- 11 rows In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high games, like Texas hold 'em and seven-card stud, the highest-ranking hands win.In low games, like razz, the lowest-ranking hands win.
- Sep 13, 2016 In every form of poker there is some determining factor as to how and where the action starts in the hand. In Hold'em or Omaha the action starts to the left of the big blind; in Stud it starts with the bring. The player with the lowest-value up card is the one required to 'bring it in.' Here's what you need to discern the player for the bring.
- When a joker is in play, it usually can only be used as an ace or to complete a straight or flush. It cannot be used as a true wild card. At the showdown, those players still remaining compare their hands according to the hand rankings. Suits are not used to break ties, nor are cards beyond the fifth.
- Small Straight In Poker
- Straight In Cards
- Five Straight Rules
- Poker Rules To Print
- Rules Of A Poker Straight Back
- Rules Of A Poker Straight Talk
- What Is A Straight Poker
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The most popular rules of poker for beginners and veterans to learn. Includes basic poker rules on what beats what, straights, flushes, ties, and all-ins.
On This Page
Introduction
Four Poker is a new poker variation invented by Roger Snow and marketed by Shufflemaster. The game is similar to Three Card Poker but as the title suggests, four cards are used instead of three. Also, there is no dealer qualifying hand and the player can raise up to three times his ante. However, the dealer gets one extra card to form his best hand.
Rules
Small Straight In Poker
- Two initial bets are available: The Ante and the Aces Up.
- All players get five cards each and the dealer gets six cards. One of the dealer cards is placed face up, and five face down.
- Players making the Ante bet must decide to fold or raise.
- If the player folds he forfeits his Ante bet. He may or may not forfeit his Aces Up bet, depending on casino rules. It shouldn't matter because if the player has a paying Aces Up bet, he shouldn't be folding anyway.
- If player raises, then he must raise at least the amount of the Ante and at most, three times the Ante.
- The player keeps his best four cards and discards one.
- Following is the ranking of hands from lowest to highest: high card, pair, two pair, straight, flush, three of a kind, straight flush, four of a kind.
- After all decisions have been made, the dealer will turn over his cards and select the best four out of six.
- The player's hand shall be compared to the dealer's hand, the higher hand winning.
- If the dealer's hand is higher, then the player shall lose the Ante and Raise.
- If the player's hand is higher or equal then the Ante and Raise shall pay one to one.
- If the player has at least a three of a kind, then he shall also be paid a Bonus, regardless of the value of the dealer's hand. Two different pay tables are available for the Bonus, as displayed below, and are based on the ante bet. Pay Table 1 is the only one I know of to be actually used.
- Another bet is available (similar to the Pairplus in Three Card Poker), based only on the player's four card hand, called the Aces Up. Seven pay tables are available as indicated below. The only one I know of to be actually used is pay table 5.
Bonus Pay Table
| Hand | Table 1 | Table 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Four of a kind | 25 | 30 |
| Straight flush | 20 | 15 |
| Three of a kind | 2 | 2 |
Aces Up Pay Table
| Hand | Table 1 | Table 2 | Table 3 | Table 4 | Table 5 | Table 6 | Table 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four of a kind | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 |
| Straight flush | 40 to 1 | 40 to 1 | 30 to 1 | 30 to 1 | 40 to 1 | 40 to 1 | 40 to 1 |
| Three of a kind | 9 to 1 | 7 to 1 | 9 to 1 | 7 to 1 | 8 to 1 | 8 to 1 | 7 to 1 |
| Flush | 6 to 1 | 6 to 1 | 6 to 1 | 6 to 1 | 5 to 1 | 6 to 1 | 5 to 1 |
| Straight | 4 to 1 | 5 to 1 | 4 to 1 | 5 to 1 | 4 to 1 | 4 to 1 | 4 to 1 |
| Two pair | 2 to 1 | 2 to 1 | 2 to 1 | 2 to 1 | 3 to 1 | 2 to 1 | 3 to 1 |
| Pair of aces or better | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 |
Of these pay tables for the Aces Up side bet, number five is the most popular. The only exceptions that I'm aware of are an unconfirmed report that that Tulalip in Washington uses pay table 4 and the Grand Casino Hinckley in Minnesota uses pay table 1.
