Poker Straight Ranking
Poker Hand Rankings Almost all variants of poker are based around a poker hand that’s made up of 5 cards. It is these 5 cards that determines who the winner is. Therefore, it is critical that you understand the ranking order of poker hands so that you know how strong your poker hand is compared to your opponents. Standard Poker Rankings. A standard deck of cards has 52 in a pack. Individually cards rank, high to. If two players have a straight flush then the highest card wins. The highest possible straight flush, and the best hand in poker, is an ace high straight flush, also known as a royal flush. A “ royal flush” consists of a straight from ten to the ace with all five cards of the same suit.
A made straight with all cards of the same suit qualifies as a straight flush or royal flush, both of which stand higher in the poker hand rankings than the standard straight. The ten-to-ace straight displayed above is sometimes referred to as a broadway straight.
Straight Poker Hand Ranking
What is Straight? In Poker, Five cards in a sequence is called Straight.
A♠K♥Q♣J♥10 is the highest (Ace high) straight
A♥2♣3♠4♦5♥ is the lowest (Five high) straight.
A straight is a hand that contains five cards of sequential rank, not all of the same suit, such as 8♣ 7♠ 6♠ 5♥ 4♥ (a 'Eight-high straight'). It ranks below a flush and above three of a kind. Under high rules, an ace can rank either high (as in A♦ K♣ Q♣ J♦ 10♠, an ace-high straight) or low (as in 5♣ 4♦ 3♥ 2♥ A♠, a five-high straight), but cannot simultaneously rank both high and low (so Q♠ K♠ A♣ 2♥ 3♦ is an ace-high hand).
Under deuce-to-seven low rules, an ace always ranks high (so 5♥ 4♠ 3♥ 2♣ A♦ is an ace-high hand). Under ace-to-six low rules, an ace always ranks low (so A♣ K♠ Q♠ J♦ 10♠ is a king-high hand). Under ace-to-five low rules, straights are not possible (so 10♥ 9♠ 8♣ 7♣ 6♦ is a ten-high hand).
Each straight is ranked by the rank of its highest-ranking card. For example, J♥ 10♥ 9♣ 8♠ 7♥ ranks higher than 10♠ 9♠ 8♣ 7♥ 6♠, which ranks higher than 6♣ 5♠ 4♥ 3♠ 2♦. Straight hands that differ by suit alone, such as 9♣ 8♣ 7♣ 6♦ 5♦ and 9♠ 8♠ 7♠ 6♥ 5♥, are of equal rank.
An ace-high straight, such as A♣ K♣ Q♦ J♠ 10♠, is called a Broadway straight,while a five-high straight, such as 5♠ 4♦ 3♦ 2♠ A♥, is called a baby straight, bicycle or wheeland is the best possible hand in ace-to-five low games (where it is a high card hand, not a straight).
Straight Hand Probabilities
If you are dealt five cards, there are 4 × 10 = 40 possible straight flushes ( 4 × 9 = 36 if you exclude royal flushes) out of the ( 52 5 ) = 2598960 possible hands. So the probability is 40 / 2598960 = 1 / 64974 ≈ 0.00001539.
The probability of getting straight increases if you can have more than 5 cards to choose from. The probability that somebody will have a straight flush will increase if the number of players increases. It may reduce if you might drop out of the betting before seeing all five cards.
Poker Rankings Chart
