A royal flush is the best hand in poker, made of the ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of the same suit. It’s the highest possible straight flush, so no other hand can beat it.
In Texas Hold’em you’ll make one about once every 30,940 times you see all seven cards. I’ve been playing professionally for over two decades, and the royal flushes I’ve made at real tables still fit in single digits.
That’s exactly why the money isn’t in hoping for one. It’s in knowing how to get paid when it finally shows up, and in not lighting chips on fire chasing the draw.
Poker hand rankings
What Beats a Royal Flush?
Nothing. A royal flush is the best hand in poker and beats all nine other hand types.
- #1 of 10Hand ranking
- 9Hand types it beats
- 1 in 30,940Texas Hold’em hands
- 1 in 649,740Five-card deals
- 1Royal FlushA, K, Q, J and 10 of one suitA♥K♥Q♥J♥10♥You’re here
- 2Straight FlushFive cards in a row, all one suit9♠8♠7♠6♠5♠Loses to a royal flushDoes a royal flush beat a straight flush?
- 3Four of a KindFour cards of the same rankQ♣Q♦Q♥Q♠7♦Loses to a royal flushWhat beats 4 aces?
- 4Full HouseThree of a kind plus a pairK♠K♦K♣4♥4♠Loses to a royal flush
- 5FlushAny five cards of one suitA♦J♦8♦6♦3♦Loses to a royal flush
- 6StraightFive cards in a row, mixed suits10♣9♦8♠7♥6♣Loses to a royal flush
- 7Three of a KindThree cards of the same rank7♠7♥7♦K♣2♠Loses to a royal flush
- 8Two PairTwo different pairsJ♥J♣5♦5♠A♣Loses to a royal flush
- 9One PairTwo cards of the same rank9♣9♥A♠Q♦4♣Loses to a royal flush
- 10High CardNo pair or better, highest card playsA♠J♦8♣5♥3♠Loses to a royal flush
Good to knowEvery royal flush is a straight flush. It gets its own line because it’s the only straight flush nothing can beat.
Royal Flush Examples (What It Looks Like)
There are only four royal flushes in a 52-card deck, one for each suit.
- A♠︎ K♠︎ Q♠︎ J♠︎ 10♠︎
- A♥︎ K♥︎ Q♥︎ J♥︎ 10♥︎
- A♦︎ K♦︎ Q♦︎ J♦︎ 10♦︎
- A♣︎ K♣︎ Q♣︎ J♣︎ 10♣︎
All four are exactly equal. Suits never rank in standard poker, so a royal flush in spades is no better than one in hearts.
The order of the cards doesn’t matter either. If you hold K♥︎ 10♥︎ and the board runs A♥︎ 7♣︎ Q♥︎ J♥︎ 2♦︎, you have a royal flush, even though the cards arrived out of order.
Here’s the one that catches beginners. A-K-Q-J-10 in mixed suits isn’t a royal flush at all. It’s simply the highest straight, often called Broadway, and it ranks five places lower.
When the Royal Flush Is on the Board
In Texas Hold’em, two players can never hold different royal flushes in the same hand. There aren’t enough community cards for it.
So if your royal flush uses at least one of your hole cards, you can’t lose, and you can’t split. The one exception is when all five royal cards land on the board. Then everyone still in the hand plays the board, and the pot is chopped.
Is a Royal Flush a Straight Flush?
Yes. A royal flush is simply the highest straight flush, the ten through ace of one suit. Hand charts list it on its own line because it’s the one straight flush nothing can beat, and because it’s rare enough to deserve its own name.
| Royal flush | Straight flush | |
|---|---|---|
| Cards | A-K-Q-J-10, same suit | Any five in a row, same suit |
| Example | A♥︎ K♥︎ Q♥︎ J♥︎ 10♥︎ | K♠︎ Q♠︎ J♠︎ 10♠︎ 9♠︎ |
| Possible hands | 4 | 36 |
| Texas Hold’em odds | 1 in 30,940 | 1 in 3,591 |
| Loses to | Nothing | A royal flush or a higher straight flush |
When I teach this to newer players, I put it simply. Every royal flush is a straight flush, but only four straight flushes are royal. For the full head-to-head, including how often the two actually collide, see does a royal flush beat a straight flush.
Royal Flush Odds (How Rare Is It Really?)