Analysis
The following return table is based on optimal player strategy under the 2-20-25 Ante Bonus pay table. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.79%.
Return Table Based on Optimal Strategy
| Player Hand | Raise/Fold | Win/Loss | Combinations | Probability | Pays | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four of a Kind | 3 | Win | 40,182,878,736 | 0.000240 | +29 | 0.006960 |
| Four of a Kind | 3 | Lose | 18,594,576 | 0.000000 | +21 | 0.000002 |
| Straight Flush | 3 | Win | 133,224,330,456 | 0.000796 | +24 | 0.019096 |
| Straight Flush | 3 | Lose | 265,177,080 | 0.000002 | +16 | 0.000025 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | Win | 3,675,379,352,400 | 0.021951 | +6 | 0.131703 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | Lose | 103,559,138,928 | 0.000618 | -2 | -0.001237 |
| Flush | 3 | Win | 6,599,621,152,728 | 0.039415 | +4 | 0.157660 |
| Flush | 3 | Lose | 784,564,849,080 | 0.004686 | -4 | -0.018743 |
| Straight | 3 | Win | 5,257,469,039,688 | 0.031399 | +4 | 0.125597 |
| Straight | 3 | Lose | 1,301,555,952,216 | 0.007773 | -4 | -0.031093 |
| Two Pair | 3 | Win | 5,539,444,298,496 | 0.033083 | +4 | 0.132333 |
| Two Pair | 3 | Lose | 2,420,447,417,280 | 0.014456 | -4 | -0.057823 |
| One Pair | 3 | Win | 14,764,551,298,548 | 0.088179 | +4 | 0.352714 |
| One Pair | 3 | Lose | 10,806,299,820,804 | 0.064539 | -4 | -0.258155 |
| One Pair | 1 | Win | 13,535,004,289,296 | 0.080835 | +2 | 0.161671 |
| One Pair | 1 | Lose | 22,887,448,286,136 | 0.136691 | -2 | -0.273382 |
| One Pair | Fold | Fold | 5,495,692,732,992 | 0.032822 | -1 | -0.032822 |
| High Card | 1 | Win | 148,058,445,132 | 0.000884 | +2 | 0.001769 |
| High Card | 1 | Lose | 422,493,233,796 | 0.002523 | -2 | -0.005047 |
| High Card | Fold | Fold | 73,523,856,056,112 | 0.439108 | -1 | -0.439108 |
| Totals | 167,439,136,344,480 | 1.000000 | -0.027879 |
The average final bet under optimal strategy is 2.142342 units, making the element of risk, -0.027879/2.142342 = 1.30%. The standard deviation, relative to the original bet, is 2.71.
Beginner Strategy
A simple strategy to this game, first proposed by Stanley Ko, is as follows.
- Raise 3X with a pair of tens or higher.
- Raise 1X with a pair of twos to nines.
- Fold all other.
According to the second edition of 'Beyond Counting' by James Grosjean, this 'simple strategy' results in a house edge of 3.396%.
Intermediate Strategy
Straight In Cards
The following intermediate strategy was created to balance power and simplicity by our own JB.
- Pair of Aces or better: Bet 3X
- Pair of Js, Qs, Ks: Bet 3X if dealer's upcard is lower than your pair or matches a rank in your hand, otherwise bet 1X
- Pair of 9s, 10s: Bet 1X if dealer's upcard outranks your pair, otherwise bet 3X
- Pair of 8s: Bet 3X if dealer's upcard is a 2, otherwise bet 1X
- Pair of 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s: Bet 1X
- Pair of 2s or AKQ: Bet 1X if dealer's upcard matches a rank in your hand, otherwise fold
- All other: Fold
Against the 2-20-25 Ante Bonus pay table, the house edge is 2.8526% and the element of risk is 1.3233%.
Advanced Strategy
I'm proud to present the following advanced strategy, also created by my sidekick JB.
- Pair of Aces or better: Bet 3X
- Pair of Ks: Bet 3X, except bet 1X against an Ace and you don't have an Ace nor 4.
