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Making a full house in poker isn’t easy, so you’d better not squander your chance of stacking an opponent by misplaying it. Naturally, to play a full house correctly, you need to know what one is.
That’s what we’re here for. We’ll answer the all-important question: what is a full house in poker?
What is a Full House?
A full house poker hand contains a pair and three-of-a-kind. In essence, it’s an amalgamation of two different poker hands.
It’s the type of hand which if you got it while playing at the best online poker sites, you’d expect to win.
Amateurs and aspiring poker pros know that making one ranked hand is hard enough, so making two simultaneously is even harder. That’s why a full house poker hand is so powerful.
In fact, when you look at the hierarchy of hands in poker, a full house is the fourth most powerful.
Full House Poker Examples
Based on our definition, here’s what a full house in poker looks like:
- A? A? K? K? K?
- 10? 10? 10? 2??2?
- 8? 8? 8??7? 7?
As you can see, the full house poker hands in our example contain a pair and three-of-a-kind to create one single hand.
Where Does a Full House Rank?
Only three hands in poker beat a full house: four-of-a-kind, straight flushes, and royal flushes.
This means it ranks above a lot of strong hands, including straights and flushes.
The table below provides an overview of all the hands in poker, including where a full house poker hand ranks, with ‘X’ representing any card.
| Poker Hand | Description | Example |
| Royal Flush | A straight from 10 to ace with all cards of a matching suit |
10? J? Q? K? A? |
| Straight Flush | A straight with cards of a matching suit |
5? 6? 7? 8? 9? |
| Four of a Kind | Four cards of the same value | A? A? A? A? X |
| Full House | One pair and one set | K? K? 4? 4? 4? |
| Flush | Any five cards of the same suit | 5? 9? 10? K? J? |
| Straight | Five cards in sequential order, but without matching suits | 2? 3? 4? 5? 6? |
| Three of a Kind (or a Set of Trips) |
Three cards of the same value | A? A? A? X X |
| Two Pair |
A pair plus another different pair | A? A? 6? 6? X |
| Pair (or Two of a Kind) |
Two cards of the same value | J? J? X X X |
| High Card | A hand with no other value than that of its highest card | K? J? 2? 8? 6? |
What Beats a Full House in Poker?
You won’t lose very often with a full house because there are only three hands above it in the rankings.
Before we get into the math of making a full house in poker, it’s worth talking about full house vs. full house showdowns.
In the same way higher-value pairs beat lower-value pairs, full house poker hands can also be ranked based on their value.? Consider this scenario:
- Player 1 has A? A?
- Player 2 has K? K?
The board is K? 2? 2? 2? J?
- Player 1 has A? A? 2??2? 2?
- Player 2 has K? K??K? 2? 2?
Which player has the best full house? You’d be forgiven for thinking Player 1 has the best hand because they’ve got two aces because, as we know, aces are worth more than kings.
However, in this scenario, Player 2 has the best hand because they’ve got three higher-ranked cards.
In technical terms, Player 1 has deuces full of aces, and Player 2 has kings full of threes. When you’re describing a full house poker hand, you call it XX full of YY, with XX being three-of-a-kind and YY being the pair.
The best full house is always the one with the highest ranking three-of-a-kind. So, in our example, three kings are worth more than three deuces. Therefore, Player 2 wins.
If you want to learn poker or take your game to the next level, read our poker cheat sheet here to get the lowdown.
What are the Odds of Making a Full House in Poker?
The overall odds of making a full house in poker are 2.6%.
Meanwhile, the odds of hitting a poker full house on the flop with any starting hand in Texas Hold’em are 0.14%. This is based on the fact that there are 3,744 ways to make a full house out of 2,598,960 possible hands.
Breaking this down even further, you’ve got a 0.09% chance of flopping a full house with two unpaired cards.
Your chances of making a full house improve to 0.98% if you hold a pocket pair. Of course, poker hands don’t stop on the flop.
