• Odds Of Flopping A Flush In Texas Hold'em
• Odds Of A Flush In Texas Hold'em
• Odds Of Texas Holdem Hands
• Odds Of A Royal Flush In Texas Hold'em

Mathematics: Flushes & Straights: Simple Pot Odds: Implied Odds: Reverse Implied Odds. Watch SplitSuit's video on Flushes and Flush Draws for 8 hand histories involving strategy on playing flushes in Texas Hold'em. You are on the flop with a pretty decent flush draw. You have two hearts in your hand and there are another two on the flop. In Texas Hold'em, there are a total of 2,598,960 different five card poker hands. This includes the four royal flushes (Diamonds, Spades, Clubs and Hearts). So - the odds of hitting a royal flush would be 4/2,598,960, which would work out to 1/649,740. So, you should hit a royal flush every 650,000 hands that you play or so.

The probability of being dealt a royal flush is the number of royal flushes divided by the total number of poker hands. We now carry out the division and see that a royal flush is rare indeed. There is only a probability of 4/2,598,960 = 1/649,740 = 0.00015% of being dealt this hand. If you ever wanted to know some of the odds and probabilities of Texas hold'em poker, from the chances of flopping a flush (0.8%) or set (12%) to the odds of an overcard coming on the flop when.

Okay, so you know how to work out the odds for hitting a flush draw or a straight draw. In fact, every pot odds article you've ever read uses either a flush or a straight draw (or both if you're lucky) as their main example to help explain how it all works.

• The odds of hitting a flush draw on the turn are 4.2 to 1.
• The odds of hitting a straight draw on the turn are 4.9 to 1.

Easy stuff. But what if you're draw isn't a straight or flush draw? What about if your draw is a combination of both? Or how about if you're drawing to something unusual/random like four of a kind?

In this article I'll show you the method for working out the odds for uncommon draws in Texas Hold'em. I'll also throw in a bunch of examples for good measure.

The method for working out odds of random draws.

The method for working out unusual draws is exactly the same as the method for working out standard flush or straight draws.

You find out how many outs you have, then compare that number of outs to the number of cards that won't help you (e.g. “non-outs” : ”outs”).

Note: “Outs” are cards that will complete the draw you are chasing after. (e.g. if you are after the last Ace to make 4-of-a-kind, you only have 1 out).

The important part here is just find the number of outs you have. After you've figured that out, the rest is a doddle. If you're not familiar with the basic process, I'd highly recommend you have a read through the main pot odds article first. But for the rest of you, I'm going to use the following steps:

1. Find out how many unknown cards there are in total.
2. Find out how many outs we have.
3. Make ratio of outs to non-outs.
4. Simplify that ratio to make it easier to work with.

Examples of working out odds for different types of drawing hands.

1) Flush draw on the turn.

We'll start with something simple.

Our hand: A 2
Board: K 9 7 3

In this example, we have a flush draw, but we're on the turn instead of the flop. Therefore, there will be one less unknown card than usual to include in our workings out.

1. Total number of unknown cards = 46
• 2 cards in our hand.
• 4 cards on the board.
• 52 (total number of cards in a deck) minus 6 = 46.
2. Total number of outs = 9
• There are 13 hearts in the deck.
• 2 of them are in our hand.
• 2 of them are on the board.
3. Ratio = 37:9
• Out of 46 unknown cards, if we take away 9 outs we are left with 37 unwanted cards.
4. Simplified ratio = 4.1:1

Easy! The only difference that you have to remember in this example is that we are on the turn and not the river. As a result, there is one less “unknown” card left in the deck due to the fact that we can now see the turn card.

The majority of examples work out odds for when you're on the flop waiting for the turn, so I thought I'd do one for when you're on the turn waiting for the river.

2) Flush draw + inside straight draw on the flop.

Our hand: A 2
Board: K T Q

In this example we have a standard nut flush draw, but we also have an inside straight draw to boot.

1. Total number of unknown cards = 47
• 52 minus 5 cards we can see (2 in our hand and 3 on the flop).
2. Total number of outs = 12
• 9 hearts left in the deck.
• 3 jacks. Don't forget that the J has been included in the 9 hearts above for the flush draw.
3. Ratio = 35:12
• 47 - 12 = 35.
4. Simplified ratio = 2.9:1

The important part here is to remember that one of the jacks has already been included as an out for our flush draw. Many players make the mistake of believing that they have 9 hearts + 4 jacks, thinking they have 13 outs instead of 12.

