One of the first things you must learn before playing is the various poker hands. In this article, we've provided everything you should know about full house hands in poker games.
Whether you are a new or an experienced gamer, understanding poker hands and how they work is vital to your success. Failure to know hand rankings can lead to big losses. Of the many different hands in poker games, the full house ranks third on the list. This makes it a powerful hand as it can be beaten only by a straight flush and a four-of-a-kind. One of the most iconic full house wins in poker history was at the 2003 WSOP Main Event by Chris Moneymaker.
In this comprehensive guide, we've provided all the relevant information you must know when learning how to play a full house in poker. We have included how it works, the probabilities, and much more.
What is Full House?
To put it in simple words, a full house is any three cards of the same value combined with any two cards with matching numbers. The full house hand is also known as a full boat, and it's quite unique compared to other poker hands.
There are 3744 full houses that one can form in a standard poker game. These hands are formed using different combinations from a deck of 52 cards. The highest full house is an Ace full of Kings, Ace (A), King (K), and (K) (AAAKK). Additionally, a house is considered full of Aces of Kings if it has three-of-a-kind Aces and two-of-a-kind Kings (K).
Nevertheless, poker full house rules don't consider the cards used to create the combination. Instead, it values the denomination of each card ranking.
Full House Rankings in Poker
When ranking the full house against other poker hand combinations, it comes in the third position. Additionally, four out of five cards must have the same ranking in the hand combination. However, the suit does not matter in this hand. Overall, the full house is a bridge between the less common hands and the most complex.
Probabilities of Full House Poker
As earlier mentioned, a full house can be obtained in 3744 different ways in a standard poker game with a standard deck of 52 cards. This implies that the probability of getting a full house on the shuffled cards is 0.1441%. Moreover, with 7 cards in play, there is a 2.6% chance of making a full house. Do understand that the probabilities of hitting a full house will vary depending on the poker game you are playing. These are the probabilities in Texas Hold'em:
- Pre-Flop: This hand comes before a flop and has a probability of 0.144%.
- Flop: In this round, three community cards are dealt face-up on the playing board and have a probability of 0.09%
- Turn: This round comes after the flop, and one community card is dealt face up. It has a chance of 12.77%
- River: This is the final betting round where the last card is dealt, and it has a chance of 19.57%.
Rules of Full House Poker
The rules of forming a full house in poker are pretty straightforward. You start by combining three cards of matching rank with two cards of a different rank. That means players can merge a three of a kind with a pair to get a full house with a 5-card poker hand. We've provided an example to help you to understand how the full house works based on poker rules:
For example, if you are playing Texas Hold'em, you get an Ace, Ace, Ace, King, King. This is the best hand and the strongest you get in a 5 cards full house. If the player has King, King, King, Queen, Queen, and the opponent has a Queen, Queen, Queen, Ace, and Ace, the player is the winner even if the opponent has a pair of Aces. This is because the player with the highest three of a kind is the winner.
Other Hands Beats a Full House?
As mentioned, the full house ranks among the best hands in any poker game. This means that it is stronger and rewards better payouts. Therefore, these are the hands available below the full house:
Royal Flush: This hand is formed by an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten of the same kind.
Other Straight Flush Hands: Getting five consecutive hands of the same kind.
Conclusion
With a full house, you stand a better chance of winning several poker games. Nevertheless, you must not forget that there are two stronger hands you can benefit from. You can master how to play the full house hand by practicing free poker at licensed and reputable US online casinos.
