A royal flush is the highest possible hand in poker, consisting of an ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of the same suit. It cannot be beaten by any other made hand in standard games, and at 649,739-to-1 odds against, it is the rarest hand you will encounter.
I have been playing poker professionally for over two decades, and the number of royal flushes I have made at real tables is still in single digits. That rarity is exactly why knowing how to extract maximum value from this hand, and from a royal flush draw, is a skill every serious player needs.
A Royal Flush is an extremely powerful and extremely rare hand that you might get only a few times over many years of playing poker.
| Poker Hand | Explanation | Example |
| #1. Royal Flush | Five highest cards of the same suit | AcKcQcJcTc |
| #2. Straight Flush | Any five consecutive cards of the same suit | JcTc9c8c7c |
| #3. Four of a Kind | Four cards of the same rank | 4c4s4d4hJc |
| #4. Full House | Three cards of one rank + two cards of another rank | 3c3s3d7h7c |
| #5. Flush | Five cards of the same suit | KdJd7d5d3d |
| #6. Straight | Five consecutive cards in different suits | 6s5s4d3d2h |
| #7. Three of a Kind | Three cards of the same rank | 7c7h7d2hJ2 |
| #8. Two Pairs | Two cards of one rank + two cards of another rank | QcQs2c2hJs |
| #9. One Pair | Two cards of the same rank | 8h8sAcKs5d |
| #10. High Card | Any other hand | AcQdJs4h3c |
Examples of a Royal Flush Poker Hand
A royal flush looks the same regardless of suit, which is worth stating clearly: the suits are of equal value in standard poker. The ace of spades, king of spades, queen of spades, jack of spades, and ten of spades is worth exactly the same as the same five cards in hearts, diamonds, or clubs.
In my experience reviewing hands, players sometimes ask whether a royal flush in spades is “higher” than one in hearts. It is not. If two players somehow both hold a royal flush, the pot is split.
Unlike all other poker hands that you can make in many different ways, there are only four possible Royal Flushes. These are:
- Ts Js Qs Ks As – a Royal Flush in spades
- Th Jh Qh Kh Ah – a Royal Flush in hearts
- Td Jd Qd Kd Ad – a Royal Flush in diamonds
- Tc Jc Qc Kc Ac – a Royal Flush in Clubs
In poker variations with community cards, like Texas Hold’em, two or more players can’t have a Royal Flush. So, if you happen to make this rare hand, you are 100% guaranteed to win the pot on the showdown.
In some other poker variations, such as stud and draw games, it is possible for more players to have a Royal Flush in different suits. In this case, they’ll always split the pot.
There is a common misconception that suits are used to determine a winner when comparing one Royal Flush to another, but that’s not the case. The official poker rules disregard suits, so the Royal Flush in clubs is equally as strong as the Royal Flush in spades.
What Beats Royal Flush in Poker?
In standard Texas Hold’em and Omaha, nothing beats a royal flush. When you make one, you are guaranteed to win the pot from any other player still in the hand. I tell students not to get too creative when they hold a royal flush: your only job is to keep opponents in the pot as long as possible and extract the maximum amount of money. Slow down if necessary, but never fold a royal flush.
A Royal Flush is absolutely the best possible hand you can have in all high poker variations, so no combination beats a Royal Flush.
As already mentioned, when two players have a Royal Flush, which is possible in some poker games, they’ll always split the pot at the showdown and will beat any other tabled hand, from a high card to a straight flush.
Does Five of a Kind Beat a Royal Flush?
Five of a kind is not possible in standard 52-card Texas Hold’em. It only exists in games that use wild cards (such as jokers or deuces wild). In those variants, most house rules rank five of a kind above a royal flush since five of the same rank requires a wild card and is considered even rarer.
In any standard game without wild cards, five of a kind does not exist and cannot beat a royal flush. If you are playing at a regulated poker room or in a standard home game using a 52-card deck with no wild cards, a royal flush is the absolute top hand.
In wild card home game variants, always confirm the hand ranking rules before you sit down, because they differ significantly from standard poker.
Royal Flush Probabilities
Understanding royal flush odds puts the rarity of this hand into practical perspective. In my coaching sessions, I use royal flush probability as a starting point for teaching students how to think about hand frequencies in general: the more precisely you understand how often hands occur, the better your decisions become when evaluating whether to chase a draw or give a big hand credit.
There are only four ways to make a Royal Flush out of a standard deck of 52 cards, and since this hand requires five specific cards, the odds of this happening are very small. The odds of making a Royal Flush out of five random cards are 649,739:1.
When it comes to Texas Hold’em specifically, the table below shows a few interesting Royal Flush stats:
| Starting Hand | Odds |
| Two suited cards between T and A | 0.005% chance of flopping a Royal Flush |
| Open-ended Royal Flush draw on the flop | 4.44% chance of completing the hand on the turn |
| Open-ended Royal Flush draw on the flop | 8.4% chance of getting a Royal Flush by the river |
Here are a few more interesting stats about this most powerful of all poker hands:
- When holding TJ suited specifically, your odds of flopping a Royal Flush are 0.0058%
- The odds of flopping a Royal Flush draw with two suited cards between T and A are 0.72%
- The odds of completing a gutshot Royal Flush draw by the river are 4.3%
How to Play a Royal Flush in Poker
The most common mistake I see when students finally make a royal flush is overplaying it too fast out of excitement. A royal flush is an unbeatable hand, which means your only concern is building the pot. Patience and disguise matter far more than speed. The hand cannot lose, so your job is purely strategic: how do I get the most money into this pot before the hand is over?
A Royal Flush is the only hand that you can’t lose or chop with in Texas Hold’em (unless the Royal Flush is made up entirely of the five community cards, in which case all players getting to the showdown will split the pot).
So, there isn’t too much advice or poker tips needed on how to play this hand. Since there is no way for you to lose, this is one hand you can slow-play as much as you like to try and allow your opponents to improve and commit more chips to the pot.
One thing that’s worth mentioning is that when you have a Royal Flush draw on the flop, especially if it’s an open-ended draw, you can usually play it very aggressively. This is a scenario where you know that you always have at least two outs to give you the best hand, which allows you to put a lot of pressure on the opponents, especially when playing with deep stacks.
Common Mistakes with a Royal Flush Draw
Drawing to a royal flush is a situation most players mishandle, because the hand is so exciting when you have four of the five cards that it distorts decision-making. In my experience coaching students, these are the errors I see most consistently:
- Chasing the draw at any price. A four-card royal flush draw is also a flush draw and possibly a straight draw, which gives it real equity. But it is not a made hand. If the pot odds do not justify the call, fold. The draw is not worth calling any size bet.
- Forgetting you have immediate value. When you hold four broadway cards to the royal flush, you often already have top pair, an open-ended straight draw, or a nut flush draw. Do not tunnel-vision onto the royal flush specifically. Play your current equity, not your dream equity.
- Slow-playing the made hand too long. Once you complete the royal flush, the hand is over in terms of outcome. Your only remaining task is extraction. If you wait too long to start building the pot, you may reach the river with a smaller pot than you could have built with earlier action. I recommend starting to bet or raise on the turn at the latest when you complete the royal flush, unless the board is so dry that you need to keep opponents in for one more street.