How rare a royal flush is depends on how many cards you get to use. Five-card draw and video poker give you five, while Texas Hold’em gives you seven.
| Situation | Odds | Probability |
|---|---|---|
| Five random cards (five-card draw, video poker deal) | 1 in 649,740 | 0.00015% |
| Seven cards (Texas Hold’em, seeing the river) | 1 in 30,940 | 0.0032% |
| Holding two suited broadway cards, flopping a royal | 1 in 19,600 | 0.0051% |
| Holding two suited broadway cards, making a royal by the river | 1 in 1,960 | 0.051% |
| Holding two suited broadway cards, flopping a four-card royal draw | 1 in 139 | 0.72% |
| Four-card royal draw on the flop, hitting on the turn | 1 in 47 | 2.1% |
| Four-card royal draw on the flop, hitting by the river | 1 in 23.5 | 4.3% |
A royal flush draw always has exactly one card that completes it. With K♠︎ Q♠︎ J♠︎ 10♠︎ only the A♠︎ gives you a royal, while the 9♠︎ gives you a straight flush. So there’s no such thing as an open-ended royal flush draw, even though you’ll see the phrase on plenty of other sites.
I use these numbers in coaching for a different reason than trivia. Once students see that a four-card royal draw is a 4% shot for the royal itself, they stop pricing the hand off the dream outcome and start pricing it off the outs that actually win them money.
How to Play a Royal Flush
Because you can’t lose, the only question left is how to build the biggest pot. Patience and disguise matter far more than speed here.
If the royal comes on the flop, checking or betting small usually works best. The board looks scary, and most hands can’t continue against a big bet, so give your opponent a street or two to catch something.
If it comes on the turn or river, bet a size your opponent can call with a flush, a straight, or a set. Those are exactly the hands that will pay you, and they’re often happy to call a big bet because they think they’re good.
On the river, don’t be afraid to overbet. Players who’ve made the second-best hand rarely fold, and a royal flush is the one hand where you never have to worry about being raised by something better.
Play the Royal Draw Fast
A four-card royal draw on the flop is a different story, and you should usually play it aggressively. Not because of the royal, which is one out, but because something like A♠︎ K♠︎ on Q♠︎ J♠︎ 4♦︎ also has the nut flush draw, an open-ended straight draw and two overcards.
That’s 15 or more outs to the best hand, which makes you a favorite against a lot of made hands. Betting and raising with it gives you two ways to win, since your opponent can fold now or you can hit later. It’s also a big part of your fold equity in these spots.
Stop Making These Royal Flush Mistakes
Chasing the Draw at Any Price
A four-card royal draw is also a flush draw and often a straight draw, so it has real equity. But it isn’t a made hand. If the pot odds don’t justify the call, fold it, no matter how pretty the cards look.
Tunnel Vision on the Dream Card
When you hold four broadway cards to the royal, you often already have top pair, an open-ended straight draw or the nut flush draw. Play your current equity, not your dream equity.
Slow-Playing Too Long
Once you complete the royal flush, the outcome is decided. Your only job is extraction. If you wait too long to start building the pot, you’ll reach the river with a pot that’s much smaller than it should be.
I’d start betting or raising on the turn at the latest, unless the board is so dry that you need to keep an opponent in for one more street.
Royal Flush FAQ
What is a royal flush in poker?
A royal flush is the ace, king, queen, jack and ten of the same suit. It’s the highest-ranking hand in poker and can’t be beaten.
Is a royal flush a straight flush?
Yes. It’s the highest possible straight flush. It gets its own name because it’s the only straight flush nothing can beat.
What are the odds of a royal flush in Texas Hold'em?
If you see all seven cards, you’ll make a royal flush about 1 in 30,940 times (0.0032%). Holding two suited broadway cards like A♠ K♠, it rises to about 1 in 1,960 by the river.
What is the rarest hand in poker?
The royal flush. There are only four of them in a 52-card deck, and in five-card poker you’ll be dealt one once every 649,740 hands on average.
What happens when two players have a royal flush?
They split the pot, because suits don’t rank. In Texas Hold’em this only happens when all five royal cards are on the board.
Does five of a kind beat a royal flush?
Five of a kind isn’t possible with a standard 52-card deck. It only exists in wild card games, where most house rules rank it above a royal flush, so check the rules before you play.
Does a royal flush beat four aces?
Yes. Four aces is the best four of a kind, but every straight flush beats it, and the royal flush is the best straight flush. See what beats 4 aces in poker for the full breakdown.
Has anyone ever gotten a royal flush?
Yes, regularly. Big online sites deal millions of hands a day, so royal flushes show up there daily, and many live rooms pay a high hand bonus when one hits. For a single player, though, it’s a rare moment you’ll remember.
