The importance of poker hand rankings trumps the importance of poker suits ranks in most card games, as suit ranks are much less relevant in the vast majority of cases.
While the importance of card suits is not high in poker, there are some scenarios in certain poker games when it comes into play, and a good poker player should know the poker suits rank regardless of the frequency with which they are used.
In this article, we will explain when card suits actually matter and how they are ranked in popular poker games.
What Are the Poker Suits Ranks?
A standard deck of playing cards is made up of 52 cards in total, with 13 different card ranks and four different suits, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs.
When playing with a short deck, such as in games like Short Deck Poker (also known as 6+ Hold’em), the deck is still made up of an equal number of cards of each suit, namely nine cards of each suit, for a total of 36.
In either case, four card suits are represented, and for the most part, each of them has the same value for all intents and purposes.

Yet, there are some scenarios in poker and other card games in which the value of card suits comes into play.
In such cases, the card suits are ranked as follows, from best to worst:
- Spades
- Hearts
- Diamonds
- Clubs
If you are wondering why one suit trumps another, the reason is pretty simple. The alphabetical order of the first letter in each suit is used to determine the suit value.
In some countries, you may find that games are played with a different suit ranking depending on the local names for each suit. Yet, in any official poker tournament or a game in a big casino, the suit ranks will be the ones listed here.
When Poker Suits Ranks Come Into Play in Poker
For the most part, card suits don’t really matter too much in poker. This is especially true in games like Texas Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha, in which it is not possible to have two different flushes in the same hand.
On the other hand, there are other poker games like Five Card Draw and Seven Card Stud, in which two players can have a flush in completely different suits, begging the question of whose flush is better.
Yet, in scenarios like these, poker suits ranks don’t come into play, as we will explain in further text. For now, here are a few scenarios in which suits do play a role and can make a difference:
- Posting bring-in in Stud Games
- Determining the dealer button in all poker games
- Splitting uneven pots in all games
These three scenarios, in particular, bring up the importance of poker suits ranks, and poker dealers are trained to familiarize themselves with these situations before they start dealing the games.
Let’s take a look at each of these situations and how poker suit ranks make a difference in them.
Posting Bring In in Stud Games
In Texas Hold’em, the two players sitting to the immediate left of the dealer button post the two forced bets, the small blind and the big blind.
In Stud games, such as 7 Card Stud and Razz, all players at the table post an Ante bet, while only one player posts the Bring In, which is a forced bet that drives the action and determines who plays first.

Instead of being related to the position of the button, the Bring In is determined by the deal, as every player at the table receives three hole cards, one of which is exposed to all players at the table.
The player with the worst up-card is the one who posts the bring-in. In 7 Card Stud, that would be the player with a Deuce, while in a lowball game like Razz, that would be the player with an Ace.
However, what happens when more than one player has the worst possible up-card? The poker suit ranks come into play.
The player whose low card has the lowest ranking will post the bring-in when a situation like this arises. For example, if two players are dealt a Deuce, the player with the Deuce of Diamonds will post the bring-in ahead of the player with the Deuce of Spades.
Determining the Dealer Button
An even less significant situation in which poker suits ranks can matter comes at the very start of any poker game before the first hand is even dealt.
Typically speaking, to start a game of Texas Hold’em the dealer will deal every player one card to determine which seat the dealer button will start in.
The player with the highest card will win the dealer button, but once again a situation can come up in which multiple players have the same card.
Once again, poker suit ranks will come into play, with the player whose hand is the highest ranked receiving the dealer button.
For example, if you are dealt the Ace of Spades, you will get the dealer button ahead of the players with the Ace of Hearts and Ace of Clubs.
Splitting Uneven Pots
The final situation in which poker suits rank can be important comes up when a pot is split between two or multiple players.
For instance, in a game of Seven Card Stud, two players have the exact same flush, one in Spades and one in Diamonds.

The game in question is $5/10, and there is $725 in the pot after rake. Each player should receive exactly $362.5, but the game is played with $5 chips as the lowest denomination.
In a spot like this, in many poker games, the player whose cards have the higher poker suits ranks will receive a slightly bigger portion of the pot. In this case, the players with the Spade flush may receive $365, while the other player will get $360.
This rule is also not enforced in all games, as some poker games will award the bigger portion of the pot to the player who was in an inferior position at the start of the hand.
Don’t Pay Attention to Suits in These Spots
We have shown you three common scenarios in which card suits can make a difference in various poker games, and you can see that these are all situations whose relevance is relatively small, with the bring-in scenario being the only one that can have a significant impact on the game.
Yet, there are many bigger situations in which players may want to argue about the value of their hands based on the suits of their cards, and it is important to know the exact rules for these situations.
While you definitely won’t get into any arguments over who gets the button on the first hand, determining who wins a massive Stud or Draw pot, or whether a hand ended in a split pot or not, can lead to some heated discussions.
So, let’s take at one scenario in which suits look like they might matter, but they really don’t.
Multiple Flushes in Draw and Stud Games
While community card games don’t allow players to have flushes of different suits in the same hand, Stud and Draw games both do, which can lead to some confusion.
When more than one player has a flush in these poker games, the ranking of the cards in each flush is the first thing to look at.

The player with the highest card in their flush wins the pot. If the top card in both flushes is the same, the next card is observed, etc.
However, there are some very rare cases in which both flushes will be made up of the same cards. For example, Player A has AsKs9s7s4s and Player B has AcKc9c7c4c, the exact same hand.
In this situation, it would be easy to assume that the Spade flush beats the Diamond flush, but that would also be wrong.
Instead, the two hands are considered the same, and the pot is split between the two players who have the same flush.
So, the next time someone tries to claim their Spade flush beats your Heart, Diamond, or Club flush, remind them of the official poker rules that clearly state that suit ranks play no role in this scenario.
Final Words on Poker Suits Ranks
After reading this article, you have probably learned that poker suits ranks have very little impact on the game and are only observed in some rare situations, usually ones of little consequence.
When playing poker, you should not be thinking about the value of your suits too much, as you will never win a hand of any serious poker variation simply because of the particular suit of your cards.
In poker, suits are used to make hands like flushes and straight flushes, but they are all the same for all other intents and purposes, except for the few rare cases described above.