Full House in Poker: Hand Ranking

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.

Here are three examples of full house hands that get beaten by Aces full of Kings (A♥A♠A♦K♥K♣):

Q♦ Q♠ Q♣ 10♦ 10♠

J♠ J♦ J♣ 7♠ 7♦

10♣ 10♥ 10♠ 5♣ 5♠

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?

A ‘Full House’ ranks very high on the hand rankings chart. It consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank. It is the fourth strongest hand and gets outmatched by the ‘Royal Flush’, ‘Straight Flush’ and ‘Four of a Kind’.

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

What Hands Lose to a Full House?

‘Full House’ is the fourth strongest hand in the hand rankings chart. It is always important to know which hand beats the other while playing poker. There are six hands which get beaten by the ‘Full House’ as described below:

Flush: Five cards of the same suit, but not in a sequence. Example: Q♠ 10♠ 7♠ 5♠ 2♠ (Spade flush).

Straight: Five cards in sequential order, but not of the same suits. Example: 9♦ 8♣ 7♠ 6♠ 5♥ (A nine-high straight).

Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank, and two other different cards. Example: 8♠ 8♦ 8♣ 5♠ 2♣ (Three eights).

Two Pair: Two different pairs of cards of the same rank, and one separate card different from others. Example: J♠ J♦ 7♣ 7♠ 4♥ (Jacks and Sevens).

One Pair: Two cards of the same rank, and three other cards of different ranks or suits. Example: 10♠ 10♦ 8♣ 5♥ 3♠ (A pair of tens).

High Card: The highest possible card in the hand, without any proper combinations. Example: A♠ K♦ 7♣ 4♥ 2♠ (Ace-high).

Poker Hands That Can Beat a Full House

In poker, the ‘Full House’ can only be beaten by three other hand combinations as explained below:

Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank, with one different card or kicker. Example: 9♠ 9♥ 9♣ 9♦ 3♠

Straight Flush: Though the ‘Flush’ or ‘Straight’ separately couldn’t beat the ‘Full House’, a ‘Straight Flush’ can. Five consecutively ranked cards of the same suit Example: 6♠ 7♠ 8♠ 9♠ 10♠

Royal Flush: This is the unbeatable hand of poker and simply beats all other hands including the ‘Full House’. This includes an Ace to 10 of the same suit. Example: 10♥ J♥ Q♥ K♥ A♥

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:

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.

‘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.

Tiebreaker in a Full House

In poker, a ‘Full House’ consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank (Example: Three Queens and Two Tens make a ‘Full House’, the poker term used here is ‘Queens full of Tens’).

Here’s how ties are broken in ‘Full House’ hands:

• Compare the triplet: The player with the higher ranked triplet wins the hand. For example:

  Player 1: Queens full of Tens: Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ 10♠ 10♦

  Player 2: Jacks full of Kings: J♠ J♦ J♥ K♠ K♣

  In this scenario, Player 1 wins because a triplet of Queens is bigger than a triplet of Jacks.

• Compare the pair (if the Triplets are tied): If both players have the same triplet, then the pair determines the winner. For example:

  Player 1: Aces full of Kings: A♠ A♦ A♥ K♠ K♦

  Player 2: Aces full of Queens: A♠ A♣ A♦ Q♠ Q♣

  In this particular situation, Player 1 wins because the King pair trumps over the Queen pair.

• Split pot: If both the triplet and the pair are the same between both players, then the pot is split. For example:

  Player 1: Tens full of Kings: 10♠ 10♦ 10♥ K♠ K♦

  Player 2: Tens full of Kings: 10♣ 10♦ 10♥ K♥ K♣

Difference between Full House and Straight Poker

In poker, understanding the differences between hand rankings is essential for making strategic decisions during the game. The difference between a Full House and a Straight in poker is outlined below.

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