Poker Suit Precedence

This page describes the ranking of poker hands. This applies not only in the game of poker itself, but also in certain other card games such as Chinese Poker, Chicago, Poker Menteur and Pai Gow Poker.

• Low Poker Ranking: A-5, 2-7, A-6
• Hand probabilities and multiple decks - probability tables

Standard Poker Hand Ranking

About a month after beating a $30 million civil lawsuit filed by 90 fellow poker players that accused him of cheating during a live-streamed game at a Sacramento casino in 2019, Mike Postle has gone all-in with a defamation suit seeking $330 million in damages from a dozen named defendants. The texas holdem hands described below can be rated in order connected with precedence like found in most poker games, via best to worst. Typically the top shown, the Noble Flush, the greatest hand and one which is not usually seen because of typically the extremely small probability regarding having the right cards in the right pattern. A commercially available five-suit poker (65-card) deck is Stardeck, introduced in 1938, which introduces stars as a fifth suit. In the Stardeck cards, the fifth suit is colored a mixture of black and red. This fifth suit can be counted as either a Red or a Black suit dependent upon the game being played.

There are 52 cards in the pack, and the ranking of the individual cards, from high to low, is ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. In standard poker - that is to say in the formal casino and tournament game played internationally and the home game as normally played in North America - there is no ranking between the suits for the purpose of comparing hands - so for example the king of hearts and the king of spades are equal. (Note however that suit ranking is sometimes used for other purposes such as allocating seats, deciding who bets first, and allocating the odd chip when splitting a pot that can't be equally divided. See ranking of suits for details.)

A poker hand consists of five cards. The categories of hand, from highest to lowest, are listed below. Any hand in a higher category beats any hand in a lower category (so for example any three of a kind beats any two pairs). Between hands in the same category the rank of the individual cards decides which is better, as described in more detail below.

In games where a player has more than five cards and selects five to form a poker hand, the remaining cards do not play any part in the ranking. Poker ranks are always based on five cards only, and if these cards are equal the hands are equal, irrespective of the ranks of any unused cards.

Some readers may wonder why one would ever need to compare (say) two threes of a kind of equal rank. This obviously cannot arise in basic draw poker, but such comparisons are needed in poker games using shared (community) cards, such as Texas Hold'em, in poker games with wild cards, and in other card games using poker combinations.

1. Straight Flush

If there are no wild cards, this is the highest type of poker hand: five cards of the same suit in sequence - such as J-10-9-8-7. Between two straight flushes, the one containing the higher top card is higher. An ace can be counted as low, so 5-4-3-2-A is a straight flush, but its top card is the five, not the ace, so it is the lowest type of straight flush. The highest type of straight flush, A-K-Q-J-10 of a suit, is known as a Royal Flush. The cards in a straight flush cannot 'turn the corner': 4-3-2-A-K is not valid.

2. Four of a kind

Four cards of the same rank - such as four queens. The fifth card, known as the kicker, can be anything. This combination is sometimes known as 'quads', and in some parts of Europe it is called a 'poker', though this term for it is unknown in English. Between two fours of a kind, the one with the higher set of four cards is higher - so 3-3-3-3-A is beaten by 4-4-4-4-2. If two or more players have four of a kind of the same rank, the rank of the kicker decides. For example in Texas Hold'em with J-J-J-J-9 on the table (available to all players), a player holding K-7 beats a player holding Q-10 since the king beats the queen. If one player holds 8-2 and another holds 6-5 they split the pot, since the 9 kicker makes the best hand for both of them. If one player holds A-2 and another holds A-K they also split the pot because both have an ace kicker.

3. Full House

This combination, sometimes known as a boat, consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank - for example three sevens and two tens (colloquially known as 'sevens full of tens' or 'sevens on tens'). When comparing full houses, the rank of the three cards determines which is higher. For example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-A-A. If the threes of a kind are equal, the rank of the pairs decides.

4. Flush

Five cards of the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the highest card determines which is higher. If the highest cards are equal then the second highest card is compared; if those are equal too, then the third highest card, and so on. For example K-J-9-3-2 beats K-J-7-6-5 because the nine beats the seven.If all five cards are equal, the flushes are equal.

