the different poker hands and their respective rankings will stand you in good stead. This is where our poker hand cheat sheet will come in handy and help you get ahead.
Of course, the more you play the more familiar you’ll become with the different hands. Then you can test out your skill for free using some of the online poker tools available, before playing for real money at your favorite casino site.
FAQs
How do you score hands in poker?The top 10 hands:
1. Royal flush – A, K, Q, J, 10, all the same suit.
2. Straight flush – Five sequenced cards in the same suit.
3. Four of a kind – Four cards with the same rank.
4. Full house – Any three of a kind with a pair.
5. Flush – Five cards with the same suit that’s not in a sequence.
6. Straight – Five sequenced cards that’s not of the same suit.
7. Three of a kind – Any three cards with the same rank.
8. Two pair – Two pairs of different ranks and suits.
9. Pair – Two cards with the same rank.
10. High Card – None of the above but you have the highest card.
It’s an Ace-High Royal Flush or Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten with the same suit.
What hands should you always play in poker?Any big pocket pair, high cards like Ace, King, Queen, and Jack. Always play big-suited connectors and big-connectors off suit.
One of the games that have seen a flurry of interest over the last few months is Six Plus Hold’em, also referred to as Short Deck Poker.
Six Plus Hold’em is an exciting and fun poker variant based on Texas Hold’em where the game is played with a deck of 36 cards as opposed to the usual 52 cards in traditional hold’em. Deuces through fives are removed from the deck giving the game its name Six Plus Hold’em/6+ or Short Deck Poker.
Aces are played both low and high, making both a low-end straight A6789 and the high JQKTA. Also, with a shortened deck, the game changes a bit in terms of hand rankings and rules. A Flush beats a Full House and in most places where Six Plus is offered, a Set or a Three-of-a-Kind beats a Straight.
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Because the low cards are removed, there are more playable hands compared with traditional Hold’em, and so it is more of an action-orientated game. Not only are the hand rankings modified but so are the mathematics and odds/probabilities of the majority of hands.
Before we talk about the odds and probabilities of some of the hands, let’s have a look at the hand rankings offered in Six Plus Hold’em (ranked from the highest hand to the lowest):
Six Plus Hold’em Hand Rankings Comparison
| Traditional Hold’em | 6+ Plus Hold’em (Trips beat Straight) | 6+ Plus Hold’em (Straight beat Trips) |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | Royal Flush | Royal Flush |
| Straight Flush | Straight Flush | Straight Flush |
| Four of a Kind | Four of a Kind | Four of a Kind |
| Full House | Flush | Flush |
| Flush | Full House | Full House |
| Straight | Three-of-a-Kind | Straight |
| Three-of-a-Kind | Straight | Three-of-a-Kind |
| Two Pair | Two Pair | Two Pair |
| One Pair | One Pair | One Pair |
| High Card | High Card | High Card |
One may wonder why a Flush is ranked higher than a Full House or why Three-of-a-Kind is ranked above a Straight. That’s because in Six Plus Hold’em, a Flush is harder to make since there are only nine cards in each suit instead of thirteen. Similarly, the stripped-deck also means that the remaining 36 cards are much closer in rank and so there will be smaller gaps between the cards in the hand and those on the board. This increases the probability of a hand becoming a Straight and hence Straights are ranked higher than a Three-of-a-Kind.
However, it is worth noting that the rules vary from game to game. For example, in the Short Deck variant offered in the Triton Poker Series, a Straight is ranked higher than a Three-of-a-Kind like in traditional hold’em even though mathematically a player would hit a Straight more.
One of the reasons why an operator would rank a Straight higher than Three-of-a-Kind is because it would generate more action. If Trips were ranked higher, a player with a Straight draw would have no reason to continue the hand as he or she would be drawing dead.
Let’s take a look at the odds/probabilities of hitting some of the hands:
Six Plus Hold’em vs Traditional Hold’em (Odds and Probabilities comparison)
5 Card Poker Hand Ranking
| Traditional Hold’em | Six Plus Hold’em/Short Deck Poker | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting Dealt Aces | 1 in 221 (0.45%) | 1 in 105 (0.95%) |
| Aces Win % vs a Random Hand | 85% | 77% |
| Getting Dealt any Pocket Pair | 5.90% | 8.60% |
| Hitting a Set with a Pocket Pair | 11.80% | 18% |
| Hitting an Open-Ended Straight by the River | 31.50% | 48% |
| Possible Starting Hands | 1326 | 630 |
As you can see in the table above, the odds of being dealt pocket Aces are doubled as you now get the powerful starting hand dealt once in every 105 hands, as opposed to once in every 221 hands with a full 52-card deck. However, the probability of winning a hand with aces vs a random hand decreases from 85% in traditional hold’em to 77% in Six Plus Hold’em.
The probability of hitting a Set with pocket pairs increases to 18% from 11.8%, and the probability of hitting an open-ended Straight by the River also increases to 48% in 6+ Hold’em compared with 31.5% in traditional Hold’em.
Let’s now have a look at some of the pre-flop all-in hand situations:
Six Plus Hold’em vs Traditional Hold’em (Hands Comparison)
| Hand All-in Pre-Flop | Traditional Hold’em | 6+ Hold’em (Trips beat Straight) | 6+ Hold’em (Straight beat Trips) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ac Ks vs Th Td | 43% vs 57% | 47% vs 53% | 49% vs 51% |
| Ac Ks vs Jc Th | 63% vs 37% | 53% vs 47% | 52% vs 48% |
| As Ah vs 6s 6h | 81% vs 19% | 76% vs 24% | 76% vs 24% |
As mentioned earlier, the equities run very close to each other with the shortened deck and so a hand like Ace-King versus Jack-Ten is almost a coin-flip, whereas the former is a favorite in Texas Hold’em. Again, a hand like Ace-King versus a pocket pair like Tens is a coin-flip in 6+, whereas a pocket pair is a slight favorite in normal Hold’em.
Now, let’s take a look at the probabilities when a connected or wet Flop is dealt:
Player 1: Ac Ks
Player 2: Td 9h
Flop: Kh 8c 7d
| Traditional Hold’em | 6+ Hold’em (Trips beat Straight) | 6+ Hold’em (Straight beat Trips) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player 1 vs Player 2 | 66% vs 34% | 52% vs 48% | 48% vs 52% |
In traditional Hold’em, Ace-King is a favorite with 66% and Player 2 is chasing the Straight draw with a close to 34% chance of hitting it. However, the probability significantly changes in both variants of 6+ Hold’em. In a variant where Trips beat a Straight, Player 1 is only a slight favorite with just 52% (more like a coin-flip). However, in a Short Deck game where a Straight beat Trips, Player 2 is now slightly favorite with 52% chance of hitting a Straight by the river.
Another hand:
Player 1: As Ah
Player 2: Qd Jh
Flop: Ad Th 9s
| Traditional Hold’em | 6+ Hold’em (Trips Beat a Straight) | 6+ Hold’em (Straight beat Trips) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player 1 vs Player 2 | 74% vs 26% | 100% vs 0% | 68% vs 32% |
It’s pretty clear when it comes to normal Hold’em, but in a Short Deck variant where Trips beat a Straight, Player 2 is drawing dead as opposed to the other variant where Player 2 still has a 32% of chance of completing a Straight by the River.