// hand rankings · checker

Who wins? Poker hand checker

Enter the board and up to 9 hands. The engine scores each one, finds the five cards it actually plays, and says who takes the pot. It settles the kicker arguments: if two hands play the same five cards, they split.

Scoring with the engine…

Worked showdowns

The arguments that come up at real tables, each scored by the same engine. The site's build fails if any of these comes out differently from what its title says.

A flush beats a straight

BoardK♥9♥8♦7♣2♥
A♥3♥A♥K♥9♥3♥2♥Flush, ace high (A-K-9-3-2)Wins
T♠6♠T♠9♥8♦7♣6♠Straight, ten highLoses
Open in the checker →

Same pair: the kicker decides

BoardK♠9♦5♣3♥2♠
K♥Q♣K♥K♠Q♣9♦5♣Pair of kings, Q-9-5 kickersWins
K♦J♥K♦K♠J♥9♦5♣Pair of kings, J-9-5 kickersLoses
Open in the checker →

The board plays: both hands split

BoardA♠A♦K♣K♥Q♠
J♣J♦A♦A♠K♣K♥Q♠Two pair, aces and kings, queen kickerSplit
7♣2♦A♦A♠K♣K♥Q♠Two pair, aces and kings, queen kickerSplit
Open in the checker →

Counterfeited: a pocket pair that no longer plays

BoardK♠K♦8♣8♥2♠
5♣5♦K♦K♠8♣8♥5♣Two pair, kings and eights, five kickerLoses
A♦3♣K♦K♠8♣8♥A♦Two pair, kings and eights, ace kickerWins
Open in the checker →

The wheel is the lowest straight

Board5♣4♦3♥K♠9♣
A♦2♣5♣4♦3♥2♣A♦Straight, five highLoses
6♠2♦6♠5♣4♦3♥2♦Straight, six highWins
Open in the checker →

Two flushes: compare card by card

BoardA♥9♥6♥4♥2♣
K♥3♦A♥K♥9♥6♥4♥Flush, ace high (A-K-9-6-4)Wins
Q♥J♥A♥Q♥J♥9♥6♥Flush, ace high (A-Q-J-9-6)Loses
Open in the checker →

Two full houses: the three of a kind decides

BoardQ♠Q♦7♣7♥3♠
7♦3♣7♣7♦7♥Q♦Q♠Full house, sevens full of queensLoses
Q♣3♦Q♣Q♦Q♠7♣7♥Full house, queens full of sevensWins
Open in the checker →

Suits never break a tie

Board9♣8♦7♥6♠2♣
T♦3♣T♦9♣8♦7♥6♠Straight, ten highSplit
T♥4♦T♥9♣8♦7♥6♠Straight, ten highSplit
Open in the checker →

Four of a kind on the board: the fifth card decides

Board8♠8♦8♣8♥K♠
A♦2♣8♣8♦8♥8♠A♦Four of a kind, eights, ace kickerWins
Q♣Q♦8♣8♦8♥8♠K♠Four of a kind, eights, king kickerLoses
Open in the checker →

Two pair against two pair: the top pair first

BoardJ♠7♦4♣2♥9♠
J♥4♦J♥J♠4♣4♦9♠Two pair, jacks and fours, nine kickerWins
9♦7♣9♦9♠7♣7♦J♠Two pair, nines and sevens, jack kickerLoses
Open in the checker →

Same three of a kind: two kickers play

Board6♠6♦6♣J♥3♠
A♥2♦6♣6♦6♠A♥J♥Three of a kind, sixes, A-J kickersWins
K♣Q♦6♣6♦6♠K♣Q♦Three of a kind, sixes, K-Q kickersLoses
Open in the checker →

A straight flush beats four of a kind

Board9♥8♥7♥9♣9♦
T♥6♥T♥9♥8♥7♥6♥Straight flush, ten highWins
9♠2♣9♣9♦9♥9♠8♥Four of a kind, nines, eight kickerLoses
Open in the checker →

The hands, best first

// how the checker decides
  • Each hand is its two cards plus the board. The engine (Rust compiled to WebAssembly, running in your browser) gives every hand a strength score; the highest score wins and equal scores split.
  • The five cards shown are the five, out of the six or seven available, that score the same as the whole hand. Where several fives tie, the first one found is shown.
  • Hold'em rules: any two hole cards may play, or none. In Omaha you must use exactly two, so this checker is not right for Omaha.