Poker is basically a card game where players pit their best hands against each other. The different winning hands are displayed below. If there are 2 hands of the same type, then the value of the hand determines who wins. For example if a player holds a fulls house of 333,JJ and another player holds 999,22 this player wins because the 9s are greater than the 3s.

Rank of Cards - ACE, KING, QUEEN, JACK, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Suits are irrelavant in poker.

1. STRAIGHT FLUSH. Sometimes a ROYAL FLUSH (the best Straight Flush) is considered to be a separate category. A Straight Flush is five cards in consecutive order all of the same suit. A Royal Flush is A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit. With any Straight, including a Straight Flush, the Ace can be used as a low card. Therefore, 5-4-3-2-A of the same suit is a Straight Flush (but it's only 5-high and would lose to 6-5-4-3-2 of the same suit, even though the first hand contains an Ace.) The higher high cards determine the relative rating of Straight Flushes.

2. FOUR-OF-KIND. For example 7-7-7-7-6. If 2 or more hands of this type are present, the winner is the hand with the higher four cards. The single card is irrelavent

3. FULL HOUSE. Three cards of the same value and a pair. eg 10-10-10-5-5 The relative ratings are determined by the rank of the three cards, not the pair.

4. FLUSH. Five cards of the same suit. In the case of a tie, the higher card within the flush wins, if both flushes have the same high card, it moves to the next high card, and so on. Therefore, K-Q-10-6-3 of Diamonds beats K-Q-8-7-2 of Spades.

5. STRAIGHT. 5 cards in sequence such as J-10-9-8-7. If there are 2 or more straights, the higher top card wins. If the striaght is tied all the way to the lowest card, then the hands are drawn.

6. THREE-OF-A-KIND. Three cards of the same denomination.
If more than one player holds Three-of-a-Kind, the rank of the three matched cards determines the winner.

7. TWO PAIR. The highest Pair determines the winner if two players (or more) have Two Pair. If both high Pairs are the same, then the better remaining pair determines the winner. For instance, JJ-88-3 beats JJ-66-4. If both Pairs tie, then the unpaired card determines the winner. Therefore, 99-55-7 beats 99-55-4.

8. ONE PAIR. If tied, the higher Pair wins. If both Pairs are the same, the highest remaining card wins down to the last card, if necessary. For instance, A-A-K-5-6 beats A-A-Q-J-9 and K-K-J-9-6 beats K-K-J-9-5.

9. NO PAIR. The winner the person with the highest cards. A-7-6-4-3 beats K-Q-J-10-7 and Q-8-7-6-5 beats Q-8-7-6-4.

In the rare circumstance of a complete tie between players, the pot is split, i.e it is divded equally between the remaining players.