Flush
A flush is five cards of the same suit in any order. It beats a straight and loses to a full house, and flushes are compared by their highest card.
A flush is any five cards of the same suit, in any order, such as K♦ J♦ 8♦ 4♦ 2♦. In the standard hand rankings, a flush beats a straight and three of a kind, and loses to a full house, four of a kind and a straight flush. If the five cards are also consecutive, the hand is a straight flush instead.
How a flush is made in Hold'em
Since you combine two hole cards with five community cards, a flush always needs at least three cards of one suit on the board. You can make it in three ways:
- Using both hole cards, with three of the suit on the board.
- Using one hole card, with four of the suit on the board.
- Using no hole cards, when all five board cards share a suit. Everyone still in the hand has that flush unless they hold a higher card of the suit.
Comparing two flushes
Suits are never ranked. Two flushes are compared by their highest card; if that ties, by the second highest, and so on through all five cards. If every card matches in rank, the pot is split.
Example: the board is A♥ 9♥ 5♥ 2♠ 7♦. You hold K♥ 4♥ and your opponent holds Q♥ J♥. Your flush is A-K-9-5-4; theirs is A-Q-J-9-5. Both start with the board's ace, then your king beats their queen, so you win. A straight is possible on this board, for example with 8-6, but a flush beats a straight. Because the board is unpaired, no full house is possible either, so only a higher flush could beat you.
Flush odds
- With a flush draw on the flop (four of a suit), you have 9 outs and complete the flush by the river about 35% of the time.
- With one card to come, the same draw hits about 19.6% of the time.
- Holding two suited cards, you flop a made flush only about 0.8% of the time.
Playing flushes well
- Know if you hold the nut flush. On a board with three spades and no pair, A♠ with any other spade is the nuts unless a straight flush is possible. A low flush like 6♠ 3♠ can lose to a bigger one.
- Respect four-flush boards. When the board shows four hearts, any single heart makes a flush. A hand like 8♥ is only as good as the hearts your opponents could hold.
- Watch the board pair. A paired board makes full houses possible, so a flush can become a bluff-catcher.
- Bet for value. A made flush on the turn is often strong enough to build the pot before a scary river card stops the action.
Frequently asked questions
Does a flush beat a straight?
Yes. A flush ranks higher than a straight because it is rarer.
What happens if two players have a flush?
The flush with the highest card wins. If the highest cards match, compare the next highest, and so on; identical flushes split the pot.
Can the board make a flush for everyone?
Yes. If all five community cards share a suit, everyone has that flush, and only a higher card of that suit improves it.
Related poker terms
- Suit — A suit is one of the four card groups in a deck: spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. In Texas Hold'em suits are never ranked; they only matter for flushes.
- Flush Draw — A flush draw is four cards of one suit needing one more to make a flush. It has 9 outs: about 35% to hit by the river from the flop.
- Straight — A straight is five cards in consecutive rank of mixed suits, such as 9-8-7-6-5. It beats three of a kind and loses to a flush.
- Full House — A full house is three cards of one rank plus two of another, such as 8-8-8-K-K. It beats a flush and loses to four of a kind.
- The Nuts — The nuts is the best possible hand given the community cards at that moment. Holding the nuts means no other hand can beat you, though ties are possible.
- Hand Rankings — Poker hand rankings list the ten five-card hands from royal flush down to high card. A rarer hand always beats a more common one.