Learning the Hand Rankings in Poker School

Before one succumbs into the poker fever that is sweeping all across the globe, one must first learn the things that are essential if one is to grasp the popular card game fully and enjoy its fantastic game play that the world has gone addicted to.

One of such fundamentals that one has to understand first before fully committing one's self into the world of poker is the hand ranking system of the game. If one has already done some reading regarding the game, one would already know that that its objective would be for one to have the best hand among all of the others at the table at any particular round in order for one to pocket the pot. As such, one of the first aspects of the game that one has to learn fully is the hand ranking that is in use in the game.

The best hand combination in the hand ranking system of poker is the royal flush, which is composed of an ace, a king, a queen, a jack, and a ten with all of them having the same suit. Drawing this combination would make one pretty much a sure winner since the probability of this combination landing on one's hand is the least possible among all of the others in the game.

Next to the royal flush is the straight flush which is the same except for the fact that they are any five consecutive card sequence having the same suit other than A, K, Q, J, & 10. Third in the hierarchy of hand rankings in poker is the four of a kind which contains four cards having the same value and a kicker card (which is any card). After the four of a kind, there's the full house which is composed of three same-value cards and a pair.

Fifth in line in the poker hand rankings is the flush, which is composed of five cards having the same suit. Following the flush is the straight, which is somewhat the opposite since it is com posed of five consecutive cards that does not have the same suit. Three of a kind is the seventh highest (or fourth lowest) ranked hand in poker and, as the name suggests, is composed of three same-value cards and two kicker cards. Two pair follows it, which is composed of the two pairs and a kicker card.

The second lowest combination in the hand ranking of poker is the two of a kind, which is pretty much the same as the three of kind except that it only has two same-value cards instead of three. The lowest hand that one can possibly have is the highest card which, as the name suggests, is the highest value card that your hand has.

Learning the different combinations and their place in the hand ranking system of poker will speed up the learning process for the game as the said aspect is the one by which most of poker's game play revolves around.