A straight is five consecutive ranks, such as 5-6-7-8-9. Its strength is the top card of that five-card run. An ace can be low in A-2-3-4-5 or high in 10-J-Q-K-A, but it cannot connect ranks around the corner.
Where straight ranks
A straight beats three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card. It loses to a flush and every stronger category. Five consecutive cards all in the same suit are a straight flush instead. Use the complete hand-ranking chart to compare different categories.
A five-card example and how to compare it
5♣ 6♦ 7♥ 8♠ 9♣
A five-high wheel loses to 2-3-4-5-6. A nine-high straight ties another nine-high straight even if one player also holds an ace. All five places are already used by the sequence, so there is no kicker. With six consecutive ranks available, take the highest five, not the first sequence you notice.
Test a Texas Hold'em showdown
You and one opponent have reached showdown on this board. Decide whether you win, lose or split, and name your best five cards before revealing the answer.
| Cards | Holding |
|---|---|
| Shared board | 5♣ 6♦ 7♥ 8♠ K♦ |
| Your hole cards | 9♣ 2♥ |
| Opponent's hole cards | A♣ 9♦ |
Reveal the comparison
You split the pot. Both players use 5-6-7-8-9. Your opponent's ace is a sixth card and cannot break the tie. Suits do not give either nine-high straight an advantage.
Your best five: 5♣ 6♦ 7♥ 8♠ 9♣
Open-ended, gutshot and backdoor draws
With 8-7 in the hole on 6-5-K, a 4 or 9 completes a straight on the next card: eight cards before accounting for other known cards. With 8-7 on 5-4-K, only a 6 completes a straight immediately: four cards. A backdoor straight needs both remaining community cards and cannot be treated as an ordinary one-card out. A card that completes your straight may also complete an opponent's flush.
Common mistakes with straight
- Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.
- Duplicate ranks do not fill missing ranks in a run.
- A straight on the board is shared unless a player can make a higher straight or another stronger hand.
How often does straight occur in five cards?
Exactly this category occurs in 10,200 of 2,598,960 random five-card hands (0.392465%). There are ten rank sequences. Each rank can have one of four suits, giving 10 × 4⁵ possibilities. Remove the four same-suit versions of each sequence: 10 × (4⁵ − 4) = 10,200 ordinary straights.
This model uses a standard 52-card deck, no wild cards and no known cards. It is not the chance of your best five from seven at a Hold'em river, or your chance of beating the other player. The five-card probability explorer compares categories under the same assumptions.
What to practise next
Continue with the outs calculator for straight draws. At the play-chip training table, name the five cards you use before reading the showdown result. A hand's category alone does not tell you whether to call a bet; pot odds and equity address that separate question.
Rules checked against PokerStars' standard hand rankings. Counts checked against University of Hawaii's five-card calculations (2 January 2005 edition). Original examples are checked with the Hold'em Sim evaluator; counts are re-derived using combinations. AI-assisted text and checks reviewed 30 October 2026.