Loading...How to Determine the Winning Hand
By Sean Lind
When playing poker with your family or friends, one of the things you're going to need to know is how to determine the winning hand in all scenarios.
Before we go any further, first you need to memorize or print out the order of poker hands. Once you know that a flush beats a straight and three of a kind beats two pair, you're off to a good start.
The majority of poker hands are simple to determine a winner from. If one player has a flush, and no one else has a flush or better, it doesn't take much thought to figure out who's the winner.
It's once things get a little bit more complicated that people start to get confused. First, you want to remember these rules of poker hands:
- You must make the best hand possible using exactly five cards
- All five cards are used in deciding the strength of the hand
- No cards outside of the best five have any bearing on the strength of the hand
Poker can be confusing at times.
If you're playing Texas Hold'em poker, the players are allowed to use any combination of cards from their hand and/or the board cards. This means if the absolute best five-card hand they can make is by using the five cards on the board, then that is their final hand (this is known as playing the board).
Some Common Areas of Confusion
Here's a quick rundown of a couple common areas of confusion, and how to resolve the winner:
Two Players (or More) Have a Flush
If more than one player has a flush, you award the pot to the player with the highest flush. This includes all five cards, for example:
Board: 
Player 1: 
Player 2: 
In this scenario, Player 1 wins the pot. The reason is that when you look at all five cards, Player 1 has the higher flush:
Player 1:
Player 2:
All the cards are the same, until the final fifth card. Since 7
is higher than 6, Player1 wins the entire pot. If instead of the 2
on the board, that card was the T, both players would have the same flush (playing the board) and the pot would be split.
Two Players Have Two of a Kind
When two players have two of a kind, it can sometimes be confusing for people to know who won. Take this example:
Board: 
Player 1:
Player 2: 
In this scenario, Player1 wins the entire pot. Two pair is always ranked by the value of the highest pair first, and only if that is the same do you rank by the second pair. If both pairs are the same, it will be the kicker that will decide the winner (the highest-value fifth card is the kicker).
Because the deuce paired on the river, Player 1 has two pair - A A
2 2 with the kicker K - while Player 2 has the lower two pair - K K
Q Q with the kicker 3. Aces are higher than kings; thus Player 1 wins the entire pot.
Who Wins?
Board: 
Player 1:
Player 2: 
Take a second to figure it out. This is a horrific beat, as once the river falls both players now have four of a kind, nines. Only Player 1, who up until this point had nothing special, has the highest kicker, with an ace. Even though Player 2 flopped a full house - K K K 9 9 - once the fourth nine fell, he was now playing four-of-a-kind nines, with a king kicker. Player 1 wins the whole pot.
The Omaha Rule
The rules in determining the best hand in Omaha are exactly the same as in Texas Hold'em, with one additional rule:
- Every player must make the best five-card hand using exactly two cards from their hand (you're dealt four cards in Omaha) and three cards from the board.
This means that if there are four hearts on the board, and you only have one in your hand, you do not have a flush. You must always use exactly two cards from your hand.
If you have any more questions about how to determine a winning hand, throw them in the comments. My only request is that you read this article, and at least attempt to solve it yourself, rather than just asking.
If after that you're still unsure, or just want to make sure you've got it correct, fire off a comment, and I'll be sure to get back to you ASAP.
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Comment(s) on this article
gordon rock Feb 15, 2009
Does 3 eights beat2 pairs.2 sixes and2 jacks?
Sean Lind Feb 18, 2009
Gordon:
three of a kind always beats two pairs.
bella Apr 11, 2009
my hand:
6spades,7spades,8hearts,9diamonds,
Jdiamonds.
dealer hand:
8spades,8diamonds,6diamonds,10hearts,Qhearts.
WHOWINS?
Sean Lind Apr 11, 2009
Bella, the dealer wins. You have nothing, they have a pair.
Sharon Hagford Apr 12, 2009
My bowling partner and I play poker. We both had an A high straight. She says that because her A was a heart she should have won. I said we split because the strajghts were the same. Please send an answer that I can print out because this has come up with her before and she claimed to be the winner then too ( I was not in that hand, just saw it and told her they should split.)
Sean Lind Apr 14, 2009
Hey Sharon, you are absolutely correct. In all standard forms of poker:
Texas Hold'em
Omaha
Stud
Razz
Suits have absolutely no affect on the winning hand. Two players both holding broadway (ace high straight) split the pot.
Loxa Apr 16, 2009
Can you give me some examples when 2 players split the pot?
Sean Lind Apr 25, 2009
Hey Loxa, sorry for the delay (I was on vacation). Here are some split pot examples:
Player 1: Ah Kc
Player 2: Ad 4s
Board: 10h Jc Qd Kh 2s
Both players use their Ace to make the same straight.
Player 1: Qh Qc
Player 2: Qd Js
Board: Ah Ac Kd Kh 2s
Both players have two pair Aces and Kings with a Queen Kicker.
Another split pot comes when the best possible hand is made with the five board cards, such as 10 j q k A. In this scenario, all players split the pot.
Cesar May 16, 2009
Board A A Q 2 8
Player 1: Q 8
Player 2: K K
Who wins
Flores May 17, 2009
Can you give me a better understanding or a pairs senario.
Board 44655
Player 1: KJ
Player 2: 99
Who wins
pablo May 17, 2009
what wins -
2 pair = 2k and 2q
2 pair = 2a and 2Six
Sean Lind May 19, 2009
Cesar:
Player two wins. Both players have two pair, and they both share having AA as their high pair. Player two has KK as his second pair, while player one has QQ as his second pair.
