Poker hands are always formed with five cards. Regardless of how many cards are available in a game, you can only ever use five of them to form your hand.

For example:

This is a poker hand consisting of five cards. This one happens to be a pair, but we'll get to that later.

Each card has both a suit, and a rank. The suit is one of clubs, diamonds, hearts, or spades. Unless you have five cards of the same suit, a flush, the suits of your cards are irrelevant.

The rank starts at the number 2 and goes up to 10, followed by a Jack, Queen, King and Ace, which have the values 11, 12, 13, and 14 respectively. Higher ranks are generally higher valued.

There are several types of hands, which will be explained below. There is an ordering to the types as a whole, the person with the better hand wins.

High Card

This is the lowest value hand. It really isn't a hand per se, but rather it is what you have when you don't have any other hand.

In this case, your hand is determined by the highest card in your hand. That is, if two people have this hand, the person with the highest card wins. If the highest card is the same, then the next highest card is compared.

For example:

These are both High Card hands. Both players' highest card is a King (K♦ and K♣), thus we consider the next card. J♠ is rank 11, and Q♠ is rank 12, thus the second player wins.

If the second card is also the same then comparison continues on to the third card, fourth card, and fifth card if necessary. If the rank of all the cards is the same then the hands are equivalent. The suits are, as always, not considered.

This rule of going to the next card is the same for all other hand types. If two people share the same hand then the ranks of the cards are compared.

One Pair

If you have two ranks of the same value in your hand you have a pair. This is a hand with a pair:

This is referred to as a Pair of Sevens. One pair beats High Card. If two people both have a pair, then the person with the higher rank for the pair wins. If the rank is the same for both, then, as usual, the next highest card is considered.

Here the second player wins, his Pair of Eights is higher than the Pair of Seconds.

Two Pair

A hand which contains two matching sets of two cards is called Two Pair. For example:

Is two pair, normally referred to as Sevens and Fives. Two Pair beats One Pair. If two people have two pair, then the higher values pairs are compared, the one with the higher rank winning.

Three of a Kind

If you have three cards of the same rank, then you have three of a kind.

This hand is a Three of a Kind, referred to as Three Sevens. Three of a Kind beats Two Pair. As usual, if two people have a three of a kind, the rank of the matching cards is compared.

Straight

Five cards with a consequence rank is called a straight. For example:

This is a 8-High Straight. A Straight beats Three of a Kind. If two people have a straight, then the highest valued card in the straight is compared.

Note that an ace A♠ A♥ A♦ A♣ may be used as either a high or low card in a straight.

In the first hand the A♠ was used as a rank one card to complete a 5-high straight. In the second hand the ace was used as its normal rank 14 to complete the ace-high straight.

Flush

The flush is only one of two hands where the suit of the cards is important. If you have five cards which are all the same suit, regardless of their rank, you have a flush.

This is a Jack-High Flush. A Flush beats a Straight. If two people have a flush, then the hands are compared like High Card: the person with the highest card wins.

This flush beats the previous flush. Both hands have a Jack high, followed by a ten. Thus we go to the third cards, where the 9♣ is higher than the 8♠.

Full House

It is possible to have both a pair, and three of kind in your five cards. If you have this, then you have a Full House.

This is a full house, called Sevens over Fives. A Full House beats a Flush. If two players have a full house, then the value of the three matching cards is compared.

Four of a Kind

If you should be so luck as to have four cards of the same rank, then you have four of a kind.

This is called Four Tens. Four of a Kind beats a Full House. If two people should happen to have four of a kind, the ranks of the matching cards are compared.

Straight Flush

The most rare hand. If you have both a straight and a flush combined, you have the straight flush.

This is a King-High Straight Flush. The Straight Flush beats Four of a Kind. If two people, however unlikely, should have the straight flush, the player with the highest ranking card wins.

Note that an Ace-high Straight Flush is commonly called a Royal Flush though it is not a distinct hand type.

Five of a Kind

This special hand is only possible in games which use a wildcard and is thus not common in the most commonly played games.

Practice

This is enough information for you to jump into playing our hand recognition games. You're best bet is to start with the basic hand comparison game.