Talk:Hand ranking

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I am unsure about a statement made in this article about 3 of a kind. The article talks about breaking a tie between two players who each have 3 of a kind. Specifically it talks about how to break a tiw between two players who have the same 3 of a kind. The example that it gives is both players having three 8s. My question is: How is this possible? Shouldn't there only be four 8s in a deck? But, if each player has three 8s, that would mean that there are six 8s in the deck. If there was to be a tie between two players who each had the same 3 of a kind, that would mean that there would be six of the card in question (ex. six 8s, or six Jacks, etc).

Is the article talking about games in which more than one deck is used? i guess it's possible for two players to be tied with the same 3 of a kind in that situation. But can poker be played with more than one deck? I'm not sure. If I'm missing something, then please ignore my post and attribute my ignorance to the fact that I'm new to poker. If not, it would seem that this article should be edited.

P.S. The point about full houses seems to have the same problem. How can there be a tie between full houses? That would mean that there are six cards of a certain kind in the deck.

Thanks for commenting! I guess looked at in that way, it can seem confusing. And, indeed, if we were playing Five-card draw, then your observation is exactly correct: such ties could never happen (I am unaware of any form of poker which uses more than one deck).

However, five-card draw is almost never played anymore; instead, nearly all poker played in casinos or home games today is one of the forms of Texas hold 'em. In this variant of poker, players not only hold a pair of unique cards, but there are a set of five community cards laid out on the table which all players are allowed to use, simultaneously. This is how ties can happen: since all players can use those cards, it is easy to get ties to varying degrees of detail.

On occasion, it is even possible that all players in a hand have the same hand, if the best five cards possible are in the community cards. For example, in Hold 'Em, if the community cards contain 10 - J - Q - K - A and no more than two cards of any one suit, then all players have an Ace-high straight, and no player can possibly have any better hand.

To address the example you mention, if the three eights appeared in the community cards, then all players have the same three of a kind. But a player who holds an Ace-King in their personal downcards has the best kicker, and hence has a higher hand than a player with only Queen-Jack in their downcards. Assuming that no Jack or Queen appears on the board, of course, which would give the player with Q-J a full house.

Did that make it clear?

MarkT 06:36, 7 May 2009 (UTC)