Straight #6 of 10
Five cards in sequence, not all one suit. The ace plays high (A-K-Q-J-T) or low (5-4-3-2-A), never round the corner. It beats three of a kind and everything below it, and loses to a flush and everything above.
How often, card by card
| Cards dealt | Probability | 1 in | Odds against | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 cards: the flop, or five-card draw | 0.39% | 255 | 254 to 1 | 10,200 / 2,598,960 |
| 6 cards: the turn | 1.78% | 56.3 | 55.3 to 1 | 361,620 / 20,358,520 |
| 7 cards: the river in hold'em, or seven-card stud | 4.62% | 21.6 | 20.6 to 1 | 6,180,020 / 133,784,560 |
“Best hand” means exactly this hand and nothing better: a full house also contains a pair, but it counts once, as a full house. These are the odds for any two hole cards; your own starting hand moves them, which is the grid further down.
The working
Straight, five cards: ten top cards (5 to A) × any suits, minus the straight flushes 10 × 4⁵ − 40 = 10,240 − 40 = 10,200 enumerated by the engine: 10,200 of 2,598,960 probability: 10,200 / 2,598,960 = 0.39%
There are 10 different straight hands once suits are ignored: Ten: one for each top card from 5 (the wheel) to ace (Broadway). Every one of them can still be your best hand with seven cards.
When two players both have a straight
The higher top card wins. 5-4-3-2-A (the wheel) is the lowest straight; equal straights split.
The wheel is the lowest straight
| A♦2♣ | 5♣4♦3♥2♣A♦ | Straight, five high | Loses |
| 6♠2♦ | 6♠5♣4♦3♥2♦ | Straight, six high | Wins |
Suits never break a tie
| T♦3♣ | T♦9♣8♦7♥6♠ | Straight, ten high | Split |
| T♥4♦ | T♥9♣8♦7♥6♠ | Straight, ten high | Split |
Check your own showdown in the hand checker →
Straight by starting hand
The chance each of the 169 starting hands ends the river with a straight as its best hand, from every one of its 2,118,760 boards. 2 hands tie for most often (9.18%): JTo, 54o; 3 hands tie for least often (1.22%): AA, KK, 22. Averaged over their combinations: pocket pairs 1.90%, suited hands 4.56%, offsuit hands 4.87%.
| Starting hand | Straight by the river | 1 in |
|---|---|---|
| JTo | 9.18% | 11 |
| 54o | 9.18% | 11 |
| T9o | 9.13% | 11 |
| 65o | 9.13% | 11 |
| 98o | 9.08% | 11 |
| 87o | 9.08% | 11 |
| 76o | 9.08% | 11 |
| JTs | 8.62% | 12 |
| 54s | 8.62% | 12 |
| T9s | 8.57% | 12 |
| … | ||
| 22 | 1.22% | 82 |
| KK | 1.22% | 82 |
| AA | 1.22% | 82 |
Straight beats
- Three of a kind 4.83% by the river
- Two pair 23.5% by the river
- One pair 43.8% by the river
- High card 17.4% by the river
Straight loses to
- Royal flush 0.0032% by the river
- Straight flush 0.028% by the river
- Four of a kind 0.17% by the river
- Full house 2.60% by the river
- Flush 3.03% by the river
Making a straight: the odds pages
- Every five-, six- and seven-card hand was dealt and classified by the site's engine (
tools/build-rankings.mjs). The five-card count must equal the formula above or the build fails; the six- and seven-card counts must equal the standard published tables. - The starting-hand figures deal each hand every possible board. Suits are interchangeable, so one deal of each hand gives the exact figure for all its combinations.
- The showdowns above were scored by the same engine; the build fails if any of them comes out differently from what its title says.
- Back to all ten hands. Raw data: rankings.json.