Sean Lind May 19, 2009
Flores,
Similar to Cesar above, you have to rank your hands best possible combinations you can make. In your scenario:
Player 1 has two pair: 5544 with a King Kicker.
Player 2 has two pair: 9955 with a sex kicker.
Since 9955 is better than 5544, Player two wins.
Sean Lind May 19, 2009
Pablo,
You rank two pairs by the top pair first, if those are the same, then you use the second pair. If those are still the same, then you go to the kicker.
Since AA is higher than KK, the second hand wins (regardless of the value of hte second pair).
Pierre C May 24, 2009
Who wins?
Board; Q J 10 9 8
Player1; A 3
Player2; J 7
Sean Lind May 26, 2009
Pierre, in Hold'em you make the best 5-card hand using any combination of your cards, and the board cards.
The best possible hand here is a straight 8 - Q. If either player had a K, they would have a higher straight. Since they don't, it's a split pot.
mark Jun 16, 2009
Board: K-K-5-4-7
P1: K-7
P2: K-5
--Who wins?
Sean Lind Jun 17, 2009
Mark, player 1 wins.
You rate a full house by the trips first, since they both have trip kings, you move down to the pair. A pair of sevens is higher than a pair of fives, so Player 1 wins with KKK77
kalikala Jun 28, 2009
if one player has J and 10 and the other player has 2 and 2 the river cards are 69868 who wins the pot
Sean Lind Jul 3, 2009
Hey Kalikala,
in Hold'em you make the best 5-card hand using any combination of your cards, and the board cards.
Both players are player two pairs, 88 and 66, but player one has a J as their kicker:
8-8-6-6-J
while the other player plays the board
8-8-6-6-9
So the player with the Jack wins with a higher kicker.
Even though 22 was ahead until the river, once the board double pairs, the pair of twos is counterfeit. You don't get any more credit for having a pair in your hand, only the best 5 cards count.
DAVE PETERS Jul 12, 2009
BOURD 44AK5 PLAYER 1 HAS A 2 PLAYER 2 HAS A8 WHO WINS ????
Sean Lind Jul 14, 2009
Dave Peters,
It's a split pot. Both player have the same hand
AA44K
Since you can only play 5 cards, the other cards in the players hands don't matter.
nic Jul 19, 2009
Board 777a8
player 1
j10
player2
k4
Sean Lind Jul 21, 2009
Nic,
Just write out the best possible hand for each player, and you'll see your answer:
P1 - 777AJ
P2 - 777AK
Player 2 wins.
Sean Lind Jul 25, 2009
Vaggos,
T = 10
vaggos Jul 25, 2009
what is t?
GPogz Jul 26, 2009
I got A-J
Player2 got A-9
Board 10-Q-K-J-9
Why computer said i lose? Because p2 is dealer?suit doesn't matter right?
Sean Lind Jul 28, 2009
GPogz,
In that scenario it's actually a split pot, since you both have the same hand (Straight 10-A)
If you actually lost it's either a mistake, or you where mistaken. The suits don't matter, unless either player has 5 of the same suit, giving them a flush.
amy Aug 2, 2009
who wins?
Player #1- 2 6
Player#2- 5 J
Board- 4 Q 4 5 6
who wins?
Player#1- 2 6
Player#2- 3 3
Board- 4 Q 4 5 6
who wins?
Player#1- 2 6
Player#2- J Q
Board- 4 Q 4 5 6
Sean Lind Aug 4, 2009
Amy,
You rank two pairs by the top pair first, if those are the same, then you use the second pair. If those are still the same, then you go to the kicker.
Make the best 5-card hand for each player, and you'll see the winner.
P1 - 6644Q
P2 - 5544Q
It should be obvious now who wins in your first scenario. Do the same for the other two and you'll see that player 1 wins again (since 6644 is higher than 4433) and in the last scenario player 2 wins, since QQ44 is better than 6644.
mahdi Sep 22, 2009
hey!! if theres only two pplayers left in the game:: plyr 1: As Ad
plyr 2 :Ac Ah
board: kd Qs 2s 3h 2c
who'll win??
Sean Lind Sep 22, 2009
Mahdi,
Since neither player has a flush, it's a split pot, they have the same hand.
eugene Oct 13, 2009
In omaha if there are 3-nines on the board and a player has a 9 & king in her hand does she have quad nine's using the king as her 5th card adding no value to the quad nine's but using the king as her fifth card, no other hands have any quads or straight or royal flushes, she has the best hand right?
Sean Lind Oct 13, 2009
Eugene,
You have to use two cards, so the player will have quad 9's, using the highest card in their hand as their kicker.
Since it would be impossible for anyone else to have quad 9's here, only higher quads or a straight flush would beat her.
andi Oct 28, 2009
hi mate got a hand for u to solve for me
the flop and turns are
10 J Q K A
straight not royle
player one J 8
player two Q 4
who wins or split
thanks
Sean Lind Oct 29, 2009
Andi,
Unless one player has a flush, It's a split pot. The best possible 5 card hand is the 5 cards on the board. So both players use that as their hand.
EDONG Nov 1, 2009
player1: 7,4
player 2: 10,10
community cards: 4,5,6,7,8
who wins???
Sean Lind Nov 2, 2009
Edong,
You guys have the same hand. Both players are holding a straight 4-8.
It's a split pot
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