Always double check to make sure that you're not including your outs twice when they can overlap like in this example.

3) Flush draw + 3-of-a-kind draw on the turn.

Our hand: A 2
Board: K 9 7 2

Odds Of A Royal Flush Texas Holdem

Let's say that we are confident that our opponent only has a pair or two-pair at best. Therefore, if we can improve our pair of twos to 3-of-a-kind, we will be able to win the hand (as well as if we are able to make a flush).

1. Total number of unknown cards = 46
2. Total number of outs = 11
• 9 hearts left in the deck.
• 2 twos.
3. Ratio = 35:11
• 46 - 11 = 35.
4. Simplified ratio = 3.2:1

This one's pretty straightforward. There are 2 twos left in the deck, and neither of them are hearts so we don't have to worry about these 2 outs overlapping with our flush draw outs.

4) Straight draw on the flop, and flush cards do not help us.

Our hand: Q J
Board: K T 2

In this example we have a common open-ended straight draw. However, the problem is that there is also a flush draw on the flop. We are confident that our opponent has either top pair (or better) or a flush draw. This means that we are not interested in continuing with our hand if another spade comes on the turn. Therefore, the A and 9 are not going to be considered as outs.

1. Total number of unknown cards = 47
2. Total number of outs = 6
• 8 straight draw outs in total (4 nines and 4 aces).
• Minus the A and 9 = 6.
3. Ratio = 41:6
• 47 - 6 = 41.
4. Simplified ratio = 6.8:1

Thanks to the flush draw cards our straight draw odds become a lot worse. We could just work out our normal straight draw odds including the spade cards (4.9:1) and then try to account for reverse implied odds as best as we can. However, this method is a lot simpler.

Final thoughts on working out odds for unusual draws.

Working out your odds of completing unusual draws and random types of hands all boils down to finding your total number of outs. After that, all you have to do is work through a small number of simple steps and you're done.

If you can figure out the exact number of outs you have, you'll never have a problem with odds.

Just remember:

1. Find out how many outs you have.
2. Make a ratio of non-outs to outs and simplify it.

Using this method you should be able to work out the odds in other random situations like:

• When the dealer accidentally flips over a card and has to burn it in a live game.
• When a player announces what cards they held before the hand is over.
• When you want to work out the odds of improving from 3-of-a-kind to 4-of-a-kind, because I mentioned it at the start of this article but didn't actually give an example (hint: you only have 1 out).

Note: After working your odds out you can compare your results with the list of odds found in the ratio odds chart.

Also, throughout this “unusual draws and their odds” article I've just worked out the ratio odds for different types of draws. If you're more comfortable using percentage odds, you can just use the same number of outs as before and use the rule of 2 and 4 to get a rough idea of your percentage odds.

Still struggling with playing flushes (and flush draws) in cash games? Try watching SplitSuit's strategy video on playing Flushes and Flush Draws.

Go back to the interesting Texas Hold'em Articles.

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There are 10 different hands ranks in Texas Hold’em – from a Royal Flush to a Straight to a lousy High Card. Here’s a comprehensive list of all Texas Hold’em poker hand rankings:

You can also print and download the Official Texas Hold’em hand ranking as a PDF file.

Chart: Poker Hand Ranking

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Download the poker hand ranking charts image or PDF:

• Official Poker Hand Rankings Image
• Print: Poker Hand Rankings PDF

Official Poker Hand Rankings

• Royal flush: A straight from a ten to an ace with all five cards in the same suit.
• Straight Flush: Any straight with all five cards in the same suit.
• Four of a Kind or Poker or Quads: Any four cards of the same rank. If two players share the same four of a kind (on the board), the larger fifth card (the “kicker”) decides who wins the pot.
• Full House or Boat: Three cards of the same rank along with two cards of the same rank. In short: trips and a pair.
• Flush: All five cards of the same suit (not necessarily consecutive). The highest card determines the rank of the flush.
• Straight: Five consecutive cards (not necessarily the same suit). Aces can count as either high or low cards, but not as both at once. Meaning, a straight cannot go “around the corner”.
• Trips: Three cards of the same value. If two players have the same trips the highest kicker decides who wins the pot.
• Two Pair: Any two cards of the same rank together with two other cards of the same rank.
• One Pair: Any two cards of the same rank.
• High Card: Any hand that is none of the above hands.

