What Can Beat A Flush In Poker

Getting a royal flush is the hardest hand to obtain when playing poker online or in a casino. If you’re wondering what your odds are of being dealt a royal flush and other hands, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve developed this page to equip you with all the information you need to know about your poker hand odds.

1. A flush in poker is when all 5 cards in your hand are from the same suit. If we want to count the number of ways that we can get a flush, we want to determine the number of ways that we can have distinct hands that result in a flush. In order to do this, we will construct a hand, determining all of the options that are available to us.
2. See which hands beat each other in our guide to Texas Hold'em poker hand rankings. In Texas Hold’em, the best poker hand is a royal flush, followed by a straight flush and then on down.

In this detailed guide about your odds of being dealt a royal flush and other hands while playing poker, we’ll provide you with tons of information. You can check out the preview below to get an idea of everything we’ll cover. Feel free to click on one of these section titles if you want to jump ahead.

What does a Straight Flush Poker Hand Beat? Everything but a royal flush. The only thing that can beat a straight flush hand is another straight flush hand that is higher. For example, if you had the 45678 of hearts as shown in the picture above and I had a straight flush in spades 34567 then you Beat Me.

Breakdown of Potential Poker Hands

Before we dive into royal flush odds and other hands, we wanted to first ensure you’ve got a good understanding of the different hands possible when playing poker. Check out the sections below to look over all the different poker hands. We’ve listed them in the order of their rank when playing the game.

No Pair

This one should be pretty obvious. In casino poker and online poker, if you don’t have a single pair or higher in your hand, you have what’s considered a “no pair” hand. In this case, your hand’s value will depend on the highest card you’ve got.

Single Pair

If you end up getting a one pair hand, it means you’ve got two card values that match in your hand. For example, if you have two 4s, you have a single pair of 4s. While this isn’t a powerful poker hand, it does outrank anyone who has a no pair hand.

Two Pair

Kicking things up a slight notch from a single pair would be a two pair hand. In this scenario, you have two sets of matching card values. As an example, if you have two Ks and two 10s in your hand, it would be a two pair hand. In turn, it would outrank any players with just a single pair or no pair.

Three of a Kind

As the name implies, a poker hand that counts as three of a kind has three cards of the same value. For example, if you have three jacks in your hand, this would create a three of a kind poker hand. If you end up with the three of a kind hand, you’ll have a better hand than no pair, single pair, and two pair hands.

Straight (Not Royal or Flush)

Up next on the poker hand rank scale is a straight. Here, we’re only focused on standard straights, which means we’re not counting straights that are either flush or royal in nature (more on those in a moment). To make a straight, you’ll need all five cards in your hand to be in sequential order. As an example, if you had A, 2, 3, 4, and 5, you’d have a straight poker hand.

Flush (Not Straight or Royal)

Topping out straights and the other hands below it, a flush is another form of a poker hand. With a flush, you’ll have all five cards of your poker hand of the same suit. As an example, if all five cards in your hand are spades, you have a flush. For this particular hand, your cards do not count as a straight flush or a royal flush. We’ll touch on each of those below.

Full House

The next hand up the poker hand ranking scale is a full house. To make a full house with your hand, you’ll need to have a three of a kind paired with a two of a kind. If you have three 10’s and two 5’s, you’d have a full house.

Four of a Kind

One of the toughest hands to get when playing poker is a four of a kind. Here, you’ll need to have four cards of the same value in your hand. As an example, if you had four queens in your hand, you’ll have made a four of a kind poker hand. With four of a kind, there are only two other poker hands that can beat you.

Straight Flush (Not Royal)

Second from the top of the best poker hands possible is the straight flush. The flush portion of this name implies you’ll need all your cards to be of the same suit. However, to make a straight flush, they also must be in sequential order. For example, having 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the same suit would provide you with a straight flush poker hand.

Royal Flush

The king of all poker hands is the royal flush. With a royal flush, it’s essentially a very specific straight flush. For starters, all your five cards must be the same suit. On top of that, it must be the 10, J, Q, K, and A of a particular suit to complete the royal flush.

