Royal Flush – A, K, Q, J, 10 all in the same suit.
Straight Flush – Five cards in a row, all the same suit.
Four of a Kind – Four cards of the same rank.
Full House – Three of a kind + a pair.
Flush – Five cards of the same suit (not in sequence).
Straight – Five cards in a row (any suits).
Three of a Kind – Three cards of the same rank.
Two Pair – Two separate pairs.
One Pair – Two cards of the same rank.
High Card – If no one has any of the above, the highest single card wins.
Some poker variants are played with short decks, where certain cards are removed. The most common are:
32-card deck – Remove 2–6, leaving 7 through Ace. Straights still count, but A–7–8–9–10 is the lowest straight.
36-card deck – Remove 2–5, leaving 6 through Ace. Lowest straight is A–6–7–8–9.
In all stripped decks, a Flush beats a Full House, otherwise the standard rankings apply.
In most poker games, Aces still count as high or low and can be used to make a low straight, ie A–7–8–9–10.
In Manilla, Aces are high only and cannot make a low straight.
In split-pot games like Omaha Hi-8, the pot is divided between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand.
To qualify for the low: hand must be 8 or lower, five unpaired cards.
Straights and flushes don’t count.
Aces are low for the low side, high for the high side.
Best low: A-2-3-4-5 (the wheel).
Next best: A-2-3-4-6, then A-2-3-5-6, and so on up to 8-7-6-5-4.
If no player has a qualifying low (five cards 8 or lower, unpaired), the entire pot goes to the high hand.
Razz / California Lowball are low hand games (lowest hand wins).
Straights and flushes don’t count against you.
Aces are always low.
Best possible hand: A-2-3-4-5 (“the wheel”).
Pairs are bad, because you want five unpaired low cards.
Example Rankings:
A-2-3-4-5 (best)
A-2-3-4-6
A-2-3-5-6
…all the way down to K-Q-J-10-9 (worst).
2-7 is a low hand game (lowest hand wins).
Straights and flushes do count against you.
Aces are always high.
Best possible hand: 7-5-4-3-2 (not all the same suit).
Pairs are bad, because you want five unpaired low cards.
Example Rankings:
7-5-4-3-2 (best)
7-6-4-3-2
7-6-5-3-2