Number Of Poker Hands

• Number Of Poker Hands
• Average Number Of Poker Hands Per Hour

The strongest poker hand is the royal flush. It consists of Ten, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, all of the same suit, e.g. Diamonds, spades, hearts, or clubs. #2 Straight Flush The second strongest hand in poker is the straight flush. JavaScript © 1997 by John A. Byers The total number of possible hands can be found by adding the above numbers in third column, for a total of 2,598,960. This means that if there are 52 cards, how many combinations of 5 cards.

There are 1,326 possible combinations of cards from a standard deck but there are only 169 non-equivalent starting hands in poker. This number is made up of 13 pocket pairs, 78 suited hands and 78. In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high games, like Texas hold 'em and seven-card stud, the highest-ranking hands win. There are a total of 13 pocket pairs, 78 suited hands as well as 78 unsuited hands in that total number of 169. The best hand that you can start out with is a pair of pocket rockets (Ace-Ace). The worst possible starting hand that you can form is 3-2.

• General principles
  • Betting limits
• Principal forms
  • Stud poker
  • Community-card poker
  • House-banked games

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Poker, card game, played in various forms throughout the world, in which a player must call (i.e., match) the bet, raise (i.e., increase) the bet, or concede (i.e., fold). Its popularity is greatest in North America, where it originated. It is played in private homes, in poker clubs, in casinos, and over the Internet. Poker has been called the national card game of the United States, and its play and jargon permeate American culture.

Although countless variants of poker are described in the literature of the game, they all share certain essential features. A poker hand comprises five cards. The value of the hand is in inverse proportion to its mathematical frequency; that is, the more unusual the combination of cards, the higher the hand ranks. Players may bet that they have the best hand, and other players must either call (i.e., match) the bet or concede. Players may bluff by betting that they have the best hand when in fact they do not, and they may win by bluffing if players holding superior hands do not call the bet.

General principles

There are forms of poker suitable to any number of players from 2 to 14, but in most forms the ideal number is 6, 7, or 8 players. The object is to win the “pot,” which is the aggregate of all bets made by all players in any one deal. The pot may be won either by having the highest-ranking poker hand or by making a bet that no other player calls. The following principles apply to nearly all forms of poker.

Cards

Poker is almost always played with the standard 52-card deck, the playing cards in each of the four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs) ranking A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low only in the straight [a series of five cards numbered consecutively] or straight flush [a series of five cards numbered consecutively within the same suit] 5-4-3-2-A and in certain variants described below).

In social play, especially in “dealer’s choice” (i.e., a card-playing session in which each player takes a turn at dealing the cards and selecting the game), certain cards may be designated wild cards. A wild card stands for any other card its holder wishes to name. There are many methods of introducing wild cards into the game. The most popular are:

1. Joker. A 53-card pack is used, including the joker as a wild card.
2. Bug. The same 53-card pack including the joker is used, but the joker—here called the bug—counts only as a fifth ace or to fill a flush [a series of five cards of the same suit], a straight, or certain special hands.
3. Deuces wild. All four deuces (2s) are wild cards.
4. One-eyes. In the standard pack the king of diamonds, jack of spades, and jack of hearts are the only cards shown in profile. They are often designated as wild cards.

Rank of poker hands

The rank of standard poker hands is determined by their odds (probability). Two or more identical hands tie and divide any winning equally. The suits have no relative rank in poker. When there is any wild card in the game, the highest possible hand is five of a kind, which beats any straight flush. When there are several wild cards, there may be identical fours of a kind or threes of a kind, in which case ties are broken by the highest unmatched cards or secondary pairs (in a full house [a five-card hand made up of three of a kind and a pair]).

