POSSIBILE POKER HANDS IN A 52-CARDS DECK
Ranking Order of Hands |
Number of Possible Ways Hand Can be made |
Chance of Being Dealt in Original 5 cards |
4 |
1 in 649,740 |
|
Straight flush |
36 |
1 in72,193 |
Four of a kind |
624 |
1 in 4,165 |
Full house |
3,744 |
1 in 694 |
Flush |
5,108 |
1 in 509 |
Straight |
10,200 |
1 in 255 |
Three of a kind |
54,912 |
1 in 47 |
Two pairs |
1,23,552 |
1 in 21 |
One pair |
1,098,240 |
1 in 2 2/5 |
No-pair hand |
1,302,540 |
1 in 2 |
Total |
2,598,960 |
In the chance column above, fractional figures have been rounded out to the nearest 2/5 or whole number. The probability of being dealt a pair or better in the first five cards dealt is almost even and the probability of being dealt a no-pair hand is practically the same. So it’s almost a three-to-one chance, when playing against two opponents, that one of them will hold a pair or better in the first five dealt cards. The probabilities vary slightly depending on what you hold.
The 1,302,540 possible five-card no-pair hands are divided as follows:
POSSIBILE POKER HANDs oF LESS VALUE THAN ONE PAIR
IN A 52-CARDS DECK
Ace Counting High |
King Counting High, ace Low |
Number of Possible No-Pair hands |
Ace high |
King high |
502,860 |
King high |
Queen high |
335,580 |
Queen high |
Jack high |
213,500 |
Jack high |
Ten high |
127,500 |
Ten high |
Nine high |
70,380 |
Nine high |
Eight high |
34,680 |
Eight high |
Seven high |
14,280 |
Seven high |
Six high |
4,080 |
1,302,540 |
CHANCES OF HOLDING ANY PARTICULAR HAND OR BETTER
IN FIRST FIVE CARDS DEALT
Approximately Once in |
|
Any pair or better |
2 deals |
Pair of jacks or better |
5 deals |
Pair of queens or better |
6 deals |
Pair of kings or better |
7 deals |
Pair of aces or better |
9 deals |
Two pairs or better |
13 deals |
Three of a kind or better |
35 deals |
Straight or better |
132 deals |
Flush or better |
273 deals |
Full house or better |
590 deals |
Four of a kind or better |
3,914 deals |
Straight flush or better |
64 ,9deals |
Royal flush |
649,740 deals |
CHANCE OF BENING WITH THE FIRST FIVE CARDS DEALT, PERCENT
Number of Opponents |
||||||||
Players hand |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
Three of a kind |
98 |
94 |
92 |
89 |
87 |
84 |
82 |
80 |
Two pair |
93 |
86 |
80 |
74 |
68 |
63 |
59 |
53 |
Pairs |
||||||||
Aces |
89 |
79 |
70 |
62 |
55 |
49 |
43 |
39 |
Kings |
88 |
78 |
69 |
61 |
54 |
48 |
42 |
36 |
Queens |
83 |
68 |
56 |
46 |
38 |
32 |
26 |
20 |
Jacks |
79 |
63 |
55 |
40 |
32 |
25 |
20 |
15 |
Tens |
76 |
58 |
44 |
|||||
Nine |
73 |
53 |
38 |
|||||
Eights |
70 |
49 |
||||||
Sevens |
66 |
43 |
||||||
Sixes |
63 |
40 |
||||||
Fives |
60 |
36 |
||||||
Fours |
57 |
32 |
||||||
Threes |
53 |
28 |
||||||
twos |
51 |
25 |
The above table presents the chance of a specific hand being high at Five-Card Draw Poker against one to eight opponents. This is expressed in percent thus 98 means 98 percent, or this will happen 98 times out of 100.
The lowest - ranking regular five-card Poker hand when an ace is both high and low is comprised of six, four, three, two, ace in mixed suits. The above table is particularly helpful to players who play high-low-poker variants of Poker. In the short run each additional active player in the game increase the odds against you on any particular hand. But in the long run, since all players have to put an equal sum into the pot, thus increasing the size of the pot in direct ratio to the increased odds, it doesn’t make much difference, as far as odds are concerned, if you are bucking one or seven players. To simplify matters, the figures in the following tables have been rounded out when necessary to the nearest 1/10 or whole number.
ODDS AGAINST IMPROVING THE HAND IN DRAW POKER
WHEN DRAWING THREE CARDS TO ONE PAIR
Odds against any improvement |
2 ½ to 1 |
Odds against making two pairs |
5 to 1 |
Odds against making three of a kind |
8 to 1 |
Odds against making a full house |
97 to 1 |
Odds against making four of a kind |
359 to 1 |
ODDS AGAINST IMPROVING THE HAND IN DRAW POKER
WHEN DRAWING TWO CARDS TO A PAIR AND A KICKER
Odds against any improvement |
8 ½ to 1 |
Odds against making a full house |
15 ½ to |
Odds against making four of a kind |
22 ½ to 1 |
CHANCES OF IMPROVING THE HAND IN DRAW POKER
WHEN DRAWING ONE CARD TO THREE OF A KIND PLUS A KICKER
Odds against any improvement |
11 to 1 |
Odds against making a full house |
15 to 1 |
Odds against making four of a kind |
46 to 1 |
The two tables above show that the best chance for improvement with three of a kind is to draw two cards and not hold a kicker. Holding a kicker increases the odds against the player for any improvement.