5. Straight

Five cards of mixed suits in sequence - for example Q-J-10-9-8. When comparing two sequences, the one with the higher ranking top card is better. Ace can count high or low in a straight, but not both at once, so A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights, but 2-A-K-Q-J is not. 5-4-3-2-A, known as a wheel, is the lowest kind of straight, the top card being the five.

6. Three of a Kind

Three cards of the same rank plus two unequal cards. This combination is also known as Triplets or Trips. When comparing two threes of a kind the rank of the three equal cards determines which is higher. If the sets of three are of equal rank, then the higher of the two remaining cards in each hand are compared, and if those are equal, the lower odd card is compared.So for example 5-5-5-3-2 beats 4-4-4-K-5, which beats 4-4-4-Q-9, which beats 4-4-4-Q-8.

7. Two Pairs

A pair consists of two cards of equal rank. In a hand with two pairs, the two pairs are of different ranks (otherwise you would have four of a kind), and there is an odd card to make the hand up to five cards. When comparing hands with two pairs, the hand with the highest pair wins, irrespective of the rank of the other cards - so J-J-2-2-4 beats 10-10-9-9-8 because the jacks beat the tens. If the higher pairs are equal, the lower pairs are compared, so that for example 8-8-6-6-3 beats 8-8-5-5-K. Finally, if both pairs are the same, the odd cards are compared, so Q-Q-5-5-8 beats Q-Q-5-5-4.

8. Pair

A hand with two cards of equal rank and three cards which are different from these and from each other. When comparing two such hands, the hand with the higher pair is better - so for example 6-6-4-3-2 beats 5-5-A-K-Q. If the pairs are equal, compare the highest ranking odd cards from each hand; if these are equal compare the second highest odd card, and if these are equal too compare the lowest odd cards. So J-J-A-9-3 beats J-J-A-8-7 because the 9 beats the 8.

9. Nothing

Five cards which do not form any of the combinations listed above. This combination is often called High Card and sometimes No Pair. The cards must all be of different ranks, not consecutive, and contain at least two different suits. When comparing two such hands, the one with the better highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal the second cards are compared; if they are equal too the third cards are compared, and so on. So A-J-9-5-3 beats A-10-9-6-4 because the jack beats the ten.

Hand Ranking in Low Poker

There are several poker variations in which the lowest hand wins: these are sometimes known as Lowball. There are also 'high-low' variants in which the pot is split between the highest and the lowest hand. A low hand with no combination is normally described by naming its highest card - for example 8-6-5-4-2 would be described as '8-down' or '8-low'.

It first sight it might be assumed that in low poker the hands rank in the reverse order to their ranking in normal (high) poker, but this is not quite the case. There are several different ways to rank low hands, depending on how aces are treated and whether straights and flushes are counted.

Ace to Five

This seems to be the most popular system. Straights and flushes do not count, and Aces are always low. The best hand is therefore 5-4-3-2-A, even if the cards are all in one suit. Then comes 6-4-3-2-A, 6-5-3-2-A, 6-5-4-2-A, 6-5-4-3-A, 6-5-4-3-2, 7-4-3-2-A and so on. Note that when comparing hands, the highest card is compared first, just as in standard poker. So for example 6-5-4-3-2 is better than 7-4-3-2-A because the 6 is lower than the 7. The best hand containing a pair is A-A-4-3-2. This version is sometimes called 'California Lowball'.

When this form of low poker is played as part of a high-low split variant, there is sometimes a condition that a hand must be 'eight or better' to qualify to win the low part of the pot. In this case a hand must consist of five unequal cards, all 8 or lower, to qualify for low. The worst such hand is 8-7-6-5-4.

Deuce to Seven

The hands rank in almost the same order as in standard poker, with straights and flushes counting and the lowest hand wins. The difference from normal poker is that Aces are always high , so that A-2-3-4-5 is not a straight, but ranks between K-Q-J-10-8 and A-6-4-3-2. The best hand in this form is 7-5-4-3-2 in mixed suits, hence the name 'deuce to seven'. The next best is 7-6-4-3-2, then 7-6-5-3-2, 7-6-5-4-2, 8-5-4-3-2, 8-6-4-3-2, 8-6-5-3-2, 8-6-5-4-2, 8-6-5-4-3, 8-7-4-3-2, etc. The highest card is always compared first, so for example 8-6-5-4-3 is better than 8-7-4-3-2 even though the latter contains a 2, because the 6 is lower than the 7. The best hand containing a pair is 2-2-5-4-3, but this would be beaten by A-K-Q-J-9 - the worst 'high card' hand. This version is sometimes called 'Kansas City Lowball'.

