The ranking chart is the alphabet
Every player at every table knows the same nine categories, which means the chart itself carries no edge. What matters is what a category is worth against the range of hands an opponent can actually hold — and that is a question about frequency and position, not about the chart.
Hand 01The nine categories in order
Five cards make a hand, and every hand falls into one of nine categories. The categories are ordered by how likely they are to appear in a five-card deal, and the ordering never changes between variants. A straight flush beats four of a kind because there are far fewer ways to hold one, not because anybody decided it should be more exciting.
That scarcity is what the whole ranking rests on. The chart below shows the order with the number of distinct five-card combinations in each category, so the gaps are visible rather than assumed. Notice how heavily the deck is weighted toward the bottom: most hands that reach a showdown are a pair or worse, which is exactly why the categories above a pair are worth so much more than they feel.
Hand 02How two hands in the same category are compared
Two players holding a pair is not a tie. Hands in the same category are compared card by card, starting with the part that defines the category and continuing through the remaining cards — the kickers — in descending order. Two pair is compared by the higher pair first, then the lower pair, then the fifth card. A pair is compared by its rank, then by the three remaining cards in turn.
This is why a hand can be beaten by a very similar-looking hand and why the fifth card matters in a way that surprises new players. It is also why a hand that shares a category with another is not necessarily close in value: the difference between the best and worst possible pair is enormous, and both are called a pair.
| Category | Compared first by | Then by | What settles the last tie |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight flush | Highest card | — | Only the top card matters; suits do not rank. |
| Four of a kind | The quad rank | The fifth card | A single kicker decides. |
| Full house | The three | The pair | Nothing left to compare. |
| Flush | Highest card | Each next card in turn | Five cards, all compared in order. |
| Straight | Highest card | — | Ace may be high or low, never both in one hand. |
| Three of a kind | The trio | Both kickers | Kicker order matters. |
| Two pair | Higher pair | Lower pair | The fifth card is the only kicker. |
| Pair | The pair rank | All three kickers | Every remaining card counts. |
| High card | Highest card | Each next card | No pair at all; the last card can decide. |
Suits never rank
No suit beats any other suit in a showdown. A flush is compared by the ranks of its five cards, and if both players hold the same ranks in different suits the pot is split. Anyone who tells you otherwise is quoting a house rule from a different game.
Hand 03The chart is not the game
Because the ranking is public and stable, it is not information — it is vocabulary. The actual question in a hand is never what do I have but what does my opponent most likely have, and how does my hand compare with that whole set. A strong hand that is always beaten by everything an opponent would raise with is not a strong hand in that spot, and a weak hand that beats most of what an opponent could hold is doing fine.
That set of possible hands is what players mean by a range. It is a probability distribution over hands rather than a single guess, and it is the reason two experts can disagree about the same card on the same board without either being wrong. See pot odds for how a range turns into a price, and cash games for why position changes the range a player can bring to a seat.
- Nine categories
- Kickers settle ties
- Range over one guess
- Position changes ranges
Hand 04What the chart cannot tell you
A ranking chart tells you what beats what at a showdown. It does not tell you whether to put money in, how much, or when to stop. Those are questions about price, range and the structure of the game — and they are the questions a chart is silent on, which is why players who memorise the chart and nothing else stay beginners.
It also cannot tell you what your hand is currently worth in money, because that depends on how much is already in the pot, how much it costs to continue and what your opponent is likely to hold. See pot odds and false beliefs for the two places those mistakes are made most often.
- Learn the categories They are the alphabet; every player at the table already knows them, so they are never an edge.
- Count the kickers A tie inside a category is rare; most apparent ties are settled by the fifth card.
- Think in ranges A single guessed hand is a story. The set of hands an opponent can hold is a question you can reason about.
- Do not stop at the chart Ranking says who wins a showdown, not whether the money that went in was a good decision.
Where the tables and the fee meet
The room is paid out of every pot regardless of who wins it. The fee schedule is published, capped or not, and it is the one number that is certain about a session.
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