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Poker Hand Rankings Explained

• If two players have a Straight or Straight Flush, the higher Straight or Straight Flush wins.
• If two players have a quads, the player with the highest quad wins. If they are identical, the highest kicker wins.
• If two players have a flush, the player with the highest card in the flush wins. If they are identical, the second highest card decides, then the third highest, and so on. The suit of the flush does not matter.
• If two players have a full house, the player with the higher trips wins. If they are identical, the player with the higher pair wins.
• If two players have two pairs, the player with the bigger pair wins. If they are identical, the player with the higher pair wins. If they are also identical, the player with the highest kicker wins.
• If two players have a pair, the player with the higher pair wins. If they are identical, the highest kicker wins, then the second highest, then the third highest.
• If two players have a high card, the highest card wins. If they are identical, the second highest card decides, etc.

How many Poker Hands are there?

There are only 10 distinct poker hand ranks, but if you randomly deal 5 cards from a deck of 52 cards there are exactly 2,598,960 possible card combinations.

Poker Hand Odds for 5-Card-Poker

Odds Of Making A Royal Flush In Texas Holdem

The poker hand ranking charts are based on the probability for each distinct hand rank. More unlikely combinations are ranked higher. Those are the probabilities and odds for all 5-card poker hands:

Poker Hand Odds for Texas Hold’em

If you’re playing Texas Hold’em, you have 7 cards to chose your hand from. There are 133,784,560 to deal 7 random cards. This changes the odds and probabilities for all poker hands a bit. Those are the probabilities and odds for all Texas Hold’em Poker hands:

Odds Of Flopping A Flush In Texas Hold'em

Technically it’s more likely that you’re dealt at least a pair in Texas Hold’em than holding only high card. But “High Card” still remains the lowest rank.

FAQ: Poker Hand Rankings

Does 2 pairs beat a straight?

When playing Texas Hold’em (or any other popular poker variant) 2 pairs are always ranked below a straight.

Does 3 Aces beat a straight?

Odds Of A Flush In Texas Hold'em

3 Aces are just trips (or three of a kind) in poker. When playing regular Texas Hold’em a straight is ranked above trips. There are however rule variations where trips can bet a straight, namely Short Deck Hold’em, a poker variant where all cards below 5 are removed.

Does 5 of a kind beat a royal flush?

In regular poker variants there are is no 5-of-kind rank. When playing with wildcards (joker) 5 of a kind are possible. In this case 5 of a kind are the highest possible poker hand and beat a royal flush.

Does a full house beat 3 aces?

Every full house always beats trips, no matter the rank of the trips. Even trip aces are always ranked below every possible full house.

Does Royal Straight beat flush?

A Royal Flush is the best possible poker hand and of course always beats any other flush.

Does straight beat a full house?

Every common poker variant, including Texas Hold’em, ranks a Full House above a straight. So no, a Straight never beats a Full House in Poker.

What beats a royal flush?

In all regular modern poker variations (including Texas Hold’em and Omaha) a Royal Flush is always the highest possible hand rank. A higher rank is only possible when playing with a Joker. In this case 5 of a kind (4 Aces plus Joker) beats a Royal Flush.

What can beat a flush in poker?

A Flush is a very strong hand in poker. The only hands that beat a Flush are Full House, Quads, Straight Flush, and Royal Flush.

How rare is a royal flush?

A Royal Flush is extremely rare. When playing Texas Hold’em you’ll only get one every 31,000 hands. And that assumes you never fold. The hand is so rare that most poker players can remember all Royal Flushes they have been dealt in their life time.

What are the odds of hitting a straight flush?

Straight Flushes are almost as rare as Royal Flushes. When playing Texas Hold’em you will hit a Straight Flush roughly every 3,600 hands (assuming you never fold any hand that can make a Straight Flush).

Can you have 3 pairs in poker?

There is no “3 pair” hand rank in poker. When playing Texas Hold’em it’s technically possible to have three pairs, but since a poker hand only consists of 5 cards only the 2 highest pairs are in play. For example, if you hold Q-J and the board reads Q-J-6-A-A you only have two pair: Aces and Queens.

Does Royal Flush have to be spades?

A Royal Flush can be any of the 4 suits, spades, hearts, diamonds, or clubs. It’s just that usually a Royal Flush is depicted in spades or hearts. Nevertheless, it doesn’t matter which suit, a Royal Flush is always the best Texas Hold’em Poker Hand.

How many kickers can you have in poker?