Poker odds

poker hand	number of ways the hand can be made	approximate odds of getting the hand in five cards
royal flush	4	1 in 649,740.00
straight flush	36	1 in 72,193.33
four of a kind	624	1 in 4,165.00
full house	3,744	1 in 694.16
flush	5,108	1 in 508.80
straight	10,200	1 in 254.80
three of a kind	54,912	1 in 47.32
two pairs	123,552	1 in 21.03
one pair	1,098,240	1 in 2.36
no pair	1,302,540	1 in 1.99

Deal

At the start of the game, any player takes a pack of cards and deals them in rotation to the left, one at a time faceup, until a jack appears. The player receiving that card becomes the first dealer. The turn to deal and the turn to bet always pass to the left from player to player. For each deal, any player may shuffle the cards, the dealer having the last right to shuffle. The dealer must offer the shuffled pack to the opponent to the right for a cut. If that player declines to cut, any other player may cut.

A professional dealer is used in poker clubs, casinos, and tournament play, where a round disc (known as a dealer button) is passed clockwise each hand to indicate the nominal dealer for betting purposes. Also, such environments almost invariably charge the players either by setting an hourly rental fee for their seats or by “raking” a small percentage (say, 5 percent) from each pot.

Betting procedure

In each deal there are one or more betting intervals according to the specific poker variant. In each betting interval, one player, as designated by the rules of the variant being played, has the privilege or obligation of making the first bet. This player and each player in turn after him must place in the pot the number of chips (representing money, for which poker is almost invariably played) to make his total contribution to the pot at least equal to the total contribution of the player before him. When a player does this, he is said to be in the pot, or an active player. If a player declines to do this, he discards his hand and is said to drop or fold, and he may no longer compete for the pot.

Before the deal, each player may be required to make a contribution to the pot, called an ante. In each betting interval, the first player to make a bet is said to bet, a player who exactly meets the previous bet is said to call, and a player who bets more than the previous bettor is said to raise. In some variants, a player is permitted to check, which is to stay in without betting, provided no other player has made a bet in that betting interval. Since a player cannot raise his own bet, each betting interval ends when the betting turn has returned to the person who made the last raise or when all players have checked.

At the end of each betting interval except the last, dealing is resumed. At the end of the last betting interval, there is the “showdown,” in which each active player shows his full hand, and the highest-ranking hand wins the pot.

Betting limits

There are “no-limit” or “sky’s-the-limit” games, but in practice most poker games place some limit on what one may bet in any game. There are three popular methods.

Fixed limit

In fixed-limit games, no one may bet or raise by more than the established limit. In draw poker the limit is usually twice as much after the draw as before—for example, two chips before the draw, four chips after. In stud poker the limit is usually twice as much in the final betting interval as in previous betting intervals. (The higher limit applies also when any player’s exposed cards include a pair.) These respective forms of the game are described below. In a fixed-limit game a limit is usually placed on the number of raises that may be made in any betting interval.

Pot limit

In pot-limit contests, a player may bet or raise by no more than the amount in the pot at the time the bet or raise is made. When raising, the player may first put in the pot the number of chips required to call the previous bet and then raise by the number of chips in the pot. When pot limit is played, it is customary also to place a maximum limit on any bet or raise, regardless of the size of the pot.

Table stakes

This method most closely approximates the no-limit game. Each player’s limit is the number of chips he has on the table at the beginning of the deal. He may not bet more, but for this amount he may call any higher bet (go “all in”) and compete for the pot in the showdown. Other players having more chips may continue to bet, but their further bets go into one or more side pots in the manner decided among the players who contributed fully to the side pot. When a player drops out of any side pot, he drops out of the original pot as well, in effect surrendering his rights in the original pot to the player whose later bet he did not call. Thus, there may be different winners of the main pot and various side pots.

If you play a lot of online poker something that you need to know is how many hands per hour your play. The reason why this is important is because some games deal much faster than others.
For instance:
Typically you will get dealt about 75 hands per hour in online poker at a 9-max table and 90 hands per hour at a 6-max table. In fast fold online poker games like Zoom, Zone or Snap you will usually get dealt around 200-250 hands per hour.
The number of hands you are dealt per hour can have a big impact on your overall profit because as a winning poker player more hands equals more money.
The number of hands per hour in online poker is also very important when figuring out your rakeback or how long it will take to clear any bonuses.

