Non-standard poker hands are hands which are not recognized by official poker rules but are made by house rules. Non-standard hands usually appear in games using wild cards or bugs. Other terms for nonstandard hands are special hands or freak hands. Because the hands are defined by house rules, the composition and ranking of these hands is subject to variation. Any player participating in a game with non-standard hands should be sure to determine the exact rules of the game before play begins.

1. Poker Low Hand Rankings
2. Poker Hand Rankings

Full House is the next highest ranking poker hand after Four-of-a-Kind and is Three-of-a-Kind with by a Pair. For example, 10-10-10-8-8 is a “Tens full of Eights” Full House. The highest possible Full House is A-A-A-K-K (Aces full of Kings) with the lowest being 2-2-2-3-3. No other poker hand ranks better than that! Ranking a Flush Hand in Poker. In a standard 52-card deck of cards, there are an incredible 5,108 Flush hand possibilities. This includes 1,277 unique ranks of Flush poker hands. Each Flush hand will be ranked by the highest card in the 5-card hand. Then, it will be ranked by the next highest card etc.

Types[edit]

The usual hierarchy of poker hands from highest to lowest runs as follows (standard poker hands are in italics):

• Royal Flush: See Straight Flush.
• Skeet flush: The same cards as a skeet (see below) but all in the same suit.
• Straight flush: The highest straight flush, A-K-Q-J-10 suited, is also called a royal flush. When wild cards are used, a wild card becomes whichever card is necessary to complete the straight flush, or the higher of the two cards that can complete an open-ended straight flush. For example, in the hand 10♠ 9♠ (Wild) 7♠ 6♠, it becomes the 8♠, and in the hand (Wild) Q♦ J♦ 10♦ 9♦, it plays as the K♦ (even though the 8♦ would also make a straight flush).
• Four of a kind: Between two equal sets of four of a kind (possible in wild card and community card poker games or with multiple or extended decks), the kicker determines the winner.
• Big bobtail: A four card straight flush (four cards of the same suit in consecutive order).
• Flush: When wild cards are used, a wild card contained in a flush is considered to be of the highest rank not already present in the hand. For example, in the hand (Wild) 10♥ 8♥ 5♥ 4♥, the wild card plays as the A♥, but in the hand A♣ K♣ (Wild) 9♣ 6♣, it plays as the Q♣. (As noted above, if a wild card would complete a straight flush, it will play as the card that would make the highest possible hand.) A variation is the double-ace flush rule, in which a wild card in a flush always plays as an ace, even if one is already present (unless the wild card would complete a straight flush). In such a game, the hand A♠ (Wild) 9♠ 5♠ 2♠ would defeat A♦ K♦ Q♦ 10♦ 8♦ (the wild card playing as an imaginary second A♠), whereas by the standard rules it would lose (because even with the wild card playing as a K♠, the latter hand's Q♦ outranks the former's 9♠).

• Straight Flush House: Same as Flush House (see below), but all cards are in consecutive order.
• Big cat: See cats and dogs below.
• Little cat: See cats and dogs below.
• Big dog: See cats and dogs below.
• Little dog: See cats and dogs below.
• Straight: When wild cards are used, the wild card becomes whichever rank is necessary to complete the straight. If two different ranks would complete a straight, it becomes the higher. For example, in the hand J♦ 10♠ 9♣ (Wild) 7♠, the wild card plays as an 8 (of any suit; it doesn't matter). In the hand (Wild) 6♥ 5♦ 4♥ 3♦, it plays as a 7 (even though a 2 would also make a straight).
• Wrap-around straight: Also called a round-the-corner straight, consecutive cards including an ace which counts as both the high and low card. (Example Q-K-A-2-3).
• Skip straight: Also called alternate straight, Dutch straight, skipper, or kangaroo straight, Cards are in consecutive order, skipping every second rank (example 3-5-7-9-J).
• Five and dime: 5-low, 10-high, with no pair (example 5-6-7-8-10).^[1]
• Skeet: Also called pelter or bracket, a hand with a deuce (2), a 5, and a 9, plus two other un-paired cards lower than 9 (example 2-4-5-6-9).^[2]
• Little bobtail: A three card straight flush (three cards of the same suit in consecutive order).
• Flash: One card of each suit plus a joker.
• Blaze: Also called blazer, all cards are jacks, queens, and/or kings.
• Russ: Five cards of the same color.
• Bobtail flush: Also called four flush, Four cards of the same suit.
• Flush house: Three cards of one suit and two cards of another.
• Bobtail straight: Also called four straight, four cards in consecutive order.

Some poker games are played with a deck that has been stripped of certain cards, usually low-ranking ones. For example, the Australian game of Manila uses a 32-card deck in which all cards below the rank of 7 are removed, and Mexican Stud removes the 8s, 9s, and 10s. In both of these games, a flush ranks above a full house, because having fewer cards of each suit available makes full houses more common.