Ace to Six

Many home poker players play that straights and flushes count, but that aces can be counted as low. In this version 5-4-3-2-A is a bad hand because it is a straight, so the best low hand is 6-4-3-2-A. There are a couple of issues around the treatment of aces in this variant.

• First, what about A-K-Q-J-10? Since aces are low, this should not count as a straight. It is a king-down, and is lower and therefore better than K-Q-J-10-2.
• Second, a pair of aces is the lowest and therefore the best pair, beating a pair of twos.

It is likely that some players would disagree with both the above rulings, preferring to count A-K-Q-J-10 as a straight and in some cases considering A-A to be the highest pair rather than the lowest. It would be wise to check that you agree on these details before playing ace-to-six low poker with unfamiliar opponents.

Selecting from more than five cards

Note that in games where more than five cards are available, the player is free to select whichever cards make the lowest hand. For example a player in Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better whose cards are 10-8-6-6-3-2-A can omit the 10 and one of the 6's to create a qualifying hand for low.

Poker Hand Ranking with Wild Cards

A wild card card that can be used to substitute for a card that the holder needs to make up a hand. In some variants one or more jokers are added to the pack to act as wild cards. In others, one or more cards of the 52-card pack may be designated as wild - for example all the twos ('deuces wild') or the jacks of hearts and spades ('one-eyed jacks wild', since these are the only two jacks shown in profile in Anglo-American decks).

The most usual rule is that a wild card can be used either

1. to represent any card not already present in the hand, or
2. to make the special combination of 'five of a kind'.

This approach is not entirely consistent, since five of a kind - five cards of equal rank - must necessarily include one duplicate card, since there are only four suits. The only practical effect of the rule against duplicates is to prevent the formation of a 'double ace flush'. So for example in the hand A-9-8-5-joker, the joker counts as a K, not a second ace, and this hand is therefore beaten by A-K-10-4-3, the 10 beating the 9.

Five of a Kind

When playing with wild cards, five of a kind becomes the highest type of hand, beating a royal flush. Between fives of a kind, the higher beats the lower, five aces being highest of all.

The Bug

Some games, especially five card draw, are often played with a bug. This is a joker added to the pack which acts as a limited wild card. It can either be used as an ace, or to complete a straight or a flush. Thus the highest hand is five aces (A-A-A-A-joker), but other fives of a kind are impossible - for example 6-6-6-6-joker would count as four sixes with an ace kicker and a straight flush would beat this hand. Also a hand like 8-8-5-5-joker counts as two pairs with the joker representing an ace, not as a full house.

Wild Cards in Low Poker

In Low Poker, a wild card can be used to represent a card of a rank not already present in the player's hand. It is then sometimes known as a 'fitter'. For example 6-5-4-2-joker would count as a pair of sixes in normal poker with the joker wild, but in ace-to-five low poker the joker could be used as an ace, and in deuce-to-seven low poker it could be used as a seven to complete a low hand.

Lowest Card Wild

Some home poker variants are played with the player's lowest card (or lowest concealed card) wild. In this case the rule applies to the lowest ranked card held at the time of the showdown, using the normal order ace (high) to two (low). Aces cannot be counted as low to make them wild.

Double Ace Flush

Some people play with the house rule that a wild card can represent any card, including a duplicate of a card already held. It then becomes possible to have a flush containing two or more aces. Flushes with more than one ace are not allowed unless specifically agreed as a house rule.

Natural versus Wild

Some play with the house rule that a natural hand beats an equal hand in which one or more of the cards are represented by wild cards. This can be extended to specify that a hand with more wild cards beats an otherwise equal hand with fewer wild cards. This must be agreed in advance: in the absence of any agreement, wild cards are as good as the natural cards they represent.

Incomplete Hands

In some poker variants, such as No Peek, it is necessary to compare hands that have fewer than five cards. With fewer than five cards, you cannot have a straight, flush or full house. You can make a four of a kind or two pairs with only four cards, triplets with three cards, a pair with two cards and a 'high card' hand with just one card.

