Great poker hands are something we all wish for. Whether we are new to poker or a veteran we all want the same thing a great starting hand and a great poker hand once the community cards have all flopped.
Many different people think differently on what a great poker hand is pre flop. Although commonly people will say pocket aces IS the best (the best starting hand) many differentiate. Some people say KK or even 7/8 suited. Great poker hands pre flop to each individual vary due to their own personal success rate.
Doyle Brunson’s favorite starting hand is 10 2 off suit (102 is the age he hopes to get to for the record) as he won the WSOP with it. Doyle Brunson is a good example of poker players who think that that a few great poker hands work best for them. Just so it is clear, poker mathematics and sense tells us that pockets aces are indeed the best hand to start with. This doesn't mean they will hold up and you will win with them though.
Post flop is a different story to pre flop when judging great poker hands. After the community cards are on the board a great poker hand is a new story. Pocket aces after the flop do not always as great poker hands. Poker Hands are ranked and in any Hold'em or Omaha hi poker variant the ranking is as follows from the best to the worst hand:
- Royal Flush - A, K, Q, J, 10 - all of the same suit
- Straight Flush - Any five card sequence in the same suit - 5, 6, 7, 8,9 of diamonds an example
- Four of a Kind (also called quads) – All 4 cards of the same denomination – AAAA as an example
- Full House (also called boat) - Three of a kind combined with a pair – K, K, K, Q, Q as an example
- Flush - Any five cards of the same suit – 5 diamonds as an example but not in a straight form.
- Straight - Five cards in sequence, but not in the same suit - 7,8,9,10,J, of varied suits
- Three of a Kind (also known as trips or a set) – Three cards of the same denomination - 999
- Two Pair – Two Separate Pairs – 88 99 as an example
- One Pair - 77 as an example
- High Card – The highest card wins the hand as no player has even made a pair.
If we were however to think of great poker hands in the history of poker rather than which is the best, many come to mind and should never be forgotten. Historically speaking, the dead mans’s hand (A,8) is one of the best examples of great poker hands which have been remembered for ages. The dead man’s hand incidentally was named after Wild Bill Hickok as he was holding 2 pairs (Aces and Eights) at the time of his murder (August 2, 1876). Of more recent times we could think of the 2009 world series of poker win by Joe Cada who held pocket 9's (9,9) taking down the tournament against heads up opponent Darvin Moon. Joe Cada is now in the record books as the youngest ever World Series of Poker Winner!
Great poker hands that go into the history books are from great wins or headlining events. If there are none of these events behind them, then let's face the facts – nothing beats pocket Aces pre-flop or a Royal Flush once the hand is complete.
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