Cats and dogs[edit]

'Cats' (or 'tigers') and 'dogs' are types of no-pair hands defined by their highest and lowest cards. The remaining three cards are kickers. Dogs and cats rank above straights and below Straight Flush houses. Usually, when cats and dogs are played, they are the only unconventional hands allowed.

• Little dog: Seven high, two low (for example, 7-6-4-3-2). It ranks just above a straight, and below a Straight Flush House or any other cat or dog. In standard poker seven high is the lowest hand possible.
• Big dog: Ace high, nine low (for example, A-K-J-10-9). Ranks above a straight or little dog, and below a Straight Flush House or cat.
• Little cat (or little tiger): Eight high, three low. Ranks above a straight or any dog, but below a Straight Flush House or big cat.
• Big cat (or big tiger): King high, eight low. It ranks just below a Straight Flush House, and above a straight or any other cat or dog.

Some play that dog or cat flushes beat a straight flush, under the reasoning that a plain dog or cat beats a plain straight. This makes the big cat flush the highest hand in the game.

Kilters[edit]

A Kilter, also called Kelter, is a generic term for a number of different non-standard hands. Depending on house rules, a Kilter may be a Skeet, a Little Cat, a Skip Straight, or some variation of one of these hands.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^1897-1985, Gibson, Walter B. (Walter Brown),. Hoyle's modern encyclopedia of card games : rules of all the basic games and popular variations. ISBN0307486095. OCLC860901380.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
2. ^Stevens, Michael (November 3, 2018). '15 Poker Hand Names That Will Make You Smile (And Where Those Names Came From)'. gamblingsites.org. Retrieved February 19, 2019.

High card by suit and low card by suit refer to assigning relative values to playing cards of equal rank based on their suit. No standard ranking of suits exists for card games and not all games incorporate a suit ranking feature. When suit ranking is applied, the two most common conventions are:

• Ascending alphabetical order: clubs (lowest), followed by diamonds, hearts, and spades (highest). This ranking is used in the game of bridge.
• Alternating colors: diamonds (lowest), followed by clubs, hearts, and spades (highest). Similar to alphabetical ranking in that the two highest rankings are occupied by the same two suits (hearts and spades) in the same relative position to one another, but differing in the two lowest rankings, which while occupied by the same two suits (clubs and diamonds) have their relative position to one another swapped. This ranking is sometimes used in the Chinese card game Big Two or Choh Dai Di.

Poker[edit]

Most poker games do not rank suits; the ace of clubs is just as good as the ace of spades. However, small issues (such as deciding who deals first) are sometimes resolved by dealing one card to each player. If two players draw cards of the same rank, one way to break the tie is to use an arbitrary hierarchy of suits. The order of suit rank differs by location; for example, the ranking most commonly used in the United States is not the one typically used in Italy.

Cards are always compared by rank first, and only then by suit. For example, using the 'reverse alphabetical order' ranking, the ace of clubs ranks higher than any king, but lower than the ace of diamonds. High card by suit is used to break ties between poker hands as a regional variance,^[1] but more commonly is used in the following situations, as well as various others, based upon the circumstances of the particular game:

Poker Low Hand Rankings

• Randomly selecting a player or players.

Poker Hand Rankings

To randomly select a player to deal, to choose the game, to move to another table, or for other reasons, deal each player one card and the player with high card by suit is selected. Multiple players can be selected this way.

• Assigning the bring-in.

In games such as Seven-card stud, where the player with the lowest-ranking face-up card is required to open the first betting round for a minimal amount, ties can be broken by suit. In such low stud games as razz, the player with the highest-ranking upcard must post the fractional bet.

• Awarding odd chips in a split pot.

In High-low split games, or when two players' hands tie, the pot must be split evenly between them. When there is an odd amount of money in the pot that can't be split evenly, the odd low-denomination chip can be given to the player whose hand contains the high card by suit. (This solution is not necessary in games with blinds, in which case the odd chip between high and low is awarded to the high hand, and the odd chip between a split high or split low is awarded to the first player following the dealer button.)

• Breaking ties in a chip race

During poker tournaments, a chip race is used to 'color up' large numbers of smaller-denomination chips, and a modified deal is used to assign leftover chips. Ties in the deal are broken by suit.

Contract bridge[edit]

In bridge, suit rank during the bidding phase of the game is by ascending alphabetical order.

During the play of the cards, the trump suit is superior to all other suits and the other suits are of equal rank to each other. If there is no trump suit, all suits are of equal rank.

References[edit]

1. ^'Rules of Card Games: Poker Hand Ranking'. www.pagat.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2018.

External links[edit]