The process of comparing first the combination and then the kickers in descending order is the same as when comparing five-card hands. In hands with unequal numbers of cards any kicker that is present in the hand beats a missing kicker. So for example 8-8-K beats 8-8-6-2 because the king beats the 6, but 8-8-6-2 beats 8-8-6 because a 2 is better than a missing fourth card. Similarly a 10 by itself beats 9-5, which beats 9-3-2, which beats 9-3, which beats a 9 by itself.

Ranking of suits

In standard poker there is no ranking of suits for the purpose of comparing hands. If two hands are identical apart from the suits of the cards then they count as equal. In standard poker, if there are two highest equal hands in a showdown, the pot is split between them. Standard poker rules do, however, specify a hierarchy of suits: spades (highest), hearts, diamonds, clubs (lowest) (as in Contract Bridge), which is used to break ties for special purposes such as:

• drawing cards to allocate players to seats or tables;
• deciding who bets first in stud poker according to the highest or lowest upcard;
• allocating a chip that is left over when a pot cannot be shared exactly between two or more players.

I have, however, heard from several home poker players who play by house rules that use this same ranking of suits to break ties between otherwise equal hands. For some reason, players most often think of this as a way to break ties between royal flushes, which would be most relevant in a game with many wild cards, where such hands might become commonplace. However, if you want to introduce a suit ranking it is important also to agree how it will apply to other, lower types of hand. If one player A has 8-8-J-9-3 and player B has 8-8-J-9-3, who will win? Does player A win by having the highest card within the pair of eights, or does player B win because her highest single card, the jack, is in a higher suit? What about K-Q-7-6-2 against K-Q-7-6-2 ? So far as I know there is no universally accepted answer to these questions: this is non-standard poker, and your house rules are whatever you agree that they are. Three different rules that I have come across, when hands are equal apart from suit are:

1. Compare the suit of the highest card in the hand.
2. Compare the suit of the highest paired card - for example if two people have J-J-7-7-K the highest jack wins.
3. Compare the suit of the highest unpaired card - for example if two people have K-K-7-5-4 compare the 7's.

Although the order spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs may seem natural to Bridge players and English speakers, other suit orders are common, especially in some European countries. Up to now, I have come across:

• spades (high), hearts, clubs, diamonds (low)
• spades (high), diamonds, clubs, hearts (low)
• hearts (high), spades, diamonds, clubs (low) (in Greece and in Turkey)
• hearts (high), diamonds, spades, clubs (low) (in Austria and in Sweden)
• hearts (high), diamonds, clubs, spades (low) (in Italy)
• diamonds (high), spades, hearts, clubs (low) (in Brazil)
• diamonds (high), hearts, spades, clubs (low) (in Brazil)
• clubs (high), spades, hearts, diamonds (low) (in Germany)

As with all house rules, it would be wise to make sure you have a common understanding before starting to play, especially when the group contains people with whom you have not played before.

Stripped Decks

In some places, especially in continental Europe, poker is sometimes played with a deck of less than 52 cards, the low cards being omitted. Italian Poker is an example. As the pack is reduced, a Flush becomes more difficult to make, and for this reason a Flush is sometimes ranked above a Full House in such games. In a stripped deck game, the ace is considered to be adjacent to the lowest card present in the deck, so for example when using a 36-card deck with 6's low, A-6-7-8-9 is a low straight.

Playing poker with fewer than 52 cards is not a new idea. In the first half of the 19th century, the earliest form of poker was played with just 20 cards - the ace, king, queen, jack and ten of each suit - with five cards dealt to each of four players. The only hand types recognised were, in descending order, four of a kind, full house, three of a kind, two pairs, one pair, no pair.

No Unbeatable Hand

In standard poker a Royal Flush (A-K-Q-J-10 of one suit) cannot be beaten. Even if you introduce suit ranking, the Royal Flush in the highest suit is unbeatable. In some regions, it is considered unsatisfactory to have any hand that is guaranteed to be unbeaten - there should always be a risk. There are several solutions to this.

