Full House in Poker
Poker players around the world enjoy various poker variants in both casinos and online poker rooms. Hand rankings determine the strength of a poker hand, and the Full House is one of the strongest hands in the game. Referred to as a full hand, a full boat, or simply a boat, a Full House in poker ranks only below the Royal Flush, Straight Flush, and Four of a Kind.
What is a Full House Poker Hand?
Essentially, a Full House is a combination of a Pair and a Three-of-a-Kind. It consists of three cards of the same rank and two cards of a different rank.
For example, A♠ A♥ A♣ 9♦ 9♣ is a full house poker hand known as “aces full of nines” or simply “aces full”. Similarly, a full house with three nines and two aces will be known as “nines full of aces”.
Every full house ranks based on the rank of its triplet first, followed by the rank of its pair. Therefore, when comparing two or more full house hand rankings, the hand with a higher three-of-a-kind ranking wins.
For instance, between 8♠ 8♦ 8♥ 7♦ 7♣ and 4♦ 4♠ 4♣ 9♦ 9♣, the former hand will win. However, if two or more full house hands only differ by suit, such as K♣ K♠ K♦ J♣ J♠ and K♣ K♥ K♦ J♣ J♥, both hands are of equal rank. The full house poker hand is stronger than a flush but weaker than a four-of-a-kind and a straight flush.
Full House Poker Rules
As mentioned earlier, a full house is a combination of a three-of-a-kind hand and a pair. In the poker hand rankings chart, the full house hand ranks fourth. Here are some of the main full house poker rules you must know:
- On the poker hand rankings chart, a full house hand ranks higher than a flush but is weaker than a Royal Flush, Straight Flush, and Four-of-a-kind.
- An aces full hand beats kings full or queens full hand in a full house.
- If two players make full houses at the same time, the player with a higher full house poker hand wins, based on the rank of the first three cards of the same rank (triplets) in the hand. For instance, between two full house hands consisting of K♥K♠K♣5♣5♥ and Q♥Q♠Q♣A♣A♥, the former one will rank higher despite the queens full hand having a pair of aces.
- If both players hold a full house with cards of the same rank that only differ by suit, the pot is split between the players. For example, one player has K♣ K♠ K♦ J♣ J♠ and the other player has K♣ K♥ K♦ J♣ J♥, and both are declared winners.
- If both players hold the same three-of-a-kind in their full house hand, the pair decides the winning hand. For instance, if one player has K♥K♠K♣8♣8♥ and the other player has K♥K♠K♣6♣6♥, the player with the 8s will be the winner.
Full House Poker Probability
A full house can be made in 3,744 possible ways when playing the Texas Hold’em poker variant. There is a 2.60% chance of making a full house in poker with all the community cards on the board. Similarly, the probability of making a straight is 4.62%, and making a flush is 3.03% with five community cards on the board. The chance of making a full house in poker makes it a strong hand that beats most hands on the table.
Here are all the probabilities to make a full house hand in Texas Hold’em and Omaha Poker at pre-flop, flop, turn, and river betting rounds:
Hold’em Probabilities:
| Betting Round | Probability | Basis |
| — | — | — |
| Pre-flop | 0.14% | 5 cards drawn randomly from a standard deck |
| Flop | 0.09% | While holding a three-of-a-kind with a pocket pair |
| Turn | 12.77% | From a set on the flop |
| River | 19.57% | From a set on the turn |
Omaha Probabilities:
| Betting Round | Probability | Basis |
| — | — | — |
| Pre-flop | 0.14% | 5 cards drawn randomly from a standard deck |
| Flop | 0.65% | While holding a three-of-a-kind |
| Turn | 13.33% | While holding a three-of-a-kind |
| River | 20.45% | While holding a three-of-a-kind |
Full House vs. Straight Poker
In Texas Hold’em and other poker variants that use the standard poker hand rankings, a full house is one of the top four strong hands on the list. While a straight is also a strong hand, a full house always beats a straight as it occurs less frequently and is higher in hand rankings.
There are 3,744 ways to make a full house in poker, while there are 10,200 possible ways to make a straight using a standard deck of 52 cards. The probability of making a full house compared to a straight is what makes a full house rank higher on the chart.
Poker Hands from Best to Worst
The poker hands from best to worst are listed below. Remember the sequences to know what hand you have and what kind of bets you’ll be able to make with it.
- Royal Flush: Where A, K, Q, J, 10 are of the same suit.
- Straight Flush: Five cards of the same type, in sequence.
- Four of a Kind: All four cards are of the same rank.
- Full House: A full house is when you have three of a kind with a pair.
- Flush: Any five cards of the same suit, but not in a sequence.
- Straight: 5 cards not in the same suit, but in a sequence.
- Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank.
- Two Pair: Two different pairs, not necessarily of the same sequence.
- One Pair: Two cards of the same rank, not necessarily of the same suit.
- High Card: When you have none of the above hands, it is a high card. You can only play the highest-ranking card.
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