There are many poker hands that can help you secure a win, including the royal flush. But what is this powerful poker hand? And if there are many different ways to get this incredible hand, what are they?

Learn everything you need to know about this royal hand in both offline and online poker, so that you can improve your poker game.

What Is a Royal Flush?

In poker, a royal flush is the best form of a flush. It’s a straight flush with an added bonus. Simply put, the royal flush poker cards consist of an ace, king, queen, jack, and ten (A-K-Q-J-T) of the same suit. The royal flush in poker beats every other possible hand, including four of a kind.

Poker Hand Rankings: What Beats a Royal Flush in Poker?

In poker, there are many hands you can use to try and secure a win. The harder it is to get a specific combination of cards, the higher it is ranked in regard to hand strength. The odds of landing a royal flush in poker are the lowest, which is why this hand guarantees a win – or at least a tie, if an opponent is also lucky enough to land a royal flush.

Here’s a list of the poker hand rankings, arranged from the weakest to the strongest:

High card

The strongest single card that any player holds if no one has a multiple-card combination is the high card. For example, if a player holds A-K offsuit and the board delivers T-8-7-3-2 of two or more suits, that player has an ace-high hand. This can win if no other player has any combinations. 

Pair

Two of the same card value is a pair, such as two tens. 

Two pair

Two pairs of cards is, obviously, a two-pair hand.

Three of a kind

Three of the same card value, like three queens, is three of a kind.

Straight

Five cards in sequential order, but not of a single suit is called a straight. For example, a simple straight can be 6-5-4-3-2 of more than one suit.

Flush

Five cards of the same suit but not in sequential order is called a flush. For example, a hand of K-T-8-4-2 of the same suit is a flush. Learn more about flush draws in poker, or leverage tips for playing flush draws so you can make the most out of this hand the next time you get it.

Full house

Three of a kind and a different pair make a full house when put together, with suits not having any impact. A player might have three tens and two queens, completing a full house, also referred to as tens full or, to be more precise, tens full of queens. Players who are curious about poker hand rankings can learn more about the difference between a full house vs. a flush.

Four of a kind

Four cards of the same value is a four-of-a-kind hand, also known as quads. An example would be four fives – one of each suit.

Straight flush

 Five cards in sequential order and of the same suit is a straight flush, which can be a hand like J-T-9-8-7 of clubs. 

Royal flush

The strongest five cards in sequential order and of the same suit is a royal flush. As mentioned previously, it must be A-K-Q-J-T of the same suit. 

Let’s take a closer look at the exact odds of getting a royal flush. 

What Are the Odds of Getting a Royal Flush?

As described above, a royal flush is an ace, king, queen, jack and ten of the same suit, whether that’s clubs, diamonds, hearts or spades. The chances of landing a royal flush in poker vary depending on the version of poker you’re playing. 

For example, the probability of being dealt a royal flush from a regular deck of 52 cards in a game such as Five-Card Draw is one in 649,740. While in Texas Hold’em and other seven-card poker games, your chances go up dramatically. But it remains incredibly hard to hit a royal flush, with a one-in-30,940 chance of getting the right combination. 

Regardless of how many cards you have to make a hand, there are only ever four ways in which to make this hand. It’s this rarity that makes the royal flush the most powerful hand in poker.

Four Possible Combinations of Royal Flush

How many ways are there to get a royal flush? The number of ways to get a royal flush in poker is four. The four royal flushes that a player can make are A-K-Q-J-T of hearts, A-K-Q-J-T of diamonds, A-K-Q-J-T of spades, and A-K-Q-J-T of clubs.

A player in Hold’em can flop a royal flush when holding two of the cards and obtaining the other three on the flop, though this is extremely rare. Most players complete a royal flush on the turn or river. 

What to Do with a Royal Flush?

Since the royal flush is the strongest hand in poker, you need to know how to make the most of it on the odd occasion that you may actually get it. The most important thing to know when you have the nuts in poker (the strongest hand possible in any particular game of poker) is how not to keep your opponents in the hand as long as possible to maximize your profit.

Strangely enough, in a high-level poker game, checking may be one way of intimidating an opponent. Experienced poker players know that a check (sending the action to the next player without making a bet) means that something is fishy and will react accordingly. And in a game with less experienced players, a big wager is likely to send less confident players running for the hills. Depending on who you’re up against, adjust your poker play style and betting size to keep players in the pot.

As a general rule of thumb, in most situations, it is better to play slowly with moderate bets rather than to act quickly with large bets, since you can’t be outdrawn once you have a royal flush. To raise your stakes, learn more about how to play hands that have a good chance of becoming a flush.

What Are the Odds of Flopping a Royal Flush?

One of the best feelings in poker is flopping a royal flush. Imagine having suited hole cards like A-T and seeing a flop of K-Q-J – of that same suit – that shines brighter than any casino lights. However, it is extremely rare to experience this phenomenon. How rare is a royal flush in poker? The odds of hitting your royal flush on the flop are one in 649,740, which translates to 0.000154%. It is more likely to hit to turn or river a royal flush at one-in-30,940 or 0.00323%, which is still a remote chance. 

Due to these numbers, most players remember the one time or handful of times they won a pot with a royal flush, and those who experience a flopped royal flush will likely tell the story as often as people will listen to it.

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