List of poker hands

In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game.^[1] Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot.^[2] In high games, like Texas hold 'em and seven-card stud, the highest-ranking hands win. In low games, like razz, the lowest-ranking hands win. In high-low split games, both the highest-ranking and lowest-ranking hands win, though different rules are used to rank the high and low hands.^[3][4]

Each hand belongs to a category determined by the patterns formed by its cards. A hand in a higher-ranking category always ranks higher than a hand in a lower-ranking category. A hand is ranked within its category using the ranks of its cards. Individual cards are ranked, from highest to lowest: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2.^[5] However, aces have the lowest rank under ace-to-five low or ace-to-six low rules, or under high rules as part of a five-high straight or straight flush.^[6][7] Suits are not ranked, so hands that differ by suit alone are of equal rank.^[8]

There are nine categories of hand when using a standard 52-card deck, except under ace-to-five low rules where straights, flushes and straight flushes are not recognized. An additional category, five of a kind, exists when using one or more wild cards. The fewer hands a category contains, the higher its rank.^[9] There are ${\displaystyle {\begin{matrix}{\frac {52!}{(52-5)!}}=311{,}875{,}200\end{matrix}}}$ ways to deal five cards from the deck but only ${\displaystyle {\begin{matrix}{\frac {52!}{(52-5)!5!}}=2{,}598{,}960\end{matrix}}}$ distinct hands, because the order in which cards are dealt or arranged in a hand does not matter.^[10] Moreover, since hands differing only by suit are of equal rank, there are only 7,462 distinct hand ranks.^[11]