Poker Hand Odds for Five-Card Games

Up first, we wanted to start by presenting you with your odds of being dealt a royal flush and other hands when playing five-card games of poker. Most notably, this will include Five-Card Stud Poker. We’ve included a chart below which showcases your odds of being dealt each hand in conjunction with the potential combinations and associated probability.

One thing worth noting is that the chart below showcases your odds of having one of the hands in a five-card poker game. This data does not account for any possibilities of wild cards or draws, which may be present in select games like Five-Card Draw.

Poker Hand	Odds	Combinations	Probablity
Royal Flush	1 in 649,740	4	0.00015%
Straight Flush	1 in 72,192	36	0.00139%
Four of a Kind	1 in 4,165	624	0.02401%
Full House	1 in 693	3,744	0.14406%
Flush	1 in 508	5,108	0.19654%
Straight	1 in 254	10,200	0.39246%
Three of a Kind	1 in 46.2	54,912	2.11285%
Two Pair	1 in 21	123,552	4.75390%
Single Pair	1 in 1.37	1,098,240	42.25690%
No Pair	1 in 0.995	1,302,540	50.11774%

Chart Labels

• Odds: The odds of being dealt the particular poker hand in a five-card game.
• Combinations: How many different ways the poker hand can be made using all 52 cards in the deck.
• Probability: The statistical probability of being dealt the hand in a five-card poker game.

As you can see from the chart above, you’ve got the highest chance of being dealt a no pair or single pair hand when playing a five-card variant of poker online or in a casino. Interestingly, there’s roughly a 50% chance you won’t have a pair or better.

However, you can see just how tough it can be to get some of the other higher-ranking poker hands. Even two pair hands only happen about 5% of the time. And if you’re hoping for a royal flush, the odds of it happening are minuscule.

Things More Likely to Happen Than Being Dealt a Royal Flush

Since the royal flush is the hardest poker hand to achieve, we wanted to provide you with some visualizations to help you grasp just how rare it is. Check out the list of things below, which are more likely to happen to you than being dealt a royal flush when playing a five-card variant of poker.

Getting in a Car Accident
1 in 103

Getting Audited by the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
1 in 175

Winning an Academy Award
1 in 11,500

Losing an Appendage
in a Chainsaw-Related Accident
1 in 4,464

Going to the ER
With a Pogo Stick-Related Injury
1 in 103

Poker Hand Odds for Seven-Card Games

Up next, we wanted to provide you with royal flush odds and other poker hands when playing seven-card versions of poker. If you’re into games like Seven-Card Stud and No Limit Texas Hold’em, this is the section for you.

While the addition of two extra cards to work with doesn’t sound like much to some, it creates a dramatic difference. Instead of just 2,598,960 potential hand combinations, playing poker with seven cards brings the possibility of 133,784,560 hands. That means there are more than 50 times as many possible hand combinations thanks to those extra two cards in play!

This chart focuses on your odds of being dealt one of these hands in a game of seven-card poker. As with the previous five-card section, the poker probability and odds below do not take into account wild cards and draws from specific versions of poker.

Poker Hand	Odds	Combinations	Probablity
Royal Flush	1 in 30,939	4,324	0.00323%
Straight Flush	1 in 3,589	37,260	0.02785%
Four of a Kind	1 in 594	224,848	0.16807%
Full House	1 in 37.5	3,473,183	2.59610%
Flush	1 in 32.1	4,047,644	3.02549%
Straight	1 in 20.6	6,180,020	4.82987%
Three of a Kind	1 in 19.7	6,461,620	23.49554%
Two Pair	1 in 3.26	31,433,400	23.49554%
Single Pair	1 in 1.28	58,627,800	43.82255%
No Pair	1 in 4.74	23,294,460	17.41192%

Chart Labels

• Odds: The odds of being dealt the particular poker hand in a seven-card game.
• Combinations: How many different ways the poker hand can be made using all 52 cards in the deck.
• Probability: The statistical probability of being dealt the hand in a seven-card poker game.

Immediately, you’ll probably notice how much better your odds of getting most hands are. In the next section, we’ll provide you with even more information about how much better your chances are for each of these hands if you play a seven-card variant instead of a five-card one.

