Building a Winning Hand in Poker

No matter which version of poker you are playing, the game mechanics are always the same. You are dealt a series of cards against other players, or the house, and whoever has the most valuable hand wins that round. Poker, whichever variation you are playing, is the simplest game, in terms of wins or losses. When you are sitting at the table, or looking at your screen for online gaming, you want to be certain you are setting up a win you can easily walk away with. Yes, you can bluff a poor hand, but being able to identify you have a winning hand will make your win streak that much higher. Here is the list of the hands for poker in their ranking order.

A Pair

These are two cards that have the same face value. These do not have to be matching colors; the face of each card just has to match. While this is better than nothing, there are multiple hands which are higher than a pair and your chances of winning with just this are slim.

Two Pairs

Same as a single pair, these are two sets of pairs that have the same face value. It is slightly better than holding just a pair, but there are other hands which can ensure your win.

Three of a Kind

This hand contains three cards of the same face value. If there is another person who is also holding a three of a kind set then the person with the highest card value wins the hand.

A Straight

A straight hand contains all five cards in numerical order. This hand does not require that the cards are the same suit.

A Flush

For this hand, each card has to have the same suit. They do not have to be in numerical order.

A Full House

A full house contains a combination of three of a kind and a pair. For example: three Jacks and two cards with the face value of ten.

Four of a Kind

Similar to the pair or the three of a kind hand, the four of a kind has four cards with matching face values.

Straight Flush

The second highest hand you can hold in the game, a straight flush is the combination of the straight and flush hands. It is all of your cards in numerical order and in the same suit.

Royal Flush

This is the highest hand you can hold in any poker game. It is similar to the straight flush, but instead of the sequence starting from any number it must contain an ace, a king, the queen, a jack, and a ten card, all in the same suit. It is the highest hand to hold in the game due to its difficulty to accomplish in any poker game.

Now that you are aware of each of the hands available in a poker game, you can ensure your win ratio by working towards the best hand possible.

Mark Scheller has seen a poker game or two in his day. He could tell you which poker hands arewinners and which ones you should throw in the pile. Visit FullTiltPoker.com to see their range of online poker games.