http://www.thgong.com It's time to be a Texas Hold'em winner! Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:54:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.thgong.com/articles/learning-poker-lesson-6-poker-hand-ranking-and-evaluation/ http://www.thgong.com/articles/learning-poker-lesson-6-poker-hand-ranking-and-evaluation/#comments Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:34:12 +0000 mark http://www.thgong.com/?p=22 Before you start playing poker, you need to know how to evaluate your cards (hands). In order to do that, you must learn all poker combinations and the value of the cards. There are ten possible combinations you can get in poker (A combination of 5 cards). They are from the lowest to highest as follows:

1. The lowest combination is called high card – it may sound good, but it isn’t. High card means that you have five not related cards. In case tall players did not manage to form other combination, the winner is determined by the ranking of the cards. For example, A, K, 10, 7, 5 beats A, Q, 10, 8, 5 since A –K is higher than A – Q.
2. One pair is the next combination and it consists of 2 cards of the same rank and 3 not related cards. If two players have the same pair, the winner is determined by the cards which are not related.
3. Two pair is a combination consisting of 2 cards of one rank, 2 cards of another rank and one card which is not related. The higher rank determines the superior pair and the winner. In case two players have the same higher pair, the second pair ranking determines the winner. In case that these two players have the same two pairs, the winner is determined by the rank of the card which is not related. If they are also the same, the pot is to be split between the two players.
4. Three of a kind is a combination consisting of 3 cards of the same rank and 2 cards which are not related. It is also called set, triplets, or trips.
5. Straight is a hand which consists of 5 consecutive cards of mixed suits. For example, Q of hearts – J of spades – 10 of diamonds – 9 of diamonds – 8 of clubs (queen-high straight) will beat 10 of spades – 9 of spade – 8 of diamonds – 7 of spades – 6 of clubs (10-high straight).
6. Flush is a hand which consists of any 5 cards of the same suit which are not in sequence. If they were, the hand would be a straight flush. If two players managed to form a flush, the highest card ranking order determines the winner. For example, A-Q-J-7-6 of spades is higher than A-Q-J-5-4 of clubs;
7. Full house is a hand consisting of one three of a kind and one pair. The hand is also called full boat. The ranking of the triplets determine the full house. For instance, 10 of spades, 10 of hearts, 10 of clubs, 9 of diamonds and 9 of spades are to be called 10’s full of 9’s.
8. Four of a kind is a hand consisting of four cards of one rank and one not related card. For instance, Jack of spades, Jack of diamonds, Jack of clubs and Jack of hearts and 10 of spades. Four Queens beat four Jacks. The hand is also called quads.
9. Straight Flush is a hand consisting of 5 consecutive cards of the same suit such as 8, 9, 10, J, Q; 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 etc.
10. Royal flush is nothing but an ace high straight flush and it is considered the best poker hand since it is the highest. There are four possible royal flush combinations: 10, J, Q, K, A of any of the suits.

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