Thanks to the additional two cards, offering you the chance to make your best five-card hand, there are more potential combinations which can help you improve your starting hand.

How Much Better Your Odds Are Playing Seven-Card Poker

Now that we’ve broken down the difference in royal flush odds and other poker hands between five- and seven-card poker games, we wanted to help you visualize just how much better your odds are when playing a seven-card game. Check out the chart below to see why you might opt to choose a seven-card game if you’re hoping to land a significant hand like a royal or straight flush.

What Can Beat A Flush In Poker Machines

Poker Hand	Percentage Increase
Royal Flush	2000.00%
Straight Flush	1910.64%
Four of a Kind	600.00%
Full House	1702.13%
Flush	1439.38%
Straight	1077.02%
Three of a Kind	128.60%
Two Pair	394.24%
Single Pair	3.71%
No Pair	-65.26%

As you can see from the chart above, there’s a 2000% greater chance you’ll get a royal flush when playing a seven-card poker game instead of a five-card game. Other hands which have an increased chance of happening when you’re playing a seven-card variant of poker include the straight flush, full house, flush, and straight.

Interestingly, there’s one hand where you have a lower chance of getting it when playing a seven-card game of poker instead of a five-card game. That hand is the no pair hand. Intuitively, this makes sense since there are increased chances you’ll make at least a pair thanks to the expanded cards you’re playing with. In this case, your chance of getting a no pair hand is 65% less when playing a seven-card game as opposed to a five-card one.

Wrap Up

Thanks for stopping in to check out this page about poker probability and the odds of being dealt a royal flush when playing online poker and casino poker. If you’re planning to play poker soon, don’t miss our complete guide to real money poker. In it, you’ll find all sorts of helpful information, including terminology, strategies, and so much more.

If you enjoyed this page about the odds of getting a royal flush, you might also enjoy other pages we’ve developed in this series. Check out the choices below to explore some of our other “What Are the Odds?” pages.

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Poker rules can be confusing at times. You might think you know them all, but then during your play with friends, you come upon a situation, and you are unsure of the rule. One such scenario that might confuse you is when you see two players having a flush. So who wins? The answer is pretty clear to an experienced player like myself, and after reading this article, it will be simple for you to know next time also.

A player with the highest flush rank wins. If both players have the flush of the same rank, then the pot would get split between them. This, of course, holds true only if no one else has a card combination higher than a flush.

Flush is a very powerful hand in poker. You are expected to dominate your opponents very often once you hit it. Therefore it is no surprise it doesn’t usually happen that you get to hit one. You will hit a flush only 0.2% percent of the time. There is a common misconception that a flush is easier to hit, but in fact, you will hit flush half as often as you hit a straight (0.4% chance to hit a straight). And because a flush is harder to hit, your winrate with flush will be higher than with a straight.

It is very crucial to play the right hands to maximize your chances of hitting a flush.

Best cards to hit a flush are high suited hands. AK suited is, of course, the best one to have, followed by AQ suited. Your winrate will still be high with all of the suited broadway hands (JTs, QTs, KTs, ATs, QJs, KJs, AJs, KQs, AQs, and AKs).

Of course, you can hit a flush with a non-suited hand also, but having a suited hand with increase your chances to hit a flush by a lot.

Table of Contents

Bigger cards are better for hitting a flush

Why is a high double suited hand a lot better than the lower double suited hand? If you play AKs, AQs, or AJs, you will always have the nut flush (ace-high flush) when you hit a flush compared to 98s. A flush is a very strong hand, no matter how high your flush is. It is tough to lay down a flush, even to strong bets.

If you hit the nut flush on 5hKcThJh7s board with AhQh and your opponent has 8h9h, it will be very tough of him to fold his flush (AQTJ5 high flush wins against JT895 high flush because it has higher ranking cards). It will also be very tough for you to hold a low flush when you are facing bets, after all, you beat many hands that are willing to bet – all sets, two pairs, some smaller flushes, and bluffs.

Therefore you must be on the winning side of a flush as often as possible. And big suited cards do exactly that.

Please note, due to the little chance of having a straight flush of 0.0014%, I just assume that Ace-high flush is the nut flush, and an opponent doesn’t have a straight flush, which would beat our ace-high flush.

