Poker Types Of Hands
This page is based partly on information from Ka Lun, Anthony Horsley Sr, Don Smolen, Richard Dewhirst, Alan Ho, Brandon Bahti and several anonymous correspondents.
The type of hands to play in a poker game depends on the game you play and other factors like your position in the hand, your stack, and the action at the table. In a famous poker strategy article. Poker Hand Rankings. The ranking of hands are as follows: Royal Flush; Straight Flush; Four of a Kind; Full House; Flush; Straight; Three of a Kind; Two Pair; Pair; High Card. What Are The Types Of Hands In Poker? At its face, poker is a very simple game: everyone is dealt cards, asked to make the best five-card hand, and takes turns betting that they have the best hand. Think you have the best hand? Bet and hope you get calls! Think you're beat? Either fold, or make a bluff. But, despite this simple gameplay, there are infinite possibilities, based on how the cards land, and, more importantly, your opponent's psychology. Under deuce-to-seven low rules, a seven-five-high hand, such as 7 ♠ 5 ♣ 4 ♦ 3 ♦ 2 ♣, is the best possible hand. Under ace-to-six low rules, where aces have the lowest rank, a six-four-high hand, such as 6 ♣ 4 ♠ 3 ♥ 2 ♥ A ♦, is the best possible hand. Poker Hands Ranked From Strongest to Weakest Royal Flush. The is the best possible hand you can get in standard five-card Poker is called a royal flush. Any five-card sequence in the same suit (e.g., 8, 9, 10, Jack and Queen of clubs; or 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of.
Introduction
This Chinese gambling game is popular in Hong Kong and parts of Southeast Asia and is also played to some extent in the USA. It is known by several different names.
- In Cantonese it is called Sap Sam Cheung (十三張), which means 13 cards, and in Vietnamese it is known by the similar name Xập Xám Chướng.
- In Chinese, it is also sometimes called Luosong Pai Jiu (羅宋牌九), which I think means Russian Pai Gow. The game is indeed distantly related to Pai Gow.
- In the USA it is often known as Chinese Poker or sometimes Russian Poker, but note that some people also use the name Chinese Poker to refer to the climbing game Big Two. In Hawaii it is called Pepito.
- In the Phillipines it is known as Pusoy, again not to be confused with Pusoy Dos, which is Big Two. Another name sometimes used is Good, Better, Best, referring to the three hands of a player.
The aim is to arrange your 13 cards into three poker hands - two of five cards and one of three cards - which will beat the corresponding poker hands made by the other players.
A recent development is Open Face Chinese Poker, in which after the first five cards, hands are built face up one card at a time.
Players, Cards, Stakes and Deal
There are four players, each playing for themselves. A standard 52 card pack is used.
Before playing it is necessary to agree on a stake. Below I will describe the payments in terms of units; one unit can be worth whatever the players agree in advance - $1, $10, $100, etc.
The cards are shuffled, cut and dealt out singly: 13 cards to each player.
Arrangement of cards
Each player must divide their 13 cards into a 'back' hand of 5 cards, a 'middle' hand of 5 cards and a 'front' hand of 3 cards. Considered as poker hands, the back hand must be better than the middle hand, and the middle hand must be better than the front hand. The standard poker ranking is used - so the hand types from high to low are: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pairs, one pair, high card (see the page on ranking of poker hands). There are no wild cards.
Since the front hand has only 3 cards, only three hand types are possible: three of a kind; one pair; high card. There is no value in having a front hand with three consecutive cards or three cards of the same suit: 'straights' or 'flushes' in the front hand do not count.
Players place their three hands face down in front of them, the front hand nearest the centre of the table and the back hand nearest themselves.
Showdown and Scoring
When everyone is ready, all the players expose their three hands and each pair of players compares the corresponding hands. In the simplest system of payments, you win one unit for each corresponding hand of another player that you beat and lose one for unit each hand that beats you. When the hands are equal you neither win nor lose. Here is an example:
The result would be as follows:
| Players | front winner | middle winner | back winner | North | East | South | West |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North v East | North | North | North | +3 | -3 | ||
| North v South | South | South | North | -1 | +1 | ||
| North v West | North | North | West | +1 | -1 | ||
| East v South | South | South | East | -1 | +1 | ||
| East v West | East | West | West | -1 | +1 | ||
| South v West | South | South | West | +1 | -1 | ||
| Total | +3 | -5 | +3 | -1 |
Notice that although West's back hand is the overall best hand (aces full), West loses on balance because of the weaker middle and front hands. East could have done slightly less badly by putting the sevens in the middle hand, which would then have beaten West. Notice also that it is not legal for East to put the jacks in the front hand, because it would then not be possible to make a middle hand that was better and a back hand that was better still from the remaining ten cards.
