Full House Hand Ranking In Poker

If you get a ‘Full House’ hand in poker, you have the fourth strongest hand in the poker hand rankings. It is a good hand to win most poker tables unless any other player at the table comes up with a ‘Four-of-a-kind’, ‘Straight Flush’ or ‘Royal Flush’.

To understand how the ‘Full House’ name came to be is not that easy. Usually it is understood as 3 cards of the same rank, paired with 2 cards of the same rank. To simplify this, it is better understood as a combination of 3 of a kind + a pair. For example: A ♥ A ♠ A ♦ 7 ♥ 7 ♣

The highest possible ‘Full House’ hand that you can get is the ‘Aces full of kings’ – so 3 aces with a pair of kings. For example: A ♥ A ♠ A ♦ K ♥ K ♣, this hand will beat any other ‘Full House’ hand.

The lowest possible ‘Full House’ combination is ‘Threes full of Twos’ – So basically 3 threes with a pair of twos. For example: 3 ♥ 3 ♠ 3 ♦ 2 ♥ 2 ♣, this is a good hand if you’re the only player with a ‘Full House’ at the table.

Full House Poker Rules

The poker rules for getting ‘Full House’ in poker game are very simple. The player has to get three cards of the same rank, paired with two different cards of the same rank. A simple way of saying this is, the hand must look like a ‘Three-of-a-kind’ combined with a ‘Pair’. For example: K ♥ K ♠ K ♦ 5 ♥ 5 ♣

How does Full House hand rank?

In Texas Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha, played with a standard deck of 52 cards, there are 3744 possible combinations of ‘Full House’ hands.

It is the fourth strongest hand among poker hand rankings, but the strength of a full house is decided upon the first three cards of the full house. For example: A full house that is Aces full of Kings ( A ♥ A ♠ A ♦ K ♥ K ♣) will beat another full house that is Kings full of Aces (K ♥ K ♠ K ♦ A ♥ A ♣), this is considered no matter the strength of the kicker card, which in this example is Kings in the first hand and Aces in the second.

How does a Full House hand compare on hand ranking?

‘Full House’ is fourth in the hand rankings chart in terms of strength. The only possible way to beat a full house is with a ‘Four-of-a-kind’, ‘Straight Flush’ or ‘Royal Flush’. The royal flush is the rarest hand and not easy to get.

The ‘Full House’ hand beats six more hands ranking wise, ‘Flush’, ‘Straight’, ‘Three-of-a-kind’, ‘Two Pair’, ‘One Pair’ and ‘High Card’.

Probabilities of Full House

As discussed before, it is a very strong hand and can win you most poker hands. Players usually bank on a ‘Full House’ if they are already holding two cards of the same rank in their hands at the start of the game. We will have a look at the probability of getting a full house in the various stages of the game in Texas Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha:

Texas Hold’em:

Pre-Flop	0.14%
Flop	0.09%
Turn	12.77%
River	19.57%

Pot Limit Omaha:

The probability of getting a full house in PLO increases because in PLO you’re dealt either 4, 5 or 6 hole cards depending on which variant you’re playing.

Pre-Flop	0.14%
Flop	0.65%
Turn	13.33%
River	20.45%

‘Full House’ is a very strong hand to play with and most players are likely to increase their bets once they feel that the chances of getting a full house has increased during a hand of poker. Players are also likely to make a pre-flop raise if they are holding a pair in their hands before the game starts.

FAQ:

1. Which full house is strongest?

The ‘Aces full of Kings’ (A ♥ A ♠ A ♦ K ♥ K ♣) – Three Aces and a pair of Kings is the strongest full house and no other full house can beat it.

2. What is the best way of describing a full house in poker?

The simplest way of describing a full house is that the hand must look like a ‘Three-of-a-kind’ combined with a ‘Pair’. For example: K ♥ K ♠ K ♦ 5 ♥ 5 ♣

3. What if two players have a full house?

If two players come up with a full house. The player whose first three cards are ranked stronger usually wins. For example: Aces full house will win over a Queens full house. This is because Aces are ranked higher than Kings or Queens and so on.