Poker hand rankings are one of the most important aspects of any poker game. When playing online poker, especially fast online poker games such as Texas Holdem Poker, you need to be able to quickly discern which cards are needed to create a better poker hand.

Beginners often find themselves losing their first few games by not being able to identify which cards offer the best opportunities to build a really strong hand. It's fairly simple to understand the poker hand rankings if you just take a little time to study them.

Remember that when you're playing Texas Hold'em poker you are trying to create the best 5-card poker hand from a total of 7 cards. There are 2 hole or pocket cards and 5 communal cards. You may use any combination to create your best hand. You may even use all five communal cards.

These are the Poker Hand Rankings :

Royal Flush : This hand is unbeatable, the highest ranking hand possible. A Royal Flush is made of 5 cards of the same suit, Ten through to Ace. Ten; Jack; Queen; King; Ace - must be the same suit.

Straight Flush : This hand is not as strong as the royal flush but just as rare. A straight flush made up of 5 consecutive cards of the same suit. For example 6-10, 3-7 or Ace-5 (an ace can play both high and low in straights)

Four-of-a-kind : This refers to any hand containing four similar cards, such as 4 Kings, 4 Tens, or 4 threes.

Full House : A full house occurs when you have Three-of-Kind and a Pair. For instance, 3 sevens and 2 fives forms a Full House.

Flush : A flush is any five cards of the same suit. The cards may be in any order, if they were in succession it would be a straight flush.

Straight : A Straight is five cards of any suit in succession. Straights are very common in Holdem Poker.

Three-of-a-kind : This is any three similar cards of any suit. For instances 3 kings, 3 seven or 3 fives.

Pair : This is the most common winning hand. A pair is two similar cards of any suit. For example, 2 aces, 2 jacks or 2 fours.

Now that you have a clear understanding of how poker hands rank, try playing free poker online.

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About the Author
Stanley Majors is an experienced online poker journalist who writes articles on a range of poker topics.
His numerous articles found on Texas Holdem Net ,provide useful and factual poker information and insight.