Poker Hand Rankings
Stanley Majors

Poker hand rankings are one of the most important aspects of any
poker game. When playing online poker, especially fast online
poker games such as Texas Holdem Poker, you need to be able to
quickly discern which cards are needed to create a better poker
hand.

Beginners often find themselves losing their first few games by
not being able to identify which cards offer the best
opportunities to build a really strong hand. It's fairly simple
to understand the poker hand rankings if you just take a little
time to study them.


Remember that when you're playing Texas Hold'em poker you are
trying to create the best 5-card poker hand from a total of 7
cards. There are 2 hole or pocket cards and 5 communal cards. You
may use any combination to create your best hand. You may even
use all five communal cards.


These are the Poker Hand Rankings :

Royal Flush : This hand is unbeatable, the highest ranking hand
possible. A Royal Flush is made of 5 cards of the same suit, Ten
through to Ace. Ten; Jack; Queen; King; Ace - must be the same
suit.

Straight Flush : This hand is not as strong as the royal flush
but just as rare. A straight flush made up of 5 consecutive cards
of the same suit. For example 6-10, 3-7 or Ace-5 (an ace can play
both high and low in straights)

Four-of-a-kind : This refers to any hand containing four similar
cards, such as 4 Kings, 4 Tens, or 4 threes.

Full House : A full house occurs when you have Three-of-Kind and
a Pair. For instance, 3 sevens and 2 fives forms a Full House.

Flush : A flush is any five cards of the same suit. The cards may
be in any order, if they were in succession it would be a
straight flush.

Straight : A Straight is five cards of any suit in succession.
Straights are very common in Holdem Poker.

Three-of-a-kind : This is any three similar cards of any suit.
For instances 3 kings, 3 seven or 3 fives.

Pair : This is the most common winning hand. A pair is two
similar cards of any suit. For example, 2 aces, 2 jacks or 2
fours.

Now that you have a clear understanding of how poker hands rank,
try playing free poker online.

There are many great online casinos available. Go to Trident
Poker and download their excellent free online poker software.

Once you have downloaded the software you can play for free until
you feel confident enough to play for real money...

Read more: Poker Hand Rankings. Stanley Majors is an experienced
online poker journalist who writes articles on a range of poker
topics. His numerous articles found on Texas Holdem Net, provide
useful and factual poker information and insight.


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