ODDS AGAINST FILLING IN A FOUR-CARD STRAIGHT
IN DRAW POKER WHEN DRAWING ONE CARD
Odds against filling a straight open at one end |
11 to 1 |
Odds against filling a straight open in the middle |
11 to 1 |
Odds against filling a straight open at both ends |
5 to 1 |
ODDS AGAISNT MAKING A STRAIGHT FLUSH
IN DRAW POKER WHEN DRAWING ONE CARD
The odds against making a flush by drawing one card or the same suit are about 4 ½ to 1. If you insist on drawing to a three-card flush, the odds against your catching two cards of the same suit are approximately 23 to 1.
ODDS AGAINST MAKING A STRAIGHT FLUSH
IN DRAW POKER WHEN DRAWING ONE CARD
Odds against making a straight flush open at one end |
46 to 1 |
Odds against making a straight flush open in the middle |
46 to 1 |
Odds against making a straight flush open on both ends |
22to 1 |
CHANCES OF HOLDING VARIOUS POKER HANDS IN THE FIRST FIVE CARDS DEALT WHEN THE FOUR CARDS DEALT WHEN THE FOUR DEUCES ARE WILD
Rank of hand |
Number of each |
Chance |
Five of a kind |
672 |
1 in 3868 |
Royal flush |
484 |
1 in 5370 |
Straight flush |
4,072 |
1 in 638 |
Four of a kind |
30,816 |
1 in 84 |
Full house |
12,672 |
1 in 205 |
Flush |
13,204 |
1 in 197 |
Straight |
66,236 |
1 in 39 |
Three of a kind |
355,056 |
1 in 7 |
1 in Two pairs |
65,040 |
1 in 27 |
One pair |
1,222,048 |
1 in 2 1/10 |
No-pair hand |
798,660 |
1 in 3 1/4 |
Total |
2,598,960 |
CHANCES OF HOLDING VARIOUS POKER HANDS IN THE FIRST FIVE CARDS DEALT WHEN THE JOKER IS WILD (53 CARD PACK)
Rank of hand |
Number of each |
Chance |
Five of a kind |
13 |
1 in 220,745 |
Royal flush |
24 |
1 in 119,570 |
Straight flush |
216 |
1 in 13,286 |
Four of a kind |
3,120 |
1 in 920 |
Full house |
6,552 |
1 in 438 |
Flush |
7,768 |
1 in 369 |
Straight |
20,532 |
1 in 140 |
Three of a kind |
137,280 |
1 in 21 |
Two pairs |
123,552 |
1 in 23 |
One pair |
1,268,088 |
1 in ½ |
No-pair hand |
1,302,540 |
1 in 2 |
Total |
2,869,685 |
A very unusual mathematical situation arises in Deuces Wild and also in a 53-card deck with the joker wild regarding the relative value of three of a kind and two pairs. In Deuces Wild, as detailed in the table, the chances of drawing three of a kind are one in 7 deals and the chances of drawing two pairs are one in 27 deals. In Joker Wild, you see that the chances of drawing three of a kind are one in 21 deals and the chances of drawing two pairs are one in 23 deals. This peculiar situation is caused by the fact that in one-pair hands the player holding a wild card will naturally call three of a kind instead of the lower-ranking two-pair hand.
Five-Card Stud Poker Probabilities
The chances against holding a given hand in Five-Card Stud are the same as in Five-Card Draw. However, it must be noted that players will drop out before receiving their fifth card if they have potentially weak hands. Therefore, the player who stays until the showdown in Five-Card Stud has a higher average winning potential than those who remain until the showdown in Five-Card Draw.
The following table gives the chances that a certain card (ace, king, queen, jack) is the high–hole (down) card depending on the number of players. This table is expressed in percent
CHANCE OF BENING WITH THE FIRST FIVE CARDS DEALT, PERCENT
Number of Opponents |
||||||||
Players Hole card |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
Ace |
95 |
89 |
83 |
79 |
74 |
70 |
66 |
63 |
King |
86 |
74 |
63 |
55 |
47 |
40 |
35 |
30 |
Queen |
78 |
61 |
48 |
37 |
29 |
23 |
18 |
14 |
Jack |
69 |
49 |
34 |
24 |
16 |
12 |
08 |
05 |
The following table gives the chances of pairing your hole card at Five-Card Stud when each player has gotten two cards (one down one up)