What is a Flush in Poker?

In poker, a flush is five cards of the same suit. But there are a few different types of flushes and some rules you need to know to make sure you don’t waste any chips on a bad hand.

Here’s everything you need to know about a poker flush.

What is a Flush in Poker?

In Texas Hold’em, you’re dealt two hole cards which are dealt face down so that only the player holding them may see them.

This is along with up to five community cards in the middle for a total of seven cards. To hit a flush, you need five of these cards to be the same suit: hearts, diamonds, spades or clubs.

No suit is more valuable than any other when it comes to a flush in poker. Nonetheless, you don’t need to worry about this in Hold’em, as there are only enough cards for one suit to make a flush each time a hand is dealt.

It is absolutely crucial that you know poker hands before you start playing. Learning poker strategy and common hands is key to helping you win.

What a Poker Flush Looks Like

There are over 5,000 hand combinations that can make a flush in poker, so we won’t list them all here.

Standard flushes are not sequential, which means something like 5? 6? 7? 8? 9?. This is classed as a straight flush, and is even more valuable. Instead, regular flushes can be all over the place as long as the suits match.

Here are three random examples of a five-card flush:

• A?? 2?? 5? 8?? J??
• 3?? 6?? 8?? J?? Q??
• 4? 5? 9? 10? K?

Where Does a Flush Hand Rank?

There are 10 different hand rankings in Texas Hold’em, and the flush slots in at number five. But that doesn’t mean it’s average; a flush is a very strong hand in poker.

First off, take a look at the full hand rankings below with ‘X’ representing any card. If you need more help, check out our poker hands guide.

As you can see, a flush beats high cards, pairs, two pairs, three-of-a-kinds and straights. Those hands make up a huge percentage of the hands you’ll see at the green felt, which makes a flush very powerful.

You may have also spotted there are two other hands with the word ‘flush’ in them. It’s worth explaining the differences, as this can drastically alter your hand strength.

Other Types of Flush

A straight flush is five cards, all of the same suit, all in a row. Here’s an example:

4? 5? 6? 7? 8?

Aces can be high or low, but you can’t wrap around the ace (for example, Q?? K?? A?? 2?? 3?? would not be a straight flush, but instead an ace-high flush).

A Royal Flush is simply the highest-ranked straight flush possible, running from the 10 to the ace. For example, 10? J? Q? K? A?. This is an unbeatable hand in poker.

Flush with Suited Hole Cards

The best way to make a flush in poker is with two suited hole cards, for two main reasons. For the record, suited hole cards mean you’ve been dealt two cards of the same suit, such as J?? 9??.

The first advantage is that it disguises your hand more than an offsuit hand. Opponents will have to believe you have a hand like two clubs or two hearts, which is much less likely than just one.

The second reason is that you have a better chance of hitting a flush, or at least a draw, on the flop. The flop is the dealing of the first three face-up cards on the table.

With suited hole cards, you’ll flop a flush once in 122 hands – so not that often. But you’ll flop a flush draw 10.9% of the time, giving you plenty of room to play aggressively.

Flush with Offsuit Hole Cards

Offsuit hole cards mean you’re holding two cards of different suits, like A? Q?.

The problem with making a flush with offsuit cards is that you need four of the same suit to hit the board. This is difficult to achieve and makes the flush very obvious to your opponents.

It’s also very possible that you’re up against another flush. For this reason, you want to prioritize the nut or near-nut flushes with offsuit hole cards.

For instance, if you hold the A??and four hearts come out, you know you’ll beat all other flushes your opponent may hold.

Flush on the Board

If five community cards are dealt on the flop, turn and river that are all the same suit, every player in the hand will have a flush. An example of this type of board is 5?? 10?? 9?? K?? 7??.

In this instance, any clubs in your hand could still have an impact. With flushes in poker, it’s the best possible five cards, starting from the top down.

So, the best flush is one which has an ace as the highest card. The second best is king-high, then queen-high, and so on.

If two or more players have the same high card in their flushes, then the second-highest card plays. That’s followed by the third, then fourth and finally the fifth-highest card.

Let’s use the above board for some examples:

Board: 5?? 10?? 9?? K?? 7??

Player 1: A??A??

Player 2: 7? 8?

What happens: Neither player holds a club, so they both play the board.

Outcome: Split pot.

Board: 5?? 10?? 9?? K?? 7??.

Player 1: 5? 5?

Player 2: Q?? J?

What happens: Player 1 has an irrelevant three-of-a-kind, which is lower-ranked than a flush, and so plays the flush on the board. But Player 2 holds a high club, and so has a higher five-card flush.

Outcome: Player 2 wins the pot.

Board: 5?? 10?? 9?? K?? 7??

Player 1: 3?? Q?

Player 2: 2?? K?

What happens: Both players hold a club. Although Player 1 has a higher club than Player 2, it doesn’t matter, because the best five-card flush is still the five community cards.

Outcome: Split pot.

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