There are numerous variations of poker games that people play. Texas Hold'em is the most popular game these days as well as Omaha, but at one time games like Seven-Card Stud and Five-Card Draw were the norm.

No matter how the game is played, one thing remains constant - the poker hand rankings. Almost all poker variations follow the same poker hand rankings. The exceptions are lowball variations and razz in which the worst hand wins instead of the best according to conventional hand rankings.

The rankings are:

Royal Flush

A royal flush is made up of a straight from a ten to an ace with all five cards of the same suit. All suits are ranked equally so no royal flush is better than a royal flush of another suit.

Straight Flush

A straight flush is any straight with all five cards of the same suit. The suits are ranked equally so a straight of clubs from deuce to six would rank the same as a straight of hearts from deuce to six and result in a split pot. The same rules apply to a straight flush as those for ranking straights as well.

Four of a Kind

A four of a kind is made up four cards of the same rank. For instance a player who has a hand with five aces and a king has the highest possible four of a kind. In games with shared board cards like Texas Hold'em, it is possible for two players to share the same four of a kind. In this case, the player with the bigger fifth card wins the pot.

Full House

A full house is any three matching cards of the same rank together with a pair of matching cards. The highest ranking full house would be three of a kind aces with a pair of kings. The three of a kind in a full house is what is compared to see how it ranks against another full house. So aces full of kings would be a higher ranked full house than kings full of aces.

Flush

A flush is any five cards of the same suit. The cards do not need to be consecutive, just all of the same suit. If more than one flush comes up in the same hand, the highest card of the flush determines its rank. So someone with an ace-high flush would be ranked higher than someone with a king-high flush of the same suit or a different suit.

Straight

A straight is any consecutive five cards of any suit. Aces can count as either a high card or a low card in the straight ranking so it could be used as ace, two, three, for five, to make a straight or ten, jack, queen, king, ace. The rank of the straight against another straight is determined by the highest card in it. So an ace-high straight would be the best straight possible.

Three of a Kind

A three of a kind is a poker hand that contains three cards of the same rank, such as the example shown of three aces. In poker variations with shared board cards, it is possible for two players to end up with the same three of a kind, and then the side cards they hold along with that three of a kind would determine who actually wins the hand. For example, the hand shown of three aces plus a king and queen is the best possible three of a kind hand and out-ranks three aces with the side cards king and jack.

Two Pair

Two pair is any two matching cards of the same rank with another two matching cards. The highest pair of the two pair determines how it ranks if another player also has two pair. So two pair of queens and sevens would beat two pair of tens and eights. The best possible two pair would be aces and kings.

One Pair

One pair consists of two cards of the same rank. For instance, two deuces. The best possible on-pair hand is a pair of aces.

High Card

If none of the hands above can be made, what is left is just a high-card hand. In a case of high-card hand versus high-card hand, the one with the highest high card would outrank the other hand.