Poker hands: pair, two pairs, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, square, straight flush, low hands

A poker hand consists of 5 cards. The formed combination determines the force of the hand. The order is generally the same one except for the straight and the flush which are sometimes inverted. For two combinations of comparable nature, the highest card of the combination indicates the strongest hand (highest is strongest, except for a low hand). A description and an example are provided for each combination. The combinations are classified by ascending value. One will also describe what is a low hand and how two low hands are compared.

High hands

The high card is the weakest hand of poker. It is the hand by defect if the player does not have any other combination.
This hand is a high card with the king.
A pair consists of two cards of equivalent row and three other cards.
Example: a pair of 9
A double pair consists of two pairs of distinct rows accompanied by a fifth card.
The example shows a double pair 8/5.
A three of a kind is made of three cards of the same rank and two other unspecified cards.
Three of a kind of 4 in the example of left.
A straight corresponds to 5 cards of directly consecutive rows, whatever are their color.
Here is a straight of 10.
A flush contains 5 cards of the same color (square, heart, spade or clover).
Example: a square hand
A full house consists of three of a kind and a pair (of distinct rows).
The example shows a 7/3 full house.
A square is composed of four cards of the same row.
Opposite a square of jacks.
A flush straight is a straight whose cards are suited. A royal flush is a flush straight with the ace.

Low hands

A low hand necessarily consists of five cards of row lower or equal to the 8 and does not contain any pair.
The combinations above are not taken into account for a low hand, but nothing prevents from having a flush or a straight. To classify two low hands, one compares initially the lowest card. Lowest card indicates the best hand. In the event of equality, one in the same way compares the second lowest card of each hand. If need be, one takes into account the third, then the fourth and finally the fifth.