As mentioned above, two pair is a combination that has 2 one-pairs in it. The biggest two pair that you can have is 2 aces and 2 kings while the smallest is 2 threes and 2 twos.
If two players have the same two pairs, then the one with the bigger kicker will decide the winner. For example:
Player 1: A♠️A♣️K♥️K♦️10♦️
Player 2: A♥️A♦️K♣️K♠️5♦️
Player 1 will win the because they have a bigger kicker - 10♦️> 5♦️
There are a total of 1,23,552 combinations of two pair hands that you can make in poker. Here are a few examples:
A♠️A♣️K♥️K♦️10♦️
9♠️9♣️5♥️5♦️2♦️
J♠️J♣️7♥️7♦️A♦️
4♥️4♦️Q♣️Q♠️9♣️
Two pair is the 8th best poker hand but that does not mean it is not good. The probability of having a two is less than 5% and this is what makes it a good hand to have. It ranks above a one pair and below a three-of-a-kind.
Poker game heavily relies on probability. The lesser the probability of having a hand, the greater is its power. Here’s the probability of all the hands in poker:
Hand | Probability |
Royal Flush | 0.000154% |
Straight Flush | 0.00139% |
Four of a kind | 0.02401% |
Full House | 0.1441% |
Flush | 0.1965% |
Straight | 0.3925% |
three-of-a-kind | 2.1128% |
Two pair | 4.75359% |
One pair | 42.2569% |
High card | 50.1177% |
The probability of having a two pair increases if you already have a pair as hole cards:
Pair as hole cards | Probability |
From flop to turn | 6.4% |
From turn to river | 6.5% |
From flop to river | 12% |
Phase | Two pair probability |
Pre-flop | 4.75% |
Flop (when you have a pocket pair) | 16.7% |
Turn (when you have a pocket pair) | 19.5% |
River (when you have a pocket pair) | 20% |
If two players have two pair, then the one with a higher pair wins. For example, the player with a pair of aces beats a player with a pair of kings, and so on. If two players have the same two pair, then the kicker decides the winner.
As per poker rules a two pair beats one pair, and a high card in poker.
Two pair ranks below three-of-a-kind in poker hand rankings as the probability of getting a two pair is higher than getting the other. So, a two pair does not beat a three-of-a-kind.