To understand what are Poker Hands and their immense importance, we need to unravel how the game is played. Many games are played under the name of Poker. However, the fundamental principle of all the game remains the same. In laymen terms, Poker could be a simple card game where players put a wager on their hand.
A hand is a set of five playing cards formed by players based on a pre-defined set of rules. The players are generally not allowed to see the distributed cards in the initial rounds and can see only their hand as the game proceeds.
These Poker Hands are ranked on a set principle, and this is a fixed entity in Poker. The players put wagers on their hands and try to outwit each other through bluff and other techniques in their desire to win the game.
According to a pre-defined rule, there are ten types of hand in a game of Poker. These hands are ranked as per the different combinations made from all the four suits. These hands are:
A royal flush is an unbeatable hand. A royal flush is made out of Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10 of the same suit. It is one of the best and rarest hands that can be created. It is also referred to as the “absolute nuts” since it wins over all other combinations. In Poker variants that don’t include community cards, it is possible for more than one player to get Royal Flush hands. In this case, the ranking is based on the suit, in alphabetical order. Clubs is the lowest suit, followed by diamonds, hearts, and then spades. So, a Royal Flush of spades is the highest hand in poker.
Straight Flush can be defined as five cards in sequential rank i.e. a Straight Flush needs to contain all the five cards from the same suit; however, various sequences are allowed. A straight flush can also be made of an A, 2,3,4,5 and 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or any combination of cards having consecutive rankings and the same suit. A Straight flush can only be beaten by another Straight flush.
Four of a Kind is also known as a quad. In this type of Poker Hands, the same rank from four different suites appears in your pack along with one different card. For example, Aces of all the suites appear in your hand along with one different ranked card from any suite.
A Full house is another one of the rare Poker Hands. This combination contains two cards of a similar rank, whereas the remaining three cards are of the same rank. For example, if your hand contains two aces and three kings, then your hand will be called a Full House. A full house is also known as Full Boat or Boat.
A Flush is similar to a straight flush. It contains all the five cards from the same suit. However, the only difference between Flush and Straight Flush is that in a Flush all the five cards are not in any kind in sequential order. For example, A, 10, 5, J, 7 of Diamonds suite will be called as a flush.
A Straight is similar to Straight Flush in terms of ranks, i.e. all the five cards are in sequential order in Straight. However, the significant difference between a Straight and a Straight Flush is that all the major cards in a straight are not of a similar suite. For example, A of Clubs, K of Diamonds, Q of Hearts, J of Spades and 10 of Clubs can be one of the examples of a Straight. In even simpler terms when all the cards of a Poker Hands are in sequential ranks but belong to different suites, then such a combination is called a Straight.
In three of a kind Poker Hands, also known as trips or a set, three cards are of a similar rank. The other two cards can be of any rank and suit. For example, Three A from any of the Clubs, Diamonds and Spades along with two random cards can be one of the examples of Three of a Kind.
Two Pair is one of the lowest-ranked Poker Hands. In this type of Poker hand, a player gets two cards from a similar rank whereas another two cards belong from another same rank. The only remaining card is of another rank. For example, A, A, K, K, two will be one of the examples of Two Pair.
One Pair which is also known as just Pair in simpler terms is a scenario in which the user gets only one Pair of cards which similar rank. The One Pair or Pair is the second-lowest ranked Poker Hands in the game. For example 2, 2,4,5,9 will be one of the examples of a pair.
A High Card or no pair is the least favourable hand in the entire game. A high card means that no kind of combination has occurred in the card. The various players also define it as Nothing and suggest that a High Card is simply a hand which is Nothing else. For example, A, 6, 4, J, 8 is one such example of Nothing, which is the language of Poker Hands is known as High Card.