Does a Flush Beat a Straight in Poker?
Many newbie poker players ask whether a flush beat a straight in poker. If you are one of these people, the answer to your question is yes; a flush does beat a straight. A flush is the sixth highest-ranking poker hand, followed by a straight.
Poker hand rankings can get a bit confusing for newer players. Even people who have been playing poker for a while still don’t comprehend the hand rankings very well. So, don’t be hard on yourself if you still cannot distinguish what beats what between a flush and straight hand.
What is a Flush in Poker
A hand with a combination of five cards bearing the same suit. These cards do not have to be sequential, if they are sequential, the hand is considered a straight flush. A straight flush is stronger than a flush.
If you hold a hand with five sequential cards of the same suit ranked from 10 to an ace, you are holding a royal flush. A royal flush is the highest-ranking poker hand, and there are only four possible ways to make this hand.
Why does a Flush Beat a Straight in Poker
A flush, a straight flush, and a royal flush are the only three poker hands that use suits. Poker hands are essentially ranked based on the probability of making them. The reason a flush beat a straight in poker is thus based on the probabilities of making either.
The probabilities of making a flush are less than that of making a straight, and there are 10 200 possible ways to make a straight instead of only 5108 ways to make a flush. This is the reason a flush beat a straight in poker.
Rules for Ranking Flush Combinations in Poker
If you are playing a high-hand poker variant such as Texas Hold’em, the following rules for ranking flush hands are applied:
- If more than one player is holding a flush and a flush is the best-ranking hand in the showdown, the highest card is used to determine the winner.
- If two or more of the players’ highest card is of the same value, the second-highest cards are compared.
- In an occasion where the third-highest cards are of the same value, the third-highest card is used, and so on.
What is a Straight in Poker
A straight is a hand with five consecutive cards of any suit. However, as already stated, the hand becomes a straight flush if all five cards are of the same suit. So, in this case, at least one card has to be of a different suit.
Straight is the sixth highest-ranking poker hand. A straight flush and a royal flush both comprise of straights, only they are straights of the same suit.
Rules for Ranking a Straight Combination in Poker
In a situation where two or more players are holding a straight hand as the best hand during the showdown, this will happen:
- A player with the highest-ranking high card wins.
- If two players have the same high card, the second-highest cards will be compared until the winner is determined.
Conclusion
A flush beats a straight in poker, mainly because it is more challenging to make a flush than to make a straight. The odds of making a flush hand are 509:1, whilst the odds of making a straight are 254:1. There are also 10 200 possible ways to make a straight and only 5108 possible ways to make a flush.
