Best Poker Hand

Which of the following poker hands is the best? Assume one standard 52-card deck is used. The game is five-card draw, so there are no community cards, with no wild cards.

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 

For reference, here are the rankings of poker hands.

• Royal flush - A, K, Q, J, 10, all the same suit.
• Straight flush - Five cards in a sequence, all the same suit.
• Four of a kind - Four cards all of the same rank.
• Full house - Three of a kind with a side pair.
• Flush - Any five cards, all the same suit
• Straight - Five cards in a sequence, any suits.
• Three of a kind - Three cards all of the same rank.
• Two pair - Two different pairs.
• One pair - Two cards of the same rank.
• High card - Highest card in your hand.

Click below to see the answer.

Hand #1 is the highest-ranking hand shown, but since all of these hands cannot occur on the same deal, it isn't the best hand to have in a real game.

To determine which hand is best, you have to look at how many other hands can beat each hand when dealt from the same deck. All of the hands above can be beaten by the same number of four-of-a-kinds, but by different numbers of straight flushes. Having two sixes as your side pair breaks up more of these possible straight flushes than having two kings, so hand #4 is actually the best hand to have. (There are 32 possible straight flushes that beat the kings hand, but only 24 that beat the sixes.)