Special Hands
It is possible to play using just the payments described above. However, many players add two further features to the stakes: increased payments for certain hands, and some special 13-card hands that win automatically. If you are playing with these it is important to agree in advance exactly which ones are allowed and how much each is worth.
A typical scale of increased payments is as follows:
- If you win the front hand with three of a kind, you receive 3 units instead of 1 for that hand.
- If you win the middle hand with a full house, you receive 2 units instead of 1 for that hand.
- If you win the back (or middle) hand with 4 of a kind, you receive 4 units instead of 1.
- If you win the back (or middle) hand with a royal flush or straight flush you win 5 units instead of 1.
These bonuses only count for you for hands that you win. For example if A and B each have a 3 of a kind in front, but B's is higher, A will pay B 3 units for it. A's 3 of a kind will still count against the other players if it wins.
Example:A has 6-6-6, 4-4-4-9-9, K-K-K-8-8 and B has Q-Q-7, J-J-J-2-2, 5-5-5-5-A. A wins 3 for the front hand, but B wins 2 for the middle and 4 for the back, so altogether A pays 3 units to B.
When special hands are allowed, the following 13-card hands win automatically against any ordinary hand, if declared before the hands are exposed. When two special hands come up against each other, the higher wins the full specified amount and the lower loses its value (though it can still win against the other players). After the special hands have been dealt with, the remaining players expose their cards and settle up among themselves in the normal way. A typical schedule of special hands, in ascending order, is:
- Six pairs: a hand with six pairs and one odd card. When two players have six pair hands, compare the highest pair; if the highest pairs are equal compare the second highest pair, and so on. Win 3 units.
- Three straights: the back and middle hands are five card straights and the front hand is a three card straight (i.e. three cards of consecutive rank). If two players have three straights, compare the highest (back) straights first, then if these are equal the middle straights, and finally, if all else is equal, the front straight. Win 3 units.
- Three flushes: the back and middle hands are flushes, and the front hand is a three-card flush (three cards of one suit). If two players have this, the player with the better back hand wins; if tied the better middle hand; if those are also tied, the better front hand. Win 3 units.
- Complete straight: the hand has one card of each rank: A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K. Suits can be mixed. If two players have this, they are tied. Win 13 units.
A player who has a special hand can choose not to declare it, but instead to set three hands of 5, 5 and 3 cards in the normal way. This loses the right to an automatic win, but it may occasionally be possible to win more units in the normal settlement, when extra payments can be won.
Variations
There seem to be numerous variations in the way the payments are organised. Here are the ones I have so far discovered.
- Three of a kind in the front hand: 2 extra units
- Full house in the middle hand: 1 extra unit
- Four of a kind in the back or middle hand: 3 extra units
- Straight or royal flush in the back or middle hand: 4 extra units
This variation is often combined with the overall point variation above.
- Three of a kind in the front hand: 2 extra units
- Full house in the middle hand: 2 extra units
- Four of a kind in the back hand: 4 extra units
- Four of a kind in the middle hand: 6 extra units
- Straight or royal flush in the back hand: 6 extra units
- Straight or royal flush in the middle hand: 8 extra units
The special hands, in ascending order, are:
- Three flushes: 3 units
- Three straights: 4 units
- Six and a half pairs: 4 units
- Five pairs and one three of a kind: 5 units
- Four threes of a kind and an odd card: 6 units
- All cards are the same colour: 10 points
- Small: all cards are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: 10 points
- Big: all cards are 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A: 10 points
- Three fours of a kind and one odd card: 16 units
- Three straight flushes: 18 units
- All 12 picture cards plus any 13th card: 18 units
- All thirteen cards of one suit: 26 units
A special hand, if declared before the cards are exposed, beats any normal hand and wins the number of units specified in the table (a player wins from the bank, or the bank wins from all players). If the bank and a player both have special hands, the holder of the higher scoring hand wins the difference between their values.
- Three of a kind in front: 3 units instead of 1
- Full house in the middle: 2 units instead of 1
- Four of a kind at the back: 4 units; in the middle: 8 units
- Straight flush at the back: 5 units; in the middle: 10 units
- Three straights: 3 units
- Three flushes: 3 units
- Six pairs: 3 units
- Five pairs and one triplet: 6 units
- Complete straight A to K with mixed suits: 13 units; if all 13 cards are of one suit: 26 units.
