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It is important to know and thoroughly understand poker hands’ rankings as this is crucial when you try to take decisions about which card to hold and which card to discard. Apart from this, by having a clear idea about rankings of poker hands, you will be able to weigh your chances and place bet or fold accordingly.

Straight flush is when 5 cards of same suit are in continuous sequence; ace can be either high (Royal Flush) or low. Example: T♠ J♠ Q♠ K♠ A♠ or A♠ 2♠ 3♠ 4♠ 5♠

Four of a Kind is also known as quads when out of five cards, four are of same rank from different suits. For instance, K♠ K♥ K♦ K♣ Q♠ can win you the pot in most of the probabilities.

Full House or full boat/boat represents hands’ rankings when the 3 cards are of same rank and the other two are of another same rank; K♥ K♦ K♣ Q♠ Q♣ can be termed as “Kings full of Queens”. If community cards or wild cards are used, it is possible for two players to have same set of 3 cards of same rank. In this case, the rank of the other 2 cards is considered for tie breaking.

Factor to be Noted
Though often overlooked, it is a crucial factor while playing the poker games to judge the chances for surviving in the tournament. It is mandatory that you must have a minimum of one chip for playing in poker. The most decisive factor to be seriously considered is the impact of a success or loss on your chances for remaining in the tournament. This stands good when you are playing no limit or pot limit tournaments as the probability of being knocked out of control just in one hand is very high.

Considering a Case Study
Though it may sound quite simple and obvious to decide when to quit and avoid losing the particular hand in poker games, there are odd cases where your decision making capacity is highly challenged. For instance, in Hold ’Em tournament (no limit) you may be forced to fold even when you have a pair of queens as there may be high chances that your opponents have a pair of kings or a pair of aces if the other players went all-in in front of you. The reason for you to fold is that you may have less than 20% chance to win the pot even if you form one of the best hands.