Two pair #8 of 10
Two cards of one rank, two of another, and a fifth card. It beats one pair and everything below it, and loses to three of a kind and everything above.
How often, card by card
| Cards dealt | Probability | 1 in | Odds against | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 cards: the flop, or five-card draw | 4.75% | 21.0 | 20.0 to 1 | 123,552 / 2,598,960 |
| 6 cards: the turn | 12.44% | 8.04 | 7.04 to 1 | 2,532,816 / 20,358,520 |
| 7 cards: the river in hold'em, or seven-card stud | 23.50% | 4.26 | 3.26 to 1 | 31,433,400 / 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
Two pair, five cards: two pair ranks × suits for each pair × kicker rank × its suit C(13,2) × C(4,2)² × 11 × 4 = 78 × 36 × 11 × 4 = 123,552 enumerated by the engine: 123,552 of 2,598,960 probability: 123,552 / 2,598,960 = 4.75%
There are 858 different two pair hands once suits are ignored: C(13,2) × 11 = 858: the two pair ranks, then the kicker rank. With seven cards only 763 of them can be anyone's best hand. The weakest five-card two pair is 3♣3♦2♣2♦4♣, but in hold'em the weakest you can finish the river with is 3♣3♦2♣2♦7♦: any weaker seven cards contain something better.
When two players both have two pair
Higher top pair wins, then the higher second pair, then the kicker.
The board plays: both hands split
| J♣J♦ | A♦A♠K♣K♥Q♠ | Two pair, aces and kings, queen kicker | Split |
| 7♣2♦ | A♦A♠K♣K♥Q♠ | Two pair, aces and kings, queen kicker | Split |
Counterfeited: a pocket pair that no longer plays
| 5♣5♦ | K♦K♠8♣8♥5♣ | Two pair, kings and eights, five kicker | Loses |
| A♦3♣ | K♦K♠8♣8♥A♦ | Two pair, kings and eights, ace kicker | Wins |
Two pair against two pair: the top pair first
| J♥4♦ | J♥J♠4♣4♦9♠ | Two pair, jacks and fours, nine kicker | Wins |
| 9♦7♣ | 9♦9♠7♣7♦J♠ | Two pair, nines and sevens, jack kicker | Loses |
Check your own showdown in the hand checker →
Two pair by starting hand
The chance each of the 169 starting hands ends the river with two pair as its best hand, from every one of its 2,118,760 boards. 3 hands tie for most often (39.7%): AA, KK, 22; 7 hands tie for least often (21.8%): JTs, T9s, 98s and 4 more. Averaged over their combinations: pocket pairs 39.5%, suited hands 22.1%, offsuit hands 22.6%.
| Starting hand | Two pair by the river | 1 in |
|---|---|---|
| AA | 39.7% | 3 |
| KK | 39.7% | 3 |
| 22 | 39.7% | 3 |
| 39.6% | 3 | |
| 33 | 39.6% | 3 |
| JJ | 39.5% | 3 |
| 44 | 39.5% | 3 |
| TT | 39.5% | 3 |
| 99 | 39.5% | 3 |
| 88 | 39.5% | 3 |
| … | ||
| 54s | 21.8% | 5 |
| 65s | 21.8% | 5 |
| 76s | 21.8% | 5 |
Two pair beats
Two pair 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
- Straight 4.62% by the river
- Three of a kind 4.83% by the river
Making two pair: 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.