Taking Chances The Right Way

Those who adore Bluegrass are quite familiar with the line “In a game of chance the other night, Old Dame Fortune was a-doin' me right” – well, everyone can get as lucky as the legendary Tex Williams only if they know their hands. This alone explains the importance of Poker Hand Ranking; therefore, to ensure that “the kings and queens just kept on comin' around”, one must understand thoroughly the six types of Poker hand ranking, irrespective of whether it’s Poker per se or its variations like Chinese Poker, Chicago, casino Poker Menteur or Pai Gow Poker. So let’s get started with the basics and slowly we will explain the six types followed by the highest to lowest Poker Hands. But before all that, let’s get to know the cards.

The 52-Page Millionaire Manual

A total of 52 cards are found in a pack, the highest being the Ace and followed by the King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. Divided equally in 4 sets (13 x 4 cards), each of the sets is called a suit that has its own symbol and color. The suits have no ranking between themselves; this makes the king of one symbol (e.g. diamonds) equal with the king of another. This is the rule of Standard Poker Hand Ranking that consists of a total of 5 cards and 10 different variations that are again categorized into higher and lower. It is important in casino gambling. The categories are enlisted below in a descending manner:

The Poker Rulebook

·         Royal Flush: The highest among all poker hands, it is a combination comprising the ace, king, queen, jack and ten of the same suit. Royal Flushes are always equal because so are the suits.

·         Straight Flush: This hand comprises five cards from the same suit in a sequence (e.g. Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7), the winning hand being the one containing the higher top card. The ace is considered low; therefore, in a straight flush like 5, 4, 3, 2, A, the five is the highest.

·         Four-Of-A-Kind: This occurs when four cards out of five are of the same rank (e.g. four aces or four kings) and the fifth one is from any other symbol. Also known as "quads", the determining factor is the set of higher cards (e.g. 3, 3, 3, 3, A shall fall short in front of 4-4-4-4-2).

·         Full House: Three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank make a full house with the three cards determining the winner. However, if the threes are equal, the pairs come to play. In uk casino you can get some difference in full house.

·         Flush: This comprises five cards from the same suit and the highest card determines the higher hand.

·         Straight: Five cards from mixed suits but in sequence; therefore, though A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid, 2-A-K-Q-J is not. The lowest sequence would be 5-4-3-2-A.

·         Three Of A Kind: Three cards from the same rank plus two any other cards makes this combination which is also known as Triplets. Thus 5-5-5-3-2 shall beat 4-4-4-K-Q, however, if the sets of three are of equal rank, the higher of the remaining cards are compared. 

·         Two Pairs: Two cards of equal rank form a pair and the hand with the highest pair wins. In case both the pairs are same, odd cards are compared to decide the winner.

·         Pair: As the name signifies, it is a hand comprising two cards of equal rank and three other dissimilar cards. If the pairs are equal, the highest-ranking odd cards are taken into consideration.

·         High Card: A haywire combination different from all the above-mentioned sequences, it’s the one with the highest card that wins.

Aside from all the ten, a hand can also be formed using a wild card (a substitute, e.g. the joker) as per the will of the holder; it might as well be a duplicate of a card that’s already in the sequence but must be stated in prior.