FAQ
What beats what in poker?
Short Answer
From best to worst: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, then high card. This order holds across nearly every standard poker variant.
Detailed Explanation
Poker hands are ranked by how statistically rare they are to be dealt, not by how many cards are involved or how they look. A full house (three of a kind plus a pair, five cards total) beats a flush (five cards of one suit) because full houses are rarer, even though both hands use exactly five cards.
The full order, with the rarest hand first: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. See our complete hand rankings guide for examples of each and how ties are broken.