Texas Hold'em Poker Hands
Top 10 Best Hold'em Hands. Pocket aces is the best starting hand in poker. When you're dealt pocket aces you've got the best hand pre-flop, period. One of the best. Ace King Suited. Hands like King Jack suited straddle that fine line between strong and marginal holdings. Although it looks quite nice, K J suited is best played as a speculative hand, or one which can be played fast when it fits the board perfectly, and ditched without a care when it doesn't. Poker Starting Hands - Comprehensive guide to which poker hands you should play, including a 2020 Texas Hold'em poker starting hands chart.
The game of poker is played as a series of betting rounds that culminate with the best hand, or the last remaining hand, winning the pot. To understand what constitutes the best poker hand, one must understand the poker hands ranking system. In most versions of poker, the highest ranking hand wins. The exceptions to the rule are versions of poker which are structured specifically to allow the lowest ranking hand to win the pot, or at least part of it.
Poker games vary in the number of cards dealt to each player, and in the number of shared 'community' cards. However, when it comes to poker hands ranking, the different versions of the game agree in the determination which is the strongest combination of cards. Players form their best possible poker hand by using some (or all) of their 'pocket' cards, and some (or all) of the 'community' cards. These rankings are good for Texas Hold'em and for Omaha Poker as well.
The starting hands in poker - the two hole cards seen only by each player - have earned popular poker hand nicknames. Check our colorful infographic below to see a full list of poker hands slang terms.
Abbreviations used in the examples below: Ace (A); King (K); Queen (Q); Jack (J); Spades (s); Hearts (h); Clubs (c); Diamonds (d). The hands are listed in rank from highest to lowest.
| Royal Flush: The highest possible poker hand is a Straight Flush from 10 up to the ace. Example of a Royal Flush: 10s, Js, Qs, Ks, As |
| Straight Flush: A Straight Flush is five cards in sequence all being of the same suit. In the case of two players holding a Straight Flush hand, the one with a higher top card would be ranked higher. Example: 7d, 8d, 9d, 10d, Jd. An ace can also be counted as a low card in a 5-4-3-2-A sequence, in which the five is considered the high card. This is the lowest possible Straight Flush. |
| Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank, with suit being irrelevant. Example: Jc, Jd, Jh, Js. If two players have Four of a Kind, also known as 'quads', the higher one wins. If two players have the same Four of a Kind, the winner is determined by the 'kicker', or 5th card in the hand. The higher 'kicker' would determine the winner in that situation. |
| Full House: Three cards of one rank together with two cards of another rank. When more than one full house is present in a hand, the one with the highest ranking group of three wins. A Full House is also known as a 'boat.' Example: Qh, Qs, Kd, Kc, Kh. This hand in this example is said to be 'kings over queens' or 'kings full of queens'. |
| Flush: Five cards of the same suit, but not consecutive. When more than one Flush is involved in a hand, the one with the highest card wins. Example: As, 5s, 7s, 9s, Js. The Flush in this example is 'ace high' and it would beat a flush with the king of spades as its highest card. If both Flushes have the same highest card, then the second highest card is compared. If necessary, the third highest is compared, or the fourth-highest. |
| Straight: Five cards in sequence, but not of the same suit.. When more than one Straight is involved in a hand, the one with the highest card wins. Example: 8, 9, 10, J, Q; suit is irrelevant. An ace can be taken as either high or low (but not both high and low in the same hand). The lowest possible Straight is 5, 4, 3, 2, A, which is also known as the 'wheel'. |
| Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank, with two other unequal cards. Also known as 'triplets' or 'trips'. Example: Kh, Kd, Kc. In the event of two hands with Three of a Kind, the higher Three of a Kind wins. If both hands have the same Three of a Kind, the hand with the highest side card, or if necessary, the second-highest side card wins. |
| Two Pair: Any two cards of a matching rank together with two cards of another matching rank. If two hands have Two Pairs each, the hand with the highest pair wins. When more than one hand has two pairs of the same rank, the hand with the highest card outside the paired cards (the 'kicker') wins. Example: Jc, Jh, Qs, Qd |
| One Pair: Two cards of the same rank. In case two hands have One Pair, the highest pair wins. When more than one hand has a pair of the same rank, the hand with the highest card outside the pair wins. Example: 10c, 10s |
| High Card: When players have none of the above combinations, the hand with the highest card wins. The highest High Card is an ace. If two hands have the same High Card, the hand with the highest side card wins. If necessary, the third card in each is compared, and so on. Example: 4h, 6c, 8s, 10d, Qh. In this example, the High Card is the queen. |
The above table represents examples of standard poker hands ranking. If you're playing a home game and throw in a wild card or two, you'll have to come up with another poker hands ranking table. Does five of a kind beat a royal flush when you play with wild cards? The possibilities are endless. Let's stick to standard poker play for now.
Poker Hands Nicknames
Many starting hands in poker have earned for themselves nicknames, however, no one sitting at the table is ever going to declare, 'I just got pocket rockets' when the cards are dealt. The various card combinations have forged for themselves popular poker nicknames that have become part of the lingo of the game, even if the nicknames are only said out loud by commentators and spectators after a hand has finished. Take a look at poker infographic and our list of poker hands slang terms and let us know if we missed your favorites.
