Learning a proper poker cheat sheet is essential to becoming a successful poker player. The card game has surged in popularity in recent decades thanks to the rise of online play at top poker sites.
And, by getting to know poker hand rankings with our poker cheat sheet, you’ll be a step ahead of the competition.
If you are new to the game, or looking to swat up on poker hand rankings, we’ve got all you need to know. We’ll break down all the poker hands ranked from highest to lowest, so you know exactly what you need to do to apply poker tournament strategy and win more hands than you lose.
Poker Hand Rankings: Cheat Sheet
Most poker variants are played with a standard deck of 52 cards. Poker hand rankings are based on the rarity of the hand. The rarer a hand is, the more value it holds as you can see with our poker cheat sheet.
These are the poker hand rankings used in the most common games, such as Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and Stud. Below is a chart that ranks poker hands from highest to lowest with examples.
| Rank | Poker Hand | Description | Example |
| 1 | Royal Flush | A, K, Q, J, 10 of the same suit | A♠K♠Q♠J♠10♠ |
| 2 | Straight Flush | Five cards in sequence, all of the same suit | 9♥8♥7♥6♥5♥ |
| 3 | Four of a Kind | Four cards of the same rank | K♣K♦K♥K♠3♣ |
| 4 | Full House | Three of a kind and a pair | Q♠Q♣Q♥8♠8♦ |
| 5 | Flush | Five cards of the same suit (not in sequence) | 2♣6♣8♣10♣K♣ |
| 6 | Straight | Five cards in sequence, different suits | 10♦9♣8♠7♥6♣ |
| 7 | Three-of-a-Kind | Three cards of the same rank | 7♠7♦7♣Q♦2♥ |
| 8 | Two Pair | Two different pairs | A♠A♦9♣9♠5♣ |
| 9 | One Pair | Two cards of the same rank | 4♠4♣K♥9♦2♠ |
| 10 | High Card | If no player has a pair or better, the highest-ranking card wins | A♣10♠8♦6♥4♠ |
It is essential to memorize poker hand rankings from highest to lowest, so you know exactly what you’re dealing with. This will allow you to make the best decisions when you are playing.
It is also helpful to remember that some poker variants, such as lowball, may have different hand rankings. However, the above rankings will be used for the vast majority of games.
Knowing poker hand rankings while applying a good poker strategy will help greatly help you improve your game.
Texas Hold’em Poker Hand Rankings
Texas Hold’em is by far the most popular variant of poker. millions of people play it and it is widely played at the biggest poker tournaments around.
As a result, we’ve got the full list of Texas Hold’em hand rankings here.
Lowball Poker Hand Rankings
In Lowball poker, the goal is to have the lowest-ranking hand. In other words, you want to make the absolute worst hand possible.
No flush, no full house, you won’t even want to make a pair. The hands are ranked differently than in traditional games and our poker cheat sheet.
The basic thing to do is flip the hand ranks upside down and look at them in reverse. So a royal flush would be the absolute worst hand you could make in lowball, and 7x,5x,4x,3x,2x with no flush would be the best hand, as you only have seven-high.
Split-Pot Lowball Poker
In Split-Pot Lowball poker, the pot is split between the player with the highest-ranking hand and the player with the lowest-ranking hand. The highest-ranking hand is determined using the traditional poker hand rankings.
The lowest-ranking hand is determined using the Lowball poker hand rankings. After the betting rounds, the players go to a showdown—half the pot to the high hand and half the pot to the low hand.
Short Deck Poker Hand Rankings
Short Deck Poker is a variation of Texas Hold’em that uses a 36-card deck. All of the two’s through five’s are removed from the deck. This changes the poker hand rankings slightly.
The removed cards change how rare it is to make certain hands, and it is actually rarer to make a flush than a full house in short deck. Therefore, a flush beats a full house.
The only other change is that unlike in standard Hold’em where the lowest straight would be five-high or Ax,2x,3x,4x,5x, the lowest straight in short deck is a nine-high straight or Ax,6x,7x,8x,9x. This can be tricky to catch on to, but it is very important to remember that the ace can still be high or low.
Poker Starting Hands
When you first start playing poker, you may be tempted to play every hand to the very end. However, it is important to be selective about which hands you play.
Certain starting hands are better than others. Here are a few of the best poker starting hands for Texas Hold’em and 5-card draw poker.
Texas Hold’em Starting Hands
- Ace-Ace (Pocket Rockets): This is the best possible starting hand in Texas Hold’em.
- King-King (Cowboys): This is the second-strongest starting hand.
- Queen-Queen (Ladies): This is a good starting hand but less strong than Ace-Ace or King-King.
- Ace-King (Big Slick): This is a strong starting hand, especially if the Ace and King are of the same suit.
5-Card Draw Poker Starting Hands
The hand rankings in five-card draw are the same as those in Texas Hold’em. With a royal flush being the highest, all the way down to a high card.
However, you will have limited opportunities to make big hands. Flushes and straights are rare in five-card draw, while a hand like two pair or trips is considered very, very strong.