It is when you factor in turn and river cards, that the overall odds of making a full house improve greatly, rising to 2.6%. We can extrapolate two things from these statistics:
- 1. It’s hard to make a full house in poker, particularly on the flop.
- 2. You should be more willing to chase full house opportunities with paired hands rather than unpaired hands.
If you manage to make a full house, don’t be afraid to bet aggressively. The chances are that you’re going to win a showdown simply because there are very few hands that can beat you.
We can use the odds of flopping a pair to illustrate this point. As a general rule, you’ll connect with the board approximately one-third of the time (33%) in Hold’em.
If you’ve got an unpaired starting hand, such as A-K, the odds of flopping a pair are 29%.
Looking at all the possible options, you’ve got a 48% chance of making a pair by the river. You don’t need us to tell you that the odds of making a pair are significantly better than a full house.
The point we’re making is that your opponents are more likely to have hands such as pairs when you’ve got a full house. Therefore, you’ll be losing long-term if you play full houses passively.
Pros & Cons of a Full House
Why should you love making a full house in poker? Are there any downsides to making a full house? Let’s have a look at some pros and cons…
Pros 
- You can be confident of winning when you make a full house poker hand.
- There needs to be a pair on the board for you to make a full house, so there’s a good chance someone will have a strong enough hand to call your bets.
- It’s easier to put someone on a pair, straight or flush, compared to a full house, so your hand is well disguised.
Cons 
- They’re hard to make, so you could burn a lot of chips chasing a full house.
- Three hands are better than a full house.
- The strength of a full house makes it possible to lose a lot of chips if someone has a better hand.
How to Use a Full House in Poker
Now you know that a full house contains a pair and three-of-a-kind, you need to learn how to use it.
So, before you put your knowledge to the test at the best live casinos, here are three tips for playing a full house:
1. Bet Hard
It’s hard to make a full house in poker, so don’t be afraid to bet when you’ve got one.
This, of course, comes with the caveat that you should adjust your strategy according to the table dynamics.
For example, you might be in a live casino where everyone plays tight. In this scenario, you should be less aggressive.
However, as a general rule, it’s a good idea to get as much money into the pot as possible when you’ve got a full house because the number of times you’ll win is significantly more than you’ll lose.
If you want more winning tips, head to our poker strategy guide to get an edge on other players.
2. Remember the Odds
Poker is a game of probabilities. That means you need to consider your cards in relation to what your opponents might have, the board, and your chances of making a full house. We know the overall odds of making a full house are 2.6%.
However, you need to treat each situation individually. For example, if the board is A? 4? 5? A??and you hold A? 10?, you need a 10 to make a full house with one card to come.
Using the rule of four and two, you can calculate that there’s a 6% chance you’ll hit a 10.
Why? Because there are three 10s left in the deck and one card to come. So, if we multiply three by two, you get six. If the pot odds are greater than 6%, you can call.
If the pot odds aren’t good enough, you should fold. You can learn more about poker odds here.
Keep these tips in mind, and with a bit of luck, skill, and timing, you’ll get maximum value from every full house you make.
3. Prioritize Pairs
It’s significantly easier to make a full house in Texas Hold’em when you’ve got a pocket pair vs. when you’ve got two random cards.
The odds of flopping a full house with two random cards is 0.09%. With a pocket pair, you’ve got a 0.98% of flopping a full house.
The added benefit of waiting for pocket pairs is that you may already be ahead of your opponent/s. You could also make a set, quads, or two-pair.
FAQs
What Happens if Two Players Have a Full House?
What Hands Beat a Full House?
How Should You Play a Full House in Poker?
What is the Best Strategy if Your Opponent Has a Full House?
References
- https://www.masterclass.com/articles/poker-101-what-are-poker-odds (Poker Masterclass)
- https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/help-by-state/ (NPC Gambling)
- https://piosolver.com/ (Pio Solver)
