The short answers
Every matchup below is settled by one principle: the rarer hand wins. The order never changes in standard Texas Hold'em, Omaha or five-card poker. Short Deck uses a modified order — see the note at the end.
| Question | Answer | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Does a flush beat a straight? | Yes | Flushes: 5,108 combinations. Straights: 10,200. The flush is twice as rare. |
| Does a full house beat a flush? | Yes | Full houses: 3,744. Flushes: 5,108. |
| Does three of a kind beat a straight? | No — the straight wins | Trips: 54,912 combinations. Straights: 10,200. |
| Does a straight beat two pair? | Yes | Two pair is far more common: 123,552 combinations. |
| Does two pair beat one pair? | Yes | Always, regardless of which pairs. |
| Does a flush beat a full house? | No — in standard poker the full house wins | This reverses in Short Deck only. |
| Does four of a kind beat a full house? | Yes | Quads: 624 combinations against 3,744. |
| Does an ace-high flush beat a king-high flush? | Yes | Same category, highest card decides. |
Does a flush beat a straight?
Yes. A flush is five cards of the same suit; a straight is five cards in sequence of mixed suits. Out of 2,598,960 possible five-card hands there are 5,108 flushes and 10,200 straights, so the flush is almost exactly twice as rare and therefore ranks higher. The confusion usually comes from the fact that on a specific board a straight can feel more "obvious". Rarity across all hands, not the current board, sets the ranking.
Does three of a kind beat a straight?
No. The straight wins. This is the single most common ranking mistake among new players, because three of a kind feels powerful when you flop it. The numbers: 54,912 combinations make three of a kind, only 10,200 make a straight. Trips are more than five times as common, so they rank below. The practical lesson matters more than the trivia — when you hold a set on a board showing four connected cards, you are frequently beaten.
Does a full house beat a flush?
Yes in standard poker: 3,744 full house combinations against 5,108 flushes. The one important exception is Short Deck (6+ Hold'em), where removing the low cards makes flushes rarer than full houses — 480 against 1,728 in a 36-card deck — so most Short Deck rulesets promote the flush above the full house. That inversion applies only to Short Deck; in Hold'em, Omaha and standard five-card poker the full house always wins.
What happens when two players have the same hand category?
The category is only the first comparison. Within a category, poker compares card ranks in a fixed order until one hand is higher. Suits never break ties in standard poker.
| Both players have | What decides the winner |
|---|---|
| A pair | Higher pair; if identical, the highest kicker, then second, then third |
| Two pair | Higher top pair, then higher second pair, then the single kicker |
| Three of a kind | Higher trip rank, then the two kickers (rarely relevant in Hold'em) |
| A straight | Higher top card of the run — Q-J-T-9-8 beats J-T-9-8-7 |
| A flush | Highest card; if equal, the second card, and so on down all five |
| A full house | Higher three-of-a-kind rank first; the pair only matters if the trips tie |
| Four of a kind | Higher quad rank, then the kicker |
| A straight flush | Higher top card; the ace-high version is the royal flush |
When does the kicker actually matter?
A kicker is any card in your best five that is not part of the made combination. It matters only when the combination itself ties. You hold A-9, your opponent holds A-7, and the board is A-K-4-3-2. Both have a pair of aces. Your five-card hand is A-A-K-9-4 against A-A-K-7-4, so your nine plays and you win. Now the board is A-K-Q-J-2. Both of you play A-A-K-Q-J — the fifth card is the board's jack for both. The pot is split; your nine never enters the hand. The general rule in Hold'em: your kicker only counts if it is high enough to beat the fifth-best card on the board. This is why A-2 and A-K are very different hands even though both "have an ace".
Split pots and playing the board
Poker always uses exactly five cards. If the best five cards available to two players are identical in rank, the pot is split evenly — suits do not break the tie. Three situations produce a split. First, identical hand values with different hole cards, as in the kicker example above. Second, the board itself is the best hand for both players: a board of A-K-Q-J-T means everyone who has not folded plays a broadway straight and the pot is shared. Third, a straight or flush that both players complete with the same top cards. A related trap: in Texas Hold'em you may use zero, one, or both hole cards. In Omaha you must use exactly two — which is a different game and a different set of arguments.
The two exceptions worth knowing
Short Deck (6+ Hold'em): flush beats full house in nearly all rulesets, because the shortened deck makes flushes rarer. Some house games also promote three of a kind above a straight — that one is not frequency-based and is not universal, so confirm it. Lowball and hi-lo games: in games such as Omaha Hi-Lo or 2-7 lowball, part or all of the pot goes to the worst hand under a defined low ranking, so "what beats what" is inverted for that half of the pot. Neither exception applies to a standard Hold'em table.
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