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<p><strong>Starting Poker Hands Slang Terms</strong></p> <p><a href='http://www.titanpoker.com/games/hands-ranking.html' ><img src='http://www.titanpoker.comhttp://cachewww.titanpoker.com/sites/default/files/pictures/Starting-Hands_0.jpg' alt='Starting Poker Hands Slang Terms ' border='0' /></a></p> <p>
Poker has featured on the silver screen on many occasions but very few movies manage to reproduce realistic hands. One famous hand took place in the 2006 remake of Casino Royale, a James Bond film first launched in 1967; Ian Fleming's book hit the shelves 14-years earlier in 1953.
The original Casino Royale saw James Bond take on the villain of the movie, Le Chiffre, in a game of high stakes baccarat. The 2006 reboot, directed by Martin Campbell, saw baccarat swapped for a $10 million buy-in winner-takes-all No-Limit Hold'em tournament with $5 million rebuys.
As poker hands go, the final hand in the 2006 Casino Royale is as unrealistic as they come, despite Campbell hiring a professional poker player to assist them the poker scenes. It is beautifully shot thanks to the editor Stuart Baird telling Campbell to 'shoot everything he could possibly think of, especially eyes, looks, close-ups'. The hand itself is a very stereotypical Hollywood poker hand.
Polygon interviewed Campbell and other key personel recently and it's apparent he was please with how the poker scenes of his movie panned out.
Best Hands In Poker
'I think the sequence was pretty convincing. What you realise is it's not just the card games – it's the stakes. It's also two guys eye-f****ing one another, basically. That was the secret.'
Campbell revealed he spent countless hours watching gambling classics, including The Cincinnati Kid, in an attempt to learn the nuances of poker on TV. He enlisted the help of veteran producer Michael G. Wilson as an informal poker consultant as Campbell strived for the ultimate in poker authenticity.
Best Hands In Poker Texas Holdem
Tom Sambrook was drafted in a the film's poker consultant. Sambrook was a regular at The Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London, better-known as The Vic, where he'd won the £2,525 buy-in European Poker Championships in 2002 for £120,000. Sambrook answered the call in 2005 by which time he'd only amassed an additional £16,380 from nine more tournament cashes.
The actors underwent tuition from Sambrook who showed the actors, including Daniel Craig (James Bond) and Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) how to compose themselves at the table, and how to handle chips and cards.
Sambrook told Polygon he had an input in how the final, infamous hand, played out.
'I put in [the script] that Bond does the teaser re-raise, inducing the big all-in. It took maybe six weeks to get that up to martin Campbell […] I said, ‘You've got to read this because most people won't know or care, but there will be hardcore poker players that will just say, ‘They've done it again. Why can't they get this stuff right?''
The didn't get 'this stuff' right despite Sambrook's apparent expert advice.
The final hand sees four players remaining in the tournament, including Bond and Le Chiffre, and all four have made it to the river of the board. Player 1 moves all-in for $6 million, Player 2 calls all-in with his last $5 million putting $35 million in the pot.
Le Chiffre raises to $12 million before Bond shoved for $40.5 million. Le Chiffre eventually calls off his remaining $27.5 million in chips and the cards are revealed.
Player 1: for a flush
Player 2: for a full house
Le Chiffre: for a better full house
Bond: for a straight flush – what else would the film's hero have?
The hand is flawed on many levels. You can argue a case for Player 1 and player 2 because they're just super-rich people playing poker. Not for Le Chiffre who is billed as a mathematical genius and an elite poker player.
The final hand sees four players remaining in the tournament, including Bond and Le Chiffre, and all four have made it to the river of the board. Player 1 moves all-in for $6 million, Player 2 calls all-in with his last $5 million putting $35 million in the pot.
Le Chiffre raises to $12 million before Bond shoved for $40.5 million. Le Chiffre eventually calls off his remaining $27.5 million in chips and the cards are revealed.
Player 1: for a flush
Player 2: for a full house
Le Chiffre: for a better full house
Bond: for a straight flush – what else would the film's hero have?
The hand is flawed on many levels. You can argue a case for Player 1 and player 2 because they're just super-rich people playing poker. Not for Le Chiffre who is billed as a mathematical genius and an elite poker player.
Le Chiffre, holding only the second-best full house could have folded, leaving himself $27.5 million to Bond's $87.5 million and still be in with a chance of winning the $115 million pot he so desperately needed. Surely Le Chiffre would duck out of the way and fight Bond with a 3:1 chip deficit heads-up, instead he calls a three-way all-in in a hand he is basically never going to win.
Don't think people fold full houses? Search on YouTube for Roberto Romanello correctly folding jacks full to Mike Matusow at the 2008 World Series of Poker.
Sambrook conceded the final hand was unlikely to happen in a real game, however.
'It's not representative of an average hand. But the thing about hold'em is it does create these factories of madness. That's why I love the game. It creates this very close, explosive situation. Once you've got a board with cards that close together, everyone's thinking about the house, everyone's thinking about the flush, everyone's thinking about the straight. And in there is the sick feeling, Christ, does one of these guys have a straight flush?'
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sambrook hasn't cashed in a live event since November 2009 although he has some pretty cool memories of playing cards with legitimate movie stars.
Free Hold Em Poker
'I played my last game literally as the wheel of the plane hit the tarmac in Heathrow. I won with king-high, it was just fantastic.'