In Italy this is achieved by the rule 'La minima batte la massima, la massima batte la media e la media batte la minima' ('the minimum beats the maximum, the maximum beats the medium and the medium beats the minimum'). A minimum straight flush is the lowest that can be made with the deck in use. Normally they play with a stripped deck so for example with 40 cards the minimum straight flush would be A-5-6-7-8 of a suit. A maximum straight flush is 10-J-Q-K-A of a suit. All other straight flushes are medium. If two players have medium straight flushes then the one with higher ranked cards wins as usual. Also as usual a maximum straight flush beats a medium one, and a medium straight flush beats a minimum one. But if a minimum straight flush comes up against a maximum straight flush, the minimum beats the maximum. In the very rare case where three players hold a straight flush, one minimum, one medium and one maximum, the pot is split between them. See for example Italian Poker.

In Greece, where hearts is the highest suit, A-K-Q-J-10 is called an Imperial Flush, and it is beaten only by four of a kind of the lowest rank in the deck - for example 6-6-6-6 if playing with 36 cards. Again, in very rare cases there could also be a hand in the showdown that beats the four of a kind but is lower than the Imperial Flush, in which case the pot would be split.

Hand probabilities and multiple decks

The ranking order of poker hands corresponds to their probability of occurring in straight poker, where five cards are dealt from a 52-card deck, with no wild cards and no opportunity to use extra cards to improve a hand. The rarer a hand the higher it ranks.

This is neither an essential nor an original feature of poker, and it ceases to be true when wild cards are introduced. In fact, with a large number of wild cards, it is almost inevitable that the higher hand types will be the commoner, not rarer, since wild cards will be used to help make the most valuable type of hand from the available cards.

Mark Brader has provided probability tables showing the frequency of each poker hand type when five cards are dealt from a 52-card deck, and also showing how these probabilities would change if multiple decks were used.

升级 is a family of trick-taking card games popular in China. It's also known as tractor (拖拉机), 40 points (四十分), 80 points (八十分), playing for 100 points (打百分), finding friends (找朋友), among others. You can play online here.

This online 升级 and 找朋友 implementation uses a fairly standard rule set. There are a wide variety of house rules that aren't implemented; but could be -- feel free to propose new functionality on GitHub.

Deck

There are 54 cards per deck (13 cards per suit, plus a small joker and a big joker). Aces (A) are treated as higher-valued than Kings (K). Usually, a deck is added for every two players in the game (so 4 players and 5 players play with 2 decks, but 6 players play with 3).

Kings, tens, and fives are valuable cards and have point values. Kings and tens are worth ten points each. Fives are worth five points each.

The two jokers are ordered, with the uncolored joker having a lower value than the colored joker.

Scoring

Scoring in each round of the game is determined by 'point' cards. Only fives, tens, and kings have points— all other cards do not count for scoring. Point scores are pooled within a team.

Each deck has a total of 100 points (25 per suit). However, as cards of the trump rank are part of the trump suit, the trump suit will have a disproportionately large number of points when the trump rank is 5, 10, or K.

Player ranks

Each player in the game has a rank, starting at 2 and going to A. If they win rounds, their rank may increase. The rank of the leading player for a round determines the trump rank for that round.

The game ends when a player successfully defends a round at the A rank.

Trumps and Suits

In each round, there is a trump specification which determines what cards are part of the trump suit. The trump specification always includes a trump rank, but doesn't necessarily include a specific suit. Jokers are always a part of the trump suit.

Trump with a specified suit

For example, if the trump rank is 4 and the specified suit is spades (♤), the trump suit consists of all 4s, all jokers, and all spades. A card can only be a part of one suit, so the 4♡ is no longer considered to be a members of the hearts (♡) suit.

In all suits, the 3 and the 5 are now considered to be adjacent.

The order of the trump suit is as follows (highest to lowest):

• All jokers, in their normal order
• Cards of the trump rank in the specified suit
• Cards of the trump rank, but not of the specified suit. Note: these are considered to have equal value to one another
• All non-trump-rank numbered cards of the specified suit, in their normal order

In the case of the trump specification of 4♤, the ordering from highest to lowest is big joker > small joker > 4♤ > [ 4♡ = 4♢ = 4♧ ] > A♤ > K♤ > Q♤ > J♤ > 10♤ > 9♤ > 8♤ > 7♤ > 6♤ > 5♤ > 3♤ > 2♤.