Hands Per Hour Live Poker Versus Online Poker

Now the first thing to note is that if you come from a live poker background (casino or home games), then the speed of online poker is going to be immediately noticeable to you.
Even the slowest online poker games will deal much faster than the average live poker game, usually around 3 times faster.
It is common in most live poker games to only see 25 or 30 hands per hour.
This is indeed why many people coming over from live poker to internet poker have a hard time adjusting. In fact many of them even think that online poker is rigged!
The reality is that online poker just deals much faster than live poker due to everything being automated. This means that you are going to see far more hands and therefore far more bad beats.
Going from live poker to online poker is kind of like switching from your Toyota Corolla to a Ferrari. It's going to feel very different at first. You just aren't going to be used to the speed yet.

Full Ring Versus 6-max

Another important consideration with how many hands per hour you will get in online poker is if you are playing full ring or 6-max.
Full ring (9 players) is a game that plays a fair bit slower than 6-max due to there being 3 more people at the table.
Most poker sites display this information right in the lobby by the way. Here for instance is a random selection of NL10 6-max tables on PokerStars with the hands per hour statistics.
You can always expect around a 25% increase in the number of hands that you are going to see per hour if you switch from full ring over to 6-max.
In general I have found that you get about 75 hands per hour at a full ring poker table and 90 hands per hour at a 6-max poker table.
Keep in mind though that if you play super low stakes like NL2 or NL5, where there are more recreational players playing a lot of hands, then these numbers may be lower.
And if you play ultra-short hands tables (3 or 4 people) or heads up (2 people), then you are going to see even more hands. Less people equals more hands per hour.

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Zoom Poker Hands Per Hour

Now in fast fold poker games like Zoom, Zone or Snap poker you can expect to see a large increase in the number of hands dealt per hour.
And this is due to the fast fold button allowing everybody to quickly throw away every hand that they don't want to play and be moved on to the next table and the next hand.
In a regular poker game you of course cannot do this. You have to wait for the entire hand to be played out every time even if you are not involved at all (folded preflop).
So in Zoom poker games you can expect to see anywhere between 200 and 250 hands per hour on average. Again, if you play 6-max it will be on the higher end of this range.
This by the way is between 8 and 10 times as many hands as you will see in a live poker game. And if you multi-table, then you can double or triple these numbers.
This is why if you are switching over from live poker to online poker I would suggest staying away from Zoom poker at first. It is going to be way too fast for you.
If you decide to play Zoom though, here is a video I made showing you how to beat 2cent/5cent:
But my suggestion is still to start at the regular tables. It will be a much smoother transition.
And when and if you want to try Zoom poker make sure you check out my complete Zoom poker strategy guide as well for even more.

Hands Per Hour for a Professional Online Poker Player

Now whether you choose to play full ring, 6-max or Zoom, these hands per hour numbers are very important especially if you are a professional poker player.
When I used to play poker professionally full time I would always shoot for daily target hand numbers. Typically for me as somebody who liked to play a large amount of tables I would aim for at least 3k hands a day and 10k hands maximum.
Since I was playing as many as 30 tables at a time I could do some simple math to find out how long this would take me.
For Example:
I want to play 3k poker hands in one day. Well if I play 11 tables of 6-max poker then this should take me almost exactly 3 hours.
Because once again, a regular 6-max table deals around 90 hands per hour. 90 x 11 tables = 990 hands per hour. 990 x 3 hours = 2970 hands.
The reason why these numbers are also important is because depending on the poker site you play on, they will have a big impact on how much rakeback you get or how fast you clear bonuses.
Since Zoom poker deals the fastest of any poker game on earth basically you can imagine why this is the personal favorite of many full time heavy volume online poker pros.

Final Thoughts

Number Of Poker Hands

The number of hands per hour that you will see in online poker depends heavily upon what table type you play, full ring or 6-max.
And if you play fast fold style games like Zoom poker then this will also have a large impact on how many hands you get.
It is important to remember though that it is the quality of your decisions that is going to have the biggest impact on your success in online poker.
So you need to make sure that you are never playing an amount of hands that feels like too much or forces you to rush your decisions.
This is going to be different for everybody so you need to experiment and find that sweet spot for you.

Average Number Of Poker Hands Per Hour

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Let me know in the comments how many hands per hour are you getting on your poker tables.