- Pair of Js or Qs: Bet 3X, except bet 1X if the dealer's card outranks pair your pair rank and does not match a singleton in your hand.
- Pair of 9s or 10s: Bet 3X, except bet 1X if dealer card outranks your pair rank.
- Pair of 8s: Bet 1X, except bet 3X against a 2
- Pair of 4s thru 7s: Bet 1X
- Pair of 3s: Bet 1X, except fold against a Jack if your highest kicker is a 10 or lower
- Pair of 2s or AKQ: Fold, except bet 1X if dealer card matches a rank in your hand
- AKJT: Fold, except bet 1X against a Jack
- AKJ9 or lower: Fold
Against the 2-20-25 Ante Bonus pay table, the house edge is 2.8498% and the element of risk is 1.3216%. Here is a house edge comparison of various known strategies.
- Simple: 3.396%
- Intermediate: 2.853%
- Advanced: 2.850%
- Optimal: 2.788%
To put it another way, here are the cost of errors:
- Simple: 0.606%
- Intermediate: 0.065%
- Advanced: 0.062%
- Optimal: 0.000%
Aces Up Analysis
The next table shows the probability of each hand and the return under pay table five of the Aces Up side bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 3.89%.
Return for Aces Up Pay Table 5
| Hand | Combinations | Probability | Pays | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four of a kind | 624 | 0.00024 | 50 | 0.012005 |
| Straight flush | 2072 | 0.000797 | 40 | 0.03189 |
| Three of a kind | 58656 | 0.022569 | 8 | 0.180552 |
| Flush | 114616 | 0.044101 | 5 | 0.220504 |
| Straight | 101808 | 0.039173 | 4 | 0.15669 |
| Two pair | 123552 | 0.047539 | 3 | 0.142617 |
| Pair of aces | 81096 | 0.031203 | 1 | 0.031203 |
| Nothing | 2116536 | 0.814378 | -1 | -0.814378 |
| Total | 2598960 | 1 | -0.038917 |
The next table shows the house edge according to all four Aces Up pay tables.
Aces Up House Edge
| Pay Table | House Edge |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1.98% |
| 2 | 2.58% |
| 3 | 2.78% |
| 4 | 3.37% |
| 5 | 3.89% |
| 6 | 4.24% |
| 7 | 6.15% |
Note: There is also a similar game called Crazy Four Poker.
Acknowledgments
I would like to recognize:
- JB for the analysis of the optimal strategy.
- Stanley Ko for the simplified strategy.
- James Grosjean for the unpublished advanced strategy.
Five Straight Rules
The Straight is fifth on the poker hand rankings list and is made up of five sequential or consecutive cards.
The word Straight should immediately have you thinking that it consists of five cards in a row - and that makes it a very easy hand to identify.
The highest possible Straight is A-K-Q-J-10 (also called “Broadway”). Straight combinations go all the way down to A-2-3-4-5, which is known as the “Wheel” or “Bicycle”, in poker lingo.
A♠K♥Q♣J♥10♠ aka BROADWAY
A♥2♣3♠4♦5♥ aka the WHEEL or BICYCLE
When it comes to Straights, the suits aren’t important. However, not every straight is ranked equally.
When rating one straight over the next, it’s the hand rank or denomination that’s important.
How Does a Straight Hand Rank?
In a 52-card deck, there are 10,200 possible Straight hand combinations and 10 distinct ranks of Straights. Each Straight is ranked by its highest card, then by the rank of its second-highest card and so forth.
Here are some examples of Straights:
K♠Q♣J♦10♠9♦
Q♥J♥10♣9♠8♥
Poker Rules To Print
J♣10♦9♣8♠7♣
10♦9♠8♦7♦6♦
The best Straights are determined by the highest straight card – not the suit. For example, a Queen-high Straight beats a Jack-high Straight – regardless of suits, and so forth.
How Does a Straight Hand Match Up?
The Straight is the fifth best possible hand in the poker hand ranking system. The Flush ranks directly above it, with the best flush being ace-high. Its fifth-place ranking still makes it a formidable hand to beat on the river in Hold’em.