Trump with no specified suit

If only a trump rank is specified (and no suit), the only trumps are cards of the trump rank, and jokers. This is referred to as 'no trump', and there are five distinct suits (as opposed to the usual four).

In all suits, the 3 and the 5 are now considered to be adjacent.

The order of the trump suit is as follows:

• Cards of the trump rank. Note: these are considered to have equal value to one another
• All jokers, in their normal order

In the case of the trump specification of 4NT, the ordering from highest to lowest is big joker > small joker > [ 4♤ = 4♡ = 4♢ = 4♧ ].

Teams

There are two fundamental teams in the game: one team is trying to acquire points, while the other team is trying to discard them. Colloquially, the team trying to acquiring points is 'attacking', and the other team is 'defending'.

The defending team is determined by a designated leader of the team (当庄). In 升级, the teams are fixed and the leader rotates among the winning team. In 找朋友, the leader rotates among the team that won the previous round, but the teams are fluid and change from round-to-round.

The leader (whomever is 当庄) of the team gets an additional advantage at the beginning of the game: they can see the extra 'bottom cards' (底牌) and exchange them for cards in their hand. Otherwise, all players are the same, and teams only matter for scoring.

Gameplay

Bidding for trump

The game begins by players drawing cards one at a time. Like most Chinese card games, cards are drawn in counter-clockwise order.

At any point, a player may 'bid' for the trump by showing valid bids out of their hand. The highest bid determines the trump specification for the game. However, once a player has made a bid, they can only 'reinforce' it by adding more of the same card, or wait for another player to displace them as the highest bidder.

Valid bids must be made up of identical cards (i.e. same card-face). The bids can be either cards of the current trump rank or jokers. The current trump rank corresponds to the rank of the leader of the defending team. Each game starts with all players at rank 2. Joker bids represent 'no trump' bids. A single joker cannot be used as a bid.

Each bid made must be greater than all of the previous bids. This is determined first by the number of cards (more is higher), and then by card values (following the 'no trump' ordering of card values).

The final trump specification is determined by the winning bid. If the winning bid is made up of jokers, the trump specification is 'no trump'; otherwise, it is the suit of the winning bid. All cards in this suit and jokers are considered trumps..

Example with trump rank of 2:

Result: 2NT trump specification, player 1 wins the bid.

If this is the first round being played, the winner of the bid is also the leader of the defending team (当庄). Otherwise, the only consequence of the bidding process is setting the trump specification.

Exchanging cards with the bottom (底牌)

After the drawing phase is completed, 4 to 8 cards are left in the bottom of the draw pile and become the 底牌. For example, in a four-player game, there will be 8 cards left; in a five-player game, there will be 6. These cards are made available for the leader of the defending team (当庄) to pick up.

The leader may choose to swap some, all, or none of the cards in the bottom for cards in their hand. The number of cards in the bottom must remain constant.

There is a potential penalty for hiding points in the bottom, since other players can't see them. This is surfaced as a multiplier on the number of points left in the bottom, which are treated as if they are attached to the last trick in the game.

The multiplier can be generalized to arbitrarily large trick-formats. In the case of the last trick-format being a 'throw', or a set of the highest possible individual trick-formats, the length of the longest trick-format within the group should be used for the multiplier.

Declaring friends in 找朋友

In addition to exchanging cards with the bottom of the deck, in games of 找朋友, the leader also specifies which cards identify their 'friends' (i.e. members of the defending team). These must be committed to at the beginning of the game, and the leader is allowed to become their own friend (intentionally or unintentionally).

The number of friends is determined by the number of players— the defending team should never be larger than the attacking team.

A friend is declared as a combination of a specific card (suit/number) and an ordinal. For example, one could declare that the 'first person to play an A♤' is their friend. They could also declare that the third person to play the card is their friend.

Cards above the value of A cannot be declared as friends. That is, cards of the trump rank and jokers are not legal friend cards.

In many cases, this results in the leader and the other players not knowing who the friends are. Once a trick has been completed in which a person has played the friend card, they join the defending team and bring their points with them.

Playing tricks

Trick formats

All cards in a trick format must be in the same suit. Any winning play (whether it is setting the format or not) must be made up of a single suit; that suit will match either the initial format or be made up of trumps.

