HAND RANKINGS

The following is the ordering of hands, along with a few simple definitions. The strongest hand wins. This ordering is from weakest to strongest.

In some cases, the kicker card breaks a tie.  This applies when two players have the same winning pair or two pair.  The kicker card is the best high card after the pair.

Straights are determined by the high card. For example, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 beats 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Where there are two flushes in a hand, the highest different card determines the winner. For example, a spade flush of K, Q, 10, 4, 3 beats a spade flush of K, Q, 9, 4, 3. In Hold'em and Omaha, where there are shared board cards, this scenario happens on occasion. In 7 Card or 5 Card Stud, where there are no shared cards, it is possible for there to be flushes from different suits. In poker, there is no ordering of suits. Therefore, a spade flush of K, Q, 10, 4, 3 ties a club flush of K, Q, 10, 4, 3.

You can see many more definitions in our poker glossary.

BADUGI: DETERMINING HAND VALUES

In Badugi the aim of the game is to hold a lower hand than your opponent holds. Aces are considered the lowest card in the deck; therefore A234 (all off suit) is the best possible hand in the game.

Badugi
A Badugi is a 4-card hand with no pairs and none of the same suit. Examples of Badugi’s would be 2345, 2467, A358, all with none of the same suit. The best possible Badugi is A234 all off suit as there is no other possible hand lower than this.

Paired Hands:
If you hold a hand such as A244 (all different suits) then your hand value is really A24 as you can only use one of the cards you have paired. This is known as a three-card hand.
Other examples would be A224 that is finally A24, KKQJ that is finally KQJ, KJ55 that is finally KJ5. A Badugi beats any 3 card hand.

Similarly a hand such as A222 would only hold a final value of A2, a two-card hand, as the other 2 cards are counterfeited. A three-card hand beats any 2-card hand. Other examples of 2 card hands would be A444, AA88, 7766, 5669 etc.

Suited hands:
Suited hands work similarly to paired hands. If you hold a hand such as A456 (where both the 5 and 6 are hearts) then you should choose to play the lower of the two suited cards. In this example then you would hold A45 as the 6 is counterfeited. Other examples would be As9d5s8h where the final value would be A98 as the 5s is dropped. 3h4s9dKh where the final value would be 349. JhQdK2d where the final value would be 2JK.

Suited and paired hands:
Occasionally you may be dealt a hand containing both pairs and suited cards. This is usually not a good situation to be in as it means your final hand value will be very weak. For example, KhKc9cTs would have a final value of 9cTsKh as the King of clubs is counterfeited. Other examples would be:

Therefore double suited double-paired hands are not good starting hands.

Another rare example would be when you hold 4 of a kind, e.g. 4444 or 9999 giving you a final hand value of either 4 or 9 respectively. This is known as a 1-card hand and is the worst possible type of hand to hold.

Furthermore, you could be dealt a hand such as KdKcJdJc where the final value would be either KcJc or KdJd. NB: there is no ranking of suits. So for example you could hold KhJhKcJc versus your opponent’s KsJsKdJd, whereby both of you have a final value of KJ, therefore resulting in a split pot.

Order of hand value from best to worst:

NB: If at a showdown there are 2 Badugi’s or 3 card hands or 2 card hands or 1 card hands obviously the lowest one will win. E.g. Ah2s3d4c beats 3h4d5s6c, and 3c3s7d9c beats 3d8d8s9h, and 4c4d6c6d beats 5s8s8h5h, and 4444 beats 5555.

Multi-way pot example:
Player 1 holds 3h5s7d9c
Player 2 holds 7s7h5c6d
Player 3 holds 3h4s7c8s
Player 4 holds AhAs4dTs

Player 3 would win this pot as he/she holds the lowest hand with a 3478 Badugi. Although player 1 also holds a Badugi 3579, player 3’s is lower.