What Is A Straight In Poker – Odds, Probabilities, and Rankings
3 minutes
Last Updated: January 6, 2024
Poker Straight is made of five consecutive cards or simply put five cards in a row. This hand's name makes it fairly easy to remember and understand it since you can easily associate that with five cards going one after another.
Various poker Straight examples:
- A K Q J T – is the best possible Straight in poker and is also known as “Broadway.”
- J T 9 8 7 – medium-strength poker Straight variation without any special name.
- A 2 3 4 5 – is the lowest possible Straight, also known as a poker “Wheel.”
Just like with a Flush, suits actually do not play any role in Straight poker hands rankings, and the highest card determines the value of the hand in the combination.
For example, Q J T 9 8 is called a Queen-high straight and beats all lower straights while still losing to King-high and Ace-high Straights. If both players have identical straights, then the pot is equally divided between them.
Poker Straight ranks 6th in poker hand rankings and is considered a medium-strength hand for that.
That being said, Straight in poker will win you many pots, especially when there are no Flush or Full House possibilities on the board.
Straight Odds and Probabilities
Straight in poker is a much more common hand than those higher in poker hands rankings, so you will see it more often. Here are the most important odds for making poker Straight in Texas Holdem:
- The odds of flopping a Straight is 1,04% when you have any connected starting hand.
- You have less chance of 0.85% to hit a Straight on the Flop with one gapper (like AQ, 53, etc.)*
- The probability of flopping an open-ended straight draw (OESD) with connectors* is 9.6%.
- The odds of hitting an inside straight draw (gutshot) with connectors* is 16.6%
- When you have an OESD Straight draw on the flop, you have around a 17% chance to complete it on the Turn.
- You have even better odds of around 31.5% to make a Straight by the River when you flop an OESD poker straight draw.
- You have around an 8.5% chance to hit gutshot on the turn when flopping this draw and around a 17.2% probability of making this poker hand by the river.
Connectors – means hands from JT to 54 since those combinations and everything in between have more chances to flop poker Straight draws. Hands like AK, KQ, 32, etc, have a bit smaller odds of making those hands, but those are quite similar to previously mentioned ones.
As you can see from these poker Straight odds, you are quite likely to hit those hands when you flop a solid draw, so playing it aggressively, just like a Flush draw, makes a lot of sense most of the time.
What beats a Straight In Poker?
There are quite a few hands that beat a Straight in poker since it ranks only 6th in poker hands rankings, so Royal and Straight Flush beat a Straight, as well as Four of a Kind, Full House, and a Flush.
OF course, you can lose against another Straight as well if your opponent has a higher one, so always take into consideration what poker hands are possible on various boards and make sure not to overplay your hand when there are many possibilities for better holdings.
What can a Straight beat?
A Straight beats Three of a Kind, Two Pairs, One Pair, and High card combinations.
Does a Straight beat a Full House?
No, a Straight does not beat a Full House since the latter hand is much harder to make, and it stands higher in official poker hand rankings.
Does a Straight beat a Flush?
No, Flush is a stronger poker hand, so you will not beat your opponent with a Straight if he is holding a Flush.
This is one of the most common misconceptions from new poker players that comes from comparing straight vs flush and remembering who will win, so make sure not to mix things up and remember that a Straight does not beat a Flush in poker.
Does a Straight beat a Three of a Kind?
Yes, a Straight does beat Three of a Kind because this combination ranks one position below Straight in poker hand rankings.
Which Straight is the strongest?
The best possible Straight in poker you can have is A K Q J T, so this straight beats all other straight combinations.
The second strongest poker straight is King-high, then Queen-high, and so on, until you reach the lowest possible Straight, also known as a Wheel – A 2 3 4 5.
