Basics of Poker – Understanding the Poker Hands
Players who are just starting with learning poker would have to start right at the basics and begin with first learning the ranks of the various hands. Understanding the ranks and memorizing the hands would allow you to get acquainted with the game. Once you know the basic poker hands you can then proceed and learn the other rules of the game.
The Traditional Ranks
In most variations of poker, the ranks of the hands are as listed below:
Royal or Straight Flush
A royal or a straight flush is five cards in the same suit in sequence. The royal flush would consist of A K Q J 10 in the same suit and cannot be beaten by any other hand.
Four of a kind
Four of a kind would be four cards with the same rank and one kicker. An example of this type of hand would be 5 5 5 5 K. If there is a tie then the card with the four of a kind with the highest value would win.
Full house
Full house is a hand where there are 3 cards with the same rank on FullTiltPoker and the other 2 cards would be a different pair. An example of this type of hand would be 4 4 4 J J. If there is a tie then the 3 cards of the highest value would win the hand.
Flush
A flush is five cards with the same suit. The highest ranking card would win if there is a tie. If needed, the second highest card can also be used as a tie breaker. The suit would never be considered as a tie breaker.
Straight
A straight is 5 cards in a sequence like 3 4 5 6 7. These cards can be of different suit and the highest ranking card can be used as a tie breaker. The ace can be used either at the beginning or at the end of the sequence but never in the middle.
Three of a kind
Three of a kind means 3 cards with the same rank with two kickers. The highest ranking of the 3 matching cards would act as a tie breaker.
Two Pairs
A hand which has two different pairs of two matching cards along with a kicker is known as a two pairs. The highest value of the pair would win in case of a tie. If the highest pair is the same then the value of the second highest pair would be considered.
Pair
A pair is the hand which has one pair of two matching cards. The other three cards would be unrelated. The highest ranking pair would win the hand and if the pair is the same then the highest value kicker would act as a tie breaker.
High card
A high card would be a hand which does not fall into any of the FullTiltPoker.com categories given above. It would have five cards which do not match and are not of the same suit. The value of the highest ranking card would be considered as a tie breaker.