One exception – When the bigger cards are not always better

There is one situation where having AKs is not optimal. It only matters when you hit a flush. In such a scenario, I would rather have any other ace-high flush but the AK high flush. That way, I can know that someoneelse might be holding a 2nd nut flush (K high flush) as I don’t hold the K myself. Some players might be folding lower flushes, but almost no one folds 2nd nut K high flush. And nobody can beat me anyway if I hold the A high flush in my hand.

The chance to hit a flush is already low, and it happens even less often that someone has second nut flush. In all the other scenarios, it is better to have AK than AQ or lower, as our kicker is very valuable. This is also the reason that my winrate with AKs is still a lot higher than with AJs. Most of the time, when we hit a flush, our opponent will not have a flush.

But the times when you see two players showing a flush do happen and it is important to distinguish from 3 possible scenarios:

1. One person has a lower flush, and another person has a higher flush
2. Both players have a flush of the same rank
3. One player has a straight flush (with lower cards), and another player has a higher flush, but just a flush.

Higher vs. Lower Flush

The rules of poker are simple. A player that has a higher flush will win the hand. It doesn’t matter if both players have a flush; it only matters who has the highest flush.

The value of the flush goes from lowest possible flush 23457 of the same suit, and not 23456 as this would also give us a straight flush, which is better than a normal flush. The value of flush goes all the way up to AKQJ9 of the same suit, and this is the biggest flush possible without having the strongest hand in poker – royal flush (AKQJT of the same suit).

The highest flush beats not only all the lower flushes that will not be folding to our huge bets, but it also beats all sets (trips), two pairs, and pairs.

If you don’t have the nut flush yourself (highest possible flush, depending on the board), then chances are someone else can have it. Scenarios where you have 2nd nut flush, and someone else holds the nut flush will happen, and you will pay him off. This will reduce your winrate. But all the other times you are up against worse hands you will make a lot of money. Any flush is a great hand to have as it beats so many other worse hands.

Who wins if both players have a flush of the same rank

What Can Beat A Flush In Poker Game

In the case when both players have the same flush at showdown, and no one else has a better hand than this flush, then the pot would get split between them. First, the rake would get deducted from the pot, and afterward, the pot gets equally split.

Who wins if there is a flush on the table?

Scenario, where both players have the flush of the same rank, is only possible if a flush is present on the table. There is no other option, as that is the only way that both players have all 5 cards of the same rank and same suit.

In my poker career (more than 5 million hands played online), I have seen quite some flushes on the board. A few scenarios are possible:

1. Nobody has a stronger hand than the flush on the board: When nobody has a higher card of the same suit in the hole cards (in their hand) at showdown, then the pot would get equally split among the players that are still involved in the hand at showdown. Of course, if you fold before the showdown, then you give up on your hand and can’t win the pot (get equal share in this scenario).
2. Someone has a better hand: If there isn’t a royal flush on the board, then chances are some player can have a bigger flush. Remember, in poker, the player that has the best 5 card combination wins. So on a 5689T all hearts, any player having J of hearts or higher still beats 5689T flush. But if someone has 7 of hearts, then that player will have the better nuts. As 6789T of hearts will give him a straight flush and the better hand combination. If someone would hold QhJh they would have the absolute nuts (QJT98 high straight flush).

Straight flush vs. Ace-high flush

What Can Beat A Flush In Poker Results

If, by any chance, you come upon a situation where one player has a straight flush, and another player has an ace-high flush, then the rules are simple here also. A straight flush is a better hand and wins against any other non-straight flush and against all lower straight flushes (if both players have a straight flush, then the one with higher straight flush wins).

You will hit a straight flush once roughly every 72,000 hands. When on the other hand, you will hit a flush once every 508 hands. So it makes sense that a straight flush wins.

Related Articles:

• Why is flush worth more than a straight?
  
• Is a flush or a straight more likely to hit?
  
• A flush beats 3 of a kind. Here is why
  

Conclusion

Now you know of all the possible scenarios where two players might have the flush. You know correctly who wins and when the pots get split. I am sure there will be no more confusion next time when you see two players have hit a flush.