Definition: A Full House is a poker hand made up of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank.
A Full House ranks third in the standard poker hand rankings . It is beaten only by a Straight Flush and Four of a Kind.
The strongest possible Full House is Aces full of Kings:
A♥ A♠ A♦ K♥ K♣
When comparing Full House hands, the rank of the three matching cards is always the most important factor. For example, Aces full of Kings beats Aces full of Jacks and Kings full of Aces.
Here are a few more examples of Full House hands:
J♠ J♥ J♦ A♣ A♥
K♥ K♠ K♦ Q♣ Q♦
Q♠ Q♦ Q♥ 7♣ 7♥
Important: Suits are irrelevant when ranking Full House hands. The three-of-a-kind is evaluated first, followed by the paired cards.
How Does a Full House Hand Rank?
Mini-summary: Full House hands are ranked by the value of the three matching cards first, then by the paired cards if needed.
In a standard 52-card deck, there are 3,744 possible Full House combinations and 156 distinct Full House ranks.
Full Houses are commonly described using phrases such as “aces full” (aces over) or “jacks full” (jacks over), based on the rank of the three matching cards.
For example, the hand K♥ K♠ K♣ 5♣ 5♥ ranks higher than Q♥ Q♠ Q♣ A♣ A♥, even though the second hand contains a higher paired kicker.
How a Full House Compares to Other Poker Hands
Mini-summary: A Full House is a very strong hand but is beaten by the two highest-ranked hands in poker.
A Full House is the third-highest-ranking hand in poker. Only a Straight Flush and Four of a Kind rank above it.
The next strongest hand below a Full House is a Flush .
The strongest Flush is an ace-high flush. As with all Flushes, suits are equal and hand strength is determined by rank.
