777JILI Straight Poker Explained: The Straight, Ace High or Low
A straight is five cards of mixed suits in sequence.
Key facts and contents
- 777JILI Domino Game Rules
- A domino game deals tiles from a set (28 in the double-six set), players add tiles to either end of one line, and the round ends when one player plays out or nobody can move.
- 777JILI Flush Meaning in Poker
- A flush is five cards of the same suit.
- 777JILI How to Shuffle Cards
- To shuffle cards by hand, cut the deck about in half, riffle the halves together, square the deck and repeat.
- 777JILI Poker Chips
- A chip is worth the number printed on it or the value the table sets.
- 777JILI Poker Table Layout
- A poker table is read from the dealer seat clockwise: the blinds sit immediately to its left, the first round of betting starts left of the big blind, and the dealer button moves one place each hand.
- 777JILI Push Meaning in Blackjack, Baccarat and Casino War
- A push is a tie between your hand and the dealer's: the wager is returned, neither lost nor paid. pagat.com uses the word for blackjack and baccarat ties; the Massachusetts rules call a returned Casino War initial wager a push.
- 777JILI Split in Blackjack
- A split in blackjack turns a starting pair of equal value into two hands, each needing a wager equal to the original.
- 777JILI War Card Game
- In the war card game each side turns a card and the higher rank wins; equal ranks make a war.
Straight poker, as pagat.com uses the term, names a rule basis and no particular betting game. This 777JILI page covers the hand that gives the search its point, the straight, and the places where it sits among poker games and their hand rankings.
Straight poker: the five-card basis
pagat.com says the ranking order of poker hands corresponds to how likely each hand is in straight poker. Its definition has three parts:
- Five cards are dealt from a 52-card deck.
- There are no wild cards.
- There is no opportunity to use extra cards to improve a hand.
The rarer the hand, the higher it ranks.
So when a rule sheet says a straight is stronger than three of a kind, the reasoning behind that order rests on this plain five-card deal. It stops being true once wild cards enter, and pagat.com notes that with many wild cards the higher hands become the commoner ones.
What counts as a straight
A straight is five cards of mixed suits in sequence. When two players hold one, the straight with the higher top card wins.
| Hand | Top card | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Q-J-10-9-8, mixed suits | Queen | Beats 9-8-7-6-5 |
| 9-8-7-6-5, mixed suits | Nine | Beats 6-5-4-3-2 |
| Q-J-10-9-8, one suit | Queen | A straight flush, a higher category |
The ace at both ends
The ace is the one card with two positions. pagat.com says it can count high or low in a straight but not both at once.
- A-K-Q-J-10 is a valid straight, with the ace on top.
- 5-4-3-2-A is a valid straight, called a wheel, and it is the lowest kind because its top card is the five.
- 2-A-K-Q-J is not a straight, since the sequence cannot turn the corner.
The same corner rule applies to a straight flush: 4-3-2-A-K is not valid. In low poker the treatment of aces and straights changes again, so a game that plays low needs its own rule sheet read first.
Which hands beat a straight
Any hand in a higher category beats any hand in a lower one, according to pagat.com. The straight sits fifth of nine.
| Beats the straight | Loses to the straight |
|---|---|
| Straight flush | Three of a kind |
| Four of a kind | Two pairs |
| Full house | One pair |
| Flush | Nothing |
For the flush neighbour, see what the flush ranks above, and for the seats where these showdowns are played, read about a poker table, its button and its blinds.
Wizard of Odds counts 10,200 straights among the 2,598,960 five-card hands from a fresh 52-card deck, with a probability of 0.00392465. That row excludes straight flushes and royal flushes, and it is a no-wild-card figure.
One pair: the hand a straight beats
One pair is two cards of equal rank plus three cards that differ from them and from each other. pagat.com ranks it eighth of nine, above only nothing.
Hands with one pair compare the pair’s rank first, then the odd cards from the highest down.
| Winner | Loser | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 6-6-4-3-2 | 5-5-A-K-Q | Pair of sixes beats pair of fives |
| J-J-A-9-3 | J-J-A-8-7 | Same pair and ace, so the 9 beats the 8 |
Wizard of Odds counts 1,098,240 pair hands in the same five-card table, a probability of 0.42256903. Divide that by the 10,200 straights and you get about 108 pair hands for every straight, which is why the straight ranks higher.
Reading the hand in the game you play
A straight is the same hand whichever variant deals it, but the deck and the wild cards decide whether the usual order holds.
- Open the rules screen of the game you chose.
- Look for the hand ranking list and confirm the straight position.
- Look for a joker or wild card line.
- Count the bet in chips and their colour values before play, and keep to a limit you set at 21+.
FAQ
What is a straight in poker?
pagat.com defines a straight as five cards of mixed suits in sequence, such as Q-J-10-9-8. The higher top card wins when two straights meet.
Is the ace high or low in a straight?
Either one, but not both at once. pagat.com says A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights, while 2-A-K-Q-J is not.
Which hands beat a straight?
A flush, a full house, four of a kind and a straight flush, in pagat.com's ranking. Three of a kind, two pairs, one pair and nothing rank below it.
Is straight poker a game I can sit down at?
pagat.com uses the term for the basis of the ranking: five cards dealt from a 52-card deck, with no wild cards and no way to improve the hand. To find a table, search the lobby you use by variant name.