- Three of a kind in front: 3 units instead of 1
- Full house in the middle: 2 units instead of 1
- Four of a kind at the back: 4 units; in the middle: 8 units
- Straight flush at the back 7 units; in the middle: 14 units
- Three straights: 4 units
- Three flushes: 4 units
- 12 red cards and 1 black or 12 black and 1 red: 4 units
- All black or all red: 6 units
- Six pairs: 4 units
- Complete straight A to K with mixed suits: 13 units
- All 13 cards of one suit: 39 units
A player wins two out of three hands against an opponent receives 1 unit from that opponent. For winning all three hands the payment is 6 units. A player who wins all three hands against every other player is paid 9 units (instead of 6) by each. For winning with particular hands in particular positions there are additional payments as follows:
- Straight flush: 5 units at the back; 10 units in the middle
- Four of a kind: 4 units at the back; 8 units in the middle
- Full house: 2 units in the middle
- Three of a kind: 3 units at the front
A player who surrenders pays 3 units to each opponent.
Some play with an extra side bet on the number of aces held. One aces is worth 1, two aces 2, three aces 6, four aces 8. Between two players, the player with fewer aces pays the difference in units, in addition to the payments for the Chinese Poker game.
Payments are made in chips and it is not possible to win or lose more chips than you had in front of you at the start of the deal. Settlement is in clockwise order staring with the dealer. Any 13-card special hands are settled first, followed by all other payments. Specifically, if the players in clockwise order are A (dealer), B, C, D then settlements are made in the order A vs B, A vs C, A vs D, B vs C, B vs D, C vs D. Example: A starts with only 8 chips. A wins all three hands against B and loses all three against C. B pays A 6 chips, but A pays only 2 chips to C, because each chip is either doubled or lost, and A's first 6 chips have already been 'used' to justify the win from B. Therefore A ends up with 8+6-2=12 chips. A neither pays to nor receives from D since the transactions with B and C have already accounted for all A's chips. Players can buy additional chips from the house after the settlement and before the next deal.
The casino takes a fixed rake per hand, and part of this is used to build jackpots that are offered for certain unusual events - for example when a player has a straight flush, three of a kind, and a pair and loses all three hands to another player.
Other Chinese Poker web pages
Further information can be found on Don Smolen's Chinese Poker page. From there you can also order his excellent book on the tactics of this game, and obtain his CPOKER computer program.
Rules for a version of Chinese Poker can also be found under the name Pusoy on this archive copy the Bicycle Cards web site.
Rules for Chinese Poker can also be found at the Asian Games Site vinagames.com, where it is possible to play Chinese Poker on line.
Playing Chinese Poker Online
With Phong Le's Chinese Poker Analyser you can compare the power of alternative divisions of 13 cards into three hands, and play Chinese Poker (Xap Xam) against one, two or three computer players.
The majority of you reading this will have at least one memory of relatives playing a card game on a party, a New Year’s Eve, or any other celebratory occasion.
But just like every family likes to play a different game so do the professional gamblers, and this is why casinos offer plenty variations of each game.
One of those is poker, and in this article, we will try to get all the different types of poker explained.
Texas Hold’em isn’t the only game at your disposal so learning some of the other ones will help you get a bigger freedom of choice next time you want to gamble on some poker.
The Basic Rules Remain The Same
That is correct. In the majority of the well-known Poker variations, the basic rules will remain just the same.
One of those, for example, is that there will always be a dealer to shuffle and give out the cards.
Another one is the possible combinations you can get.
These are the possible card combinations (ranked from weakest to strongest):
- High Card = when no one has at least a single pair then the person/s with the strongest card wins. Cards in order of descending power are A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.
- One pair = have a combination of two same numbers like two 7’s, two 3’s and so on.
- Two pairs = have two same combinations like both two 5’s and 6’s.
- Three of a kind = have a combination of three same numbers like three 9’s.
- Straight = have five numbers in a row like 3-4-5-6-7 or anything of that sort.
- Flush = have five numbers of the same figure, NOT colour, like an A-4-5-8-9 all of which are clubs, hearts, spades, or diamonds.
- Full house = have three of a kind and another pair like 5-5-5-6-6.
- Four of a kind = have a combination of four same numbers like four Qs.
- Straight Flush = When you have a straight which is a flush at the same time like 5-6-7-8-9 all of them being of the same figure.
- Royal Flush = the most powerful possible hand you can have in Texas Hold’em which is a straight flush of 10-J-Q-K-A. In some Poker variations, the figure of a Royal Flush can beat another.
In some specific variations, there are a few other possible combinations, but they aren’t worth mentioning because you will most likely never encounter one of them, especially in a physical or online casino.
Now regarding the moves, they will always be the same.
Call, raise, bet, fold, check, and all-in.
The rules are always the same as they are the basis of the game. If they would change then, any variation should be called something other than Poker.
For more details, read our guide to The Basic Poker Rules.
Six Types Of Poker Explained
Before we move on to the lesser known ones we would like to take a look at the all-time favourite.
