Traditional poker hands fall into one of 10 categories, and understanding poker hand rankings is the first step in learning how to win poker games. These hands are the same for all the main poker variations, including Texas Hold’em. The highest is a royal flush, followed by a straight flush, then four of a kind, a full house, a flush, a straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and finally, a high card. Cards are ranked from highest to lowest in the following order: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2, except that the Ace may be the highest or lowest card, depending on the hand. 

This is the best possible poker-winning hand in poker. A Royal Flush consists of an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten all in the same suit.

A straight flush consists of five cards in sequential order (straight), all of the same suit (flush).

A Four of a Kind, also known as “Quads,” consists of four cards of the same rank with any random fifth card (also known as a "Kicker").

A Full House, also known as a "Full Boat" or "Boat," consists of three cards of the same rank along with two cards of the same rank. When referring to a specific Full House hand, note the rank of the three matching cards. For the example below, it would be denoted, "Queens Full of Nines."

A Flush is any five cards all of the same suit. In the event that multiple players have a flush, the player holding the highest-ranked card is deemed the winner. If all players are playing the same five cards in a community board card game, the pot is then split.

A Straight is any five cards in sequential order regardless of suit. In the event that multiple players have a straight, the player holding the highest-ranked card at the top of the straight is deemed the winner. If all players are playing the same five-card straight, the pot is then split.

• The Ace can be used to form the lowest straight, also known as "the wheel" (A, 2, 3, 4, 5), or the highest straight, also known as "Broadway" (10, J, Q, K, A).

A Three of a Kind, also known as "Trips" or a "Set," consists of three cards of the same rank along with two other cards of different ranks.

Two Pair consists of one pair of cards (i.e., two cards) of the same rank, another pair of cards with a rank that matches each other but is different from that of the first pair, and one additional card of a rank that does not match that of either pair.

A pair consists of two cards of the same rank, along with three other cards of different ranks.

If you cannot form any of the above hands, you would play the highest-ranked card in your hand. In the example below, the Ace is the High Card.