There are a few hands that rank beneath a Straight. The hand that ranks directly under a Straight is called Three-of-a-Kind. The best 3-of-a-Kind hand is three Aces also known as a set of Aces or trip Aces.
Straight Poker Probabilities
Now, we’ll look at the pre-flop, flop, turn and river probabilities of making a Straight in both Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha.
Red rock casino canyon suite. April 23, 2006.
| Hold'em Probabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pre-flop: | 0.39% | (based on 5 cards randomly drawn from a full 52-card deck) (excl. royal and straight flushes) |
| Flop: | 1.30% | (when holding 2 connected cards J-10 through 5-4) |
| Turn: | 16.90% | (with an open-ended-straight-draw on flop) |
| River: | 17.20% | (from an open-ended-straight-draw) |
| Pot Limit Omaha Probabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pre-flop: | 0.39% | (based on 5 cards randomly drawn from a full 52-card deck) (excl. royal and straight flushes) |
| Flop: | 4.90% | (when holding 4 consecutive ranks from 4-5-6-7 to 8-9-T-J) |
| Turn: | 17.78% | (Open Ended Straight Draw - 8 Outs - Example: 4-5-Q-Q on flop of 6-7-K) |
| 20% | (Inside Broadway Draw - 9 Outs - Example: 5-10-J-K on flop of 7-Q-A) | |
| 26.67% | (12 Out Straight Draw - 12 Outs - Example: 7-9-J-Q on flop of 2-8-10) | |
| 28.89% | (13 Card Wrap Draw - 13 Outs - Example: 5-6-8-9 on flop of 4-7-K) | |
| 37.78% | (17 Card Wrap Draw - 17 Outs - Example: 10-9-6-2 on flop of 8-7-A) | |
| 44.44% | (20 Card Wrap Draw - 20 Outs - Example: 10-9-6-5 on flop of 8-7-2) | |
| River: | 18.18% | (Open Ended Straight Draw - 8 Outs - Example: 4-5-Q-Q on flop of 6-7-K) |
| 20.45% | (Inside Broadway Draw - 9 Outs - Example: 5-10-J-K on flop of 7-Q-A) | |
| 27.27% | (12 Out Straight Draw - 12 Outs - Example: 7-9-J-Q on flop of 2-8-10) | |
| 29.55% | (13 Card Wrap Draw - 13 Outs - Example: 5-6-8-9 on flop of 4-7-K) | |
| 38.63% | (17 Card Wrap Draw - 17 Outs - Example: 10-9-6-2 on flop of 8-7-A) | |
| 45.45% | (20 Card Wrap Draw - 20 Outs - Example: 10-9-6-5 on flop of 8-7-2) |
Visit our Straight Poker Odds article for more information
Straight – FAQ
Question 1: What is a “straight” in poker?
In poker, a straight is made when we hold 5 cards all of consecutive rank, for example, 56789. Aces can be both high and low for the purposes of creating a straight, but the Ace must either appear at the beginning or end of the hand’s structure.
Question 2: Which straight wins in poker?
The strength of a straight is determined by the rank of the card at the top of the run. The strongest straight is hence the ‘broadway’ straight (TJQKA) while the weakest straight is the ‘wheel’ (A2345). These are referred to as Ace-high and Five-high straights respectively.
Question 3: Is a straight a strong hand in Hold’em?
Rules Of A Poker Straight Back
Straights are usually quite strong in Hold’em, but their strength can vary a lot based on the board texture. Straights are always strongest when there is no pair on the board and there is no flush or higher straight possible.
Question 4: Does a straight beat a flush?
It’s very common for beginners to forget whether a straight is better than a flush in poker. The flush is the better hand and will win against the straight.
Rules Of A Poker Straight Talk
Question 5: What is a ‘wrap around’ straight?
A ‘wrap around’ straight is a straight where the Ace appears somewhere in the middle of the structure, for example, QKA23. Wrap around straights are not legal holdings in the vast majority of poker variants, but there are exceptions.
What Is A Straight Poker
Now that you’ve got the Straight all sorted, we’ll move on to the next hand on the list. It’s called Flush.