1. Texas Hold’em Poker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnm_V7A-G6c
Since a very long time ago, this was, and still is the most popular variation of the game. You can find it both in online and physical casinos.
It is played both on an amateur and professional level and almost everyone who has spent some time of his life gambling has played it.
The rules are simple. At least two players are needed to start the game.
The dealer gives two cards to each of the individuals on the table, and after that, the first bets (big and small blind) are automatically bet just so that there can be a starting pot for the round to begin.
The first three cards are put down (flop), and after each of the following two betting stages, another card is put down. In appearing order, these are the turn and the river.
All these cards are of course face-up for everyone to see and thus use to get the strongest possible combination so that they can win the round.
After all of the bets have been settled, the phase of the showdown kicks in. Everyone still in play reveals his hand, and the person(s) with the best one wins the pot.
Read our guide to Bitcoin Texas Hold´em.
2. Omaha
You must have come across this particular variation if you have ever played in a casino, physical or online.
Even though it is the second most widely played Poker variation in the world, many professional gamblers believe that it is way more difficult than Texas Hold’em.
Who can blame them? If you want to find out why we are with them, then keep reading.
On Omaha, players are dealt four cards, to begin with rather than two. Immediately, this means that to beat your opponents you must get a hand way better than what you would think is good if playing Texas Hold’em.
A three of a kind or a two pair are now considered kind of bad hands.
If you were playing another type of poker, you would love to get an AK opening hand. But this is Omaha.
Something like that could mean the end of the hand for you. Unless you got another couple of K’s or A’s down, then you would be in a lot of trouble.
It is advised trying to get a straight or a full house rather than a flush or three of a kind. A four of a kind or Royal Flush, even though it is a difficult hand to get, would be amazing.
Starting out with a 7 and a nine on Texas Hold’em would be bad. But if you got a 6-7-9-10 on Omaha then you would have a very big chance of hitting an 8 that would result in a Straight.
According to professional poker players, Omaha looks easier than the majority of other popular Poker variations, but it actually may as well be the most difficult one to master.
3. Seven Card Stud
Before Texas Hold’em made it to the top of the Poker ladder, the leader was the Seven Card Stud.
Things here are different, and the only thing that stays the same is how strong each combination is.
Before you can even join the game, you have to place an ante which means to buy-in the current round.
Don’t confuse that with the small/big blinds as these are placed after the round starts. The players are dealt two face down and one face-up cards to begin with.
The person with the lowest card (the one facing up) will have to bring it in. This is to place the initial bet just so that the game can start.
If two or more people have the same number, then things are determined by the suit which is easy to remember as it is based on the alphabet. Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades. See?
The first letter of each suit is increasing in alphabetical order.
After that moving to the left of the player the other ones have to decide whether to fold, call, or raise. There aren’t any cards being dealt down for all. Everything is for each player’s personal hand.
The dealer burns a card and gives another face-up card to each player. The same thing goes on and on until the last round where the 7th and also last card is dealt which this time will be face down.
The only thing a player who has been in play up to that stage is to make up the best possible 5-card combination out of his total 7 cards. The strongest one wins.
Since things here are different, the first three cards you are dealt will have better or worse chances of winning based on the other face-up cards on the table.
4. Video Poker
Since our website is all about poker, we had to include its digital form even though it technically isn’t a proper variation of the game.
In most Video Poker games, the player is dealt five face-up cards; you can choose how many to keep and how many you want to give up for another card. After doing so, you will have the final hand.
Based on how good it is you can get a multiplier on your bet.
One of the most popular titles is the Jacks or Better where you can win only if you have at least a pair of Jacks. In the same nature, 9’s or Better, 10’s or Better, and so on determine the basic logic of the game.
5. Razz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OplVkFwxuZM
In Razz instead of trying to get the best possible and strongest combination, you will need to do the exact opposite.
Get the weakest one that is.
6. Five Card Draw
10 Types Of Poker Hands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfDYiAXYgsQ
Poker Types Of Hands Clipart
Considered to be the easiest poker variation and the one most beginners learn when they start gambling.
Just like with Video Poker, players will be dealt five cards which in this case will be face down. Each player can discard cards and draw new ones for the deck.
After that another round of betting kicks in.
When all the bets have been settled the hands are revealed, and the player with the best hand wins. Small and big blinds are featured in Five Card Draw as well.
Overall
After having the top 6 of the different types of poker explained to you, starting out your gambling career must be easy. But these are just the basics.
If you want to become better regularly then make sure to check out our website every day for fresh posts and guides. The amount of useful information we can give you is infinite.
Now that you know which poker variations you can find on the internet, pick a good online casino and start winning.
You can also read our Introduction To Poker For Beginners.
If you want to know about Online Gaming in New Jersey legislature updates then feel free to read our brand new article.