A poker hand can consist of up to 5 kickers. A player with no pair only has kickers. A player with one pair has 3 kickers, a player with trips has 2 kickers, and a player with 2 pair or quads has 1 kicker.

Is Ace a 1 in poker?

When building a straight an Ace can be used as a virtual “1” in poker. Meaning, A-2-3-4-5 is a straight. There are also lowball poker variations where the Ace counts as the lowest card.

Is an Ace 2 3 4 5 a straight?

Yes, the ace can count as the lowest card in a straight and function as a “1” when combined with 2-3-4-5.

Is JQKA 2 a straight?

A straight cannot go “around the corner”, the Ace can only be either the highest or the lowest card, not a card in the middle. So no, J-Q-K-A-2 is no straight in poker.

Odds Of Texas Holdem Hands

Is Queen King Ace 2 3 a straight?

A straight cannot go “around the corner”, the Ace can only be either the highest or the lowest card, not a card in the middle. So no, Q-K-A-2-3 is no straight in poker.

Is there a kicker on a straight?

For a straight you need to use all 5 cards. There are no cards left for a kicker. The rank of the straight is determined by the highest card. E.g. an ace-high straight beats a queen-high straight.

What is a flush in poker?

A flush in poker is hand which consists of 5 cards of the same suit. The same color (red or black) is not enough. It has to 5 spades, hearts, diamonds, or clubs.

What is the highest royal flush in poker?

There are no distinctions between the 4 possible Royal Flushes in poker. A Royal Flush in spades is as good as a Royal Flush in hearts, diamonds, or clubs.

Odds Of A Royal Flush In Texas Hold'em

What is the highest suit in Texas Hold’em poker?

Only in very rare occasions (for example when dealing for the button) the suits are ranked in poker. In this case the ranking is: 1. spades, 2. hearts, 3. diamonds, 4. clubs. Suits are otherwise generally not ranked in poker. A Flush in spades is as good as a flush in any other suit, only the ranks of the cards matter.

What is the lowest pair in a game of poker?

In poker the lowest possible pair is a pair of Deuces (twos).

How do you win bad beat jackpots in poker?

To win a bad beat jackpot in poker you need to lose with a very strong hand, usually a strong Full House (Aces Full). It’s also necessary that both, the winning hand losing player, user both of their hole cards. E.g. losing with quads on the board does not count.

What are the odds of hitting a bad beat jackpot in poker?

The odds of hitting a bad beat jackpot in poker depend on the rules for the jackpot. If you have to lose with Aces Full or better your odds of hitting the bad beat jackpot are 1:58,948. If you have to lose with quads or better your odds are 1:624,609 (assuming a 10 player table where nobody ever folds).

What is a bad beat in poker?

If you lose with a very strong hand against an even stronger hand this is called a “bad beat”. It is also a bad beat if you lose an all-in while being far ahead and you opponent wins by catching some miracle cards.

How many 5 stud poker hands are there?

5 Card Stud is one of the oldest poker variants where each player is dealt 5 cards. There are exactly 2,598,960 different 5 stud poker hands possible.

How many poker hands are there?

There are only 10 distinct poker hand ranks, but if you randomly deal 5 cards from a deck of 52 cards there are exactly 2,598,960 possible card combinations. If you’re playing Texas Hold’em, you have 7 cards to chose your hand from. There are 133,784,560 to deal 7 random cards.

What happens if two hands tie in poker?

It’s possible (and not too uncommon) for two players to have the same hand in poker. In this case the pot is split and both players receive half the pot.

What happens if two people have a royal flush?

When playing Texas Hold’em it’s almost impossible for two players to have a Royal Flush. For that to happen the 5 community cards need to form a Royal Flush. In that case all players in the hand win and split the pot.

What happens if two poker hands are the same?

If two players have the same hand, the pot is split and both players win half of it. This can happen for example if both players have the same cards (e.g. Ace-King) and nobody makes a Flush.

How do you hit a royal flush on video poker?

In Video Poker you can win the jackpot when you hit a Royal Flush. To maximize your chances you should always keep all suited cards 10 or above (if you have at least 2) and discard the rest. You will see a Royal Flush roughly once every 40,000 spins.

What are the odds of hitting a royal flush on a video poker machine?

The odds of hitting a royal flush directly are only 1 in 649,739. But since you can draw one time your odds increase. If you play perfectly your odds of hitting a royal flush are roughly 1 in 40,000.