Full House Poker
Full House in Poker
Different poker variants are played worldwide in casinos and online poker rooms, but one of the common things about all variants is the hand rankings. Poker hand rankings determine the strength of your hand in the game. A Full House in poker, also called a full hand, a full boat, or a boat, is one of the finest hand rankings used in the poker game. When you learn how to play poker, you'll come to know that a full house hand ranking makes your hand one of the strongest. It is the fourth-best hand amongst all the poker hand rankings., after Royal Flush, Straight Flush, and Four of a Kind.
What is a Full House Poker Hand?
Essentially, a Full House is a combination of a Pair and a Three-of-a-Kind. A full house hand consists of three cards of the same rank and two cards of a different rank.
For instance, A♠ A♥ A♣ 9♦ 9♣ is a full house poker hand known as aces full of nines or aces full. Similarly, a full house with three nines and two aces will be known as nines full of aces.
Every full house ranks by the rank of its triplet first, followed by the rank of its pair. Therefore, when two or more full house poker hand rankings are compared, the hand with a higher three-of-a-kind ranking wins.
For instance, between 8♠ 8♦ 8♥ 7♦ 7♣ and 4♦ 4♠ 4♣ 9♦ 9♣, the former hand will win. However, if two or more full house hand only differ by suit, such as K♣ K♠ K♦ J♣ J♠ and K♣ K♥ K♦ J♣ J♥, both hands are of equal rank. The full house poker hand is stronger than a flush but weaker than a four-of-a-kind and a straight flush.
Full House Poker Rules
As mentioned earlier, a full house is a combination of three-of-a-kind hand and a pair. In the poker hand rankings chart, the full house hand ranks fourth. Here are some of the main full house poker rules you must know:
On the poker hand rankings chart, a full house hand ranks higher than a flush but is weaker than a Royal Flush, Straight Flush, and Four-of-a-kind.
An aces full hand beats kings full or queens full hand in a full house.
As per the rules of a full house poker hand, if two players make full houses at the same time, the player with a higher full house poker hand wins.
The full house hand ranks based on the first three cards of the same rank (triplets) of the hand. For instance, between two full house hands consisting K♥K♠K♣5♣5♥ and Q♥Q♠Q♣A♣A♥, the former one will rank higher despite the queens full hand having a pair of aces.
In the case where both players hold a full house with cards of the same rank that only differ by suit, the pot is split between the players. For instance, one player makes K♣ K♠ K♦ J♣ J♠ and the other player makes K♣ K♥ K♦ J♣ J♥, both are the winners.
In the case where both players hold the same three-of-a-kind in the full house hand, the pair decides the winning hand. For instance, if one player makes K♥K♠K♣8♣8♥ and the other player makes K♥K♠K♣6♣6♥, the player with the 8s will be the winner.
Full House Poker Probability
A full house can be made in 3,744 possible ways when playing the Texas Hold'em poker variant. There are 2.60% chances of making the full house in poker with all the community cards on the board. Similarly, the probability of making a straight is 4.62%, and making a flush is 3.03% with five community cards on board. The chance of making a full house in poker makes it a strong hand that beats most hands on the table.
Here are all the probabilities to make a full house hand in Texas Hold'em and Omaha Poker at pre-flop, flop, turn, and river betting rounds
Hold'em Probabilities:
Betting Round
Probability
Basis
Pre-flop
0.14%
5 cards drawn randomly from a standard deck
Flop
0.09%
While holding a three-of-a-kind with a pocket pair
Turn
12.77%
From a set on the flop
River
19.57%
From a set on the turn
Omaha Probabilities:
Betting Round
Probability
Basis
Pre-flop
0.14%
5 cards drawn randomly from a standard deck
Flop
0.65%
While holding a three-of-a-kind
Turn
13.33%
While holding a three-of-a-kind
River
20.45%
While holding a three-of-a-kind
Full House vs. Straight Poker
In Texas Hold'em and other poker variants that use the standard poker hand rankings, a full house is in the top four strong hands on the list. While a straight is a very strong hand as well, a full house always beats a straight as it occurs less frequently and is higher in hand rankings.
There are 3,744 ways to make a full house in poker, while there are 10,200 possible ways to make a straight using a standard deck of 52 cards. The probability of making a full house compared to a straight is what makes a full house rank higher on the chart.
Poker hands from Best to Worst
The poker hands from the best to the worst is listed below. Remember the sequences to know what hand you have and what kind of bets you'll be able to make with it.
Royal Flush- Where A, K, Q, J, 10 are of the same suit
Straight Flush- Five cards of the same type, in sequence (the pair that we will discuss extensively).
Four of a Kind- All the four cards are of the same rank
Full House- A full house is when you have three of a kind with a pair
Flush- Any five cards of the same suit, but not in a sequence
Straight- 5 cards not in the same suit, but not in a sequence
Three of a Kind- Three cards of the same rank
Two Pair- Two different pairs, not necessarily of the same sequence
One Pair- Two cards of the same rank, not necessarily of the rank
High Card- When you have none of the above hands, it is a high card. You can only play the highest-ranking card
FAQs
Is Full House good in Poker?
While it largely depends on the poker variant, a full house is usually a strong hand in poker. For instance, full houses are stronger in Texas Hold'em than they are in Omaha poker as it is less frequent to make full houses in Hold'em. Therefore, if you are playing the Hold'em poker variant, a full house is a typically strong hand and ranks fourth in the poker hand rankings chart.
What beats a Full House in Poker?
In Texas Hold'em, a royal flush, a straight flush, and a four-of-a-kind hand will always beat a full house hand during any confrontation. Furthermore, a higher-ranking full house in poker can also beat a lower-ranking full house poker hand. This scenario is based on the rank of the triplets of a full house. Also, in cases where the players have the same triplets or three-of-a-kind cards, then the pair of the full houses determine the winning hand.
What if both players have a Full House?
In the scenario where both players have a full house, the rank of the three-of-a-kind cards are what determine the winner. For instance, if one player makes 8♠ 8♦ 8♥ 7♦ 7♣ and the other player makes 4♦ 4♠ 4♣ 9♦ 9♣, the player with the 8♠ 8♦ 8♥ 7♦ 7♣ hand will win, and the eights rank higher than the fours. However, in scenarios where both the players have the same cards in three-of-a-kind, then the pair determines the winner. For instance, if one player makes K♥K♠K♣5♣5♥ and the other player makes K♥K♠K♣8♣8♥, the player with the 8s will be the winner. If two or more full house hands only differ by suit, such as K♣ K♠ K♦ J♣ J♠ and K♣ K♥ K♦ J♣ J♥, both hands are of equal rank and both the players will win.
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