If you are going to play any variation of poker such as video poker, Caribbean stud, texas holdem or let it ride you will need to know what the different poker hands are and how they rank. This guide assumes you are totally new to gambling so we will start with the very basics and move on from there.

Poker hands are made up of five playing cards. Each deck of playing cards contains 52 cards. These cards have the following values; 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. The Ace can be either high or low (Above KIng or below 2). Each of the cards appears four times in the deck in one of the four suits which are clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds.

The combinations of cards in your hand determine the ranking. Below are the standard hand rankings listed from best to worst. Code for the suite in the examples is s = spades, d = diamonds, c = clubs and h = hearts.

• Royal Flush
  A hand containing 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace all of the same suit
  Example : 10d, Jd, Qd, Kd, Ad
  
  
• Straight Flush
  A hand containing five consecutive cards of the same suit
  Example : 5c, 6c, 7c, 8c, 9c
  
  
• Four of a Kind
  A hand with four cards of the same value and one additional card
  Example : 7c, 7d, 7h, 7s and any other card
  
  
• Full House
  A hand containing three of a kind and a pair
  Example : Ad, As, Ah, 2d, 2c
  
  
• Flush
  A hand containing five non consecutive cards of the same suit
  Example : 2c, 5c, 6c, Jc, Ac
  
  
• Straight
  A hand containing five consecutive cards of mixed suits
  Example : 7d, 8c, 9h, 10h, Jd
  
  
• Three of a Kind
  A hand containing three cards of the same value and two different cards
  Example : 5d, 5h, 5s, 8d, 10c
  
  
• Two Pair
  A hand containing two pairs of matched cards and a different card
  Example : Kd, Kh, 5c, 5d, 8h
  
  
• Pair
  A hand containing one pair of matched cards and any three other cards
  Example : Ah, Ad, 4d, 9h, Jc

There you have the poker hand rankings that are used is many different casino games. Make sure you learn the hand types as it will give you a better chance of not making any mistakes when you play.

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