Straight Flush: Five cards of the same suit in sequence - such as
9 ,
8,
7,
6,
5. If there are two straight flushes at showdown, the one with the highest card is the winner. An ace can be counted as either the highest card or the lowest card, thus
5,
4,
3,
2,
A is a straight flush (the lowest possible straight flush), but its top card is the five, not the ace.
Four of a Kind: (Also called Quads.) Four cards of the same rank -- such as four jacks. If there are two four-of-a-kinds, the one with the higher numerical card rank is better -- so four Jacks is better than four Eights.
Full House: A full house consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank -- a three-of-a-kind and a pair. If there are two full houses, the full house with the higher three-of-a-kind is the better hand. Thus, 6-6-6-2-2 is better than 5-5-5-K-K. If both hands have the same three-of-a-kind, then rank of the pairs would determine the higher hand.
Flush: Five cards of the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the highest non-shared card determines which hand is better. Thus, the highest card of the suit that is unique to one of the hands makes that hand higher. Thus,
A,
Q,
T,
4,
2 beats
A,
Q,
9,
8,
2 because the Ten is higher than the Nine. It is irrelevant if the next card in the first hand (the Four) is lower than the next card in the second hand (the Eight).
Straight: Five cards of mixed suits in sequential order. Thus,
T,
9,
8,
7,
6 is a Ten-high straight. When comparing two straights, the one with the higher top card is better. Remember, the Ace can count as either high or low in a straight.
Three of a Kind: (Also known as a Set or Trips.) Three cards of the same rank plus any two other cards. When comparing two Sets, the hand with the higher Set is better. Thus, 7-7-7-3-2 beats 6-6-6-A-3. If two hands have identical Sets, then the hand with the higher remaining cards (the kickers) is better.
Two Pairs: A hand in which there are two pairs of cards (of different ranks) and an extra card. If there are two hands that are both Two Pairs, the hand with the highest pair is better, regardless of the rank of the second pair. Thus, Q-Q-3-3-2 is better than J-J-T-T-2, because the Queens are better than the Jacks. If the higher pairs are equal, the lower pairs are compared, and if both pairs are the same, the fifth cards are compared (the kicker card), and the hand with the higher kicker is better.
Pair: A hand with two cards of equal rank and any three other non-matching cards. If two hands have a pair, the hand with the higher pair is better. If the pairs are equal, then the three remaining kicker cards are compared, and the hand with the highest kicker card is the winner.
High Card: Five cards which do not form any of the hands listed above. When comparing two such hands, the one with the highest card is the better hand.
