was initially played extensively on riverboats.

It’s also called a “full boat” or simply “boat,” perhaps reflecting the fact that poker in the U.S. This oddly-named hand may have received its moniker by virtue of being the first full five-card hand, prior to the introduction of the straight flush.

The full house is a combination of three of a kind and a pair. The rank of quads follows the standard rank of cards, so that quad kings is higher than quad queens, and so on. Is four or quad aces, and is the highest possible four-of-a-kind hand in no-limit hold’em. Four of a kindĪlso known as “quads,” this hand is comprised of four cards of the same rank. Note that unlike some card games such as bridge, the suit of flushes and straight flushes does not matter in hold’em that is, a royal flush in spades has the same value as a royal flush in hearts. Thus the royal flush beats all other straight flushes. If two players both hold a straight flush, the winner is determined by the rank of the highest card. The grand-daddy of all hold’em hands is the highest possible straight flush, known as a royal flush: It consists of five cards all of the same suit that are consecutive in rank. The highest hand in hold’em is the straight flush. We’ll give some additional examples of such hands once we’ve described the rank of hands. We can use both our hole cards, one of them, or simply “play the board” if the five community cards gives us our strongest hand. In no-limit hold’em specifically, we are always looking to make our best five-card hand from the seven total cards that are available to us: the five “board” or “community” cards dealt in the center of the table, and our two hole cards. As we just noted, some poker hands are won simply because all but one player chooses to “fold.” When this is not the case, the winner is determined by who has the strongest hand according to the list below.

Most forms of poker share a common list of hand rankings. The next section looks at the ranking of hands in no-limit hold’em. While pots can be won in no-limit hold’em without having the best hand, we still need to know what beats what. The only time hands are compared to see who has the winner is when no more betting is possible, and the hand has reached showdown. To win the pot in poker, you do not need the best hand? You can win simply because everyone else has folded.

Texas hold em poker rules list