Poker Suit Precedence Rules

There are three basic trick formats in the game: single cards, identical cards, and sequences of identical cards. A set of the highest possible plays in a single suit can be played simultaneously as a 'throw', which makes it potentially harder to trump.

In general, players must attempt to match the format to the best of their ability using cards in the same suit. If the player has no remaining cards in the suit (i.e. they are void in the suit), there are no requirements on what cards they can play.

Single cards

Any single card can always lead a trick. Other players are required to play a card in the same suit if they have one; otherwise, any card can be played.

If a trump card is played, the highest trump card wins the trick. Otherwise, the highest card in the original suit wins the trick. If the same card is played by multiple players, the first one to play has precedence.

Example:

Player 3 wins this trick, because they played the highest card in the same suit (A♤) first.

Example 2:

Player 2 wins this trick, because they played the highest trump card (big joker). Note that Player 3 is also void in spades (♤), but did not play a trump card and so cannot win the trick.

Identical cards (doubles, triples, four-of-a-kind, ...)

Sets of identical cards can always lead a trick. Other players are obligated to match the set as best they can within the suit.

Note: cards of equal value are not necessarily identical; they have to have the exact same card face.

Examples:

For example, if the trick-format is triples, the ordering of required plays is:

1. Triples in the same suit (note: triples which are part of a four-of-a-kind or other type of play are not special or protected)
2. Doubles in the same suit, along with another card in the same suit
3. Three cards in the same suit
4. Two cards in the same suit, along with a card in any other suit
5. One card in the same suit, along with two cards in any other suit
6. Any three cards

Only plays which match the trick-format (either in the original suit, or in trump) are eligible to win the trick. As with the single-card format, the first player to play an identical play has precedence.

Example:

Player 4 wins this trick, because they played the highest pair in the same suit same suit (3♤3♤). Player 2 and Player 3 did not play a pair; therefore, they cannot win this trick, and (by inference) cannot have any spade pairs remaining in their hands.

Example 2:

Player 3 wins this trick, because they played a trump pair. Because both Player 2 and Player 3 played non-spade cards, they must be void in spades.

Tractors (consecutive groups of identical cards)

Poker Suit Precedence Meaning

Consecutive sequences of at least two identical cards of the same size and in the same suit are called tractors, and are a special play-type in and of themselves. They are parameterized by their length and the number of identical cards, both of which are at required to be at least two (the smallest tractor is four cards).

Examples:

Whether pairs are sequential depends on the current trump: since cards with the trump rank are some of the highest trumps, right below the jokers, their positioning in the overall order has changed.

Example of sequential pairs due to trump-number reordering:

Additionally, pairs of equal cards don't make tractors.

Tractors are relatively uncommon, and tend to win tricks. They are also strategically good, because matching the tractor format is at least as difficult as matching the equivalent number of identical cards.

For example, if the trick-format is tractors made up of three consecutive pairs, the ordering of required plays is:

1. Three consecutive pairs in the same suit
2. Two consecutive pairs in the same suit, along with another pair in the same suit
3. Three pairs in the same suit
4. Two consecutive pairs in the same suit, along with two other cards in the same suit
5. Two pairs in the same suit, along with two other cards in the same suit
6. One pair in the same suit, along with four other cards in the same suit
7. Six cards in the same suit
8. Five cards in the same suit, along with another card in any other suit
9. Four cards in the same suit, along with two cards in any other suit
10. Three cards in the same suit, along with three cards in any other suit
11. Two cards in the same suit, along with four cards in any other suit
12. One card in the same suit, along five cards in any other suit
13. Any six cards

Only plays which match the trick-format (either in the original suit, or in trump) are eligible to win the trick. As with the single-card and identical-card formats, the first player to play an identical play has precedence.

Example:

Player 1 wins this trick, because they are the only player to meet the format. Player 2 and Player 3 played non-consecutive pairs, while Player 4 played cards in a different suit. Since this trick is led with a tractor, all players had to play two pairs in spades if they had them.

Throws (sets of the highest possible individual trick-formats within a suit)

Any set of the highest possible trick-formats in a given suit can be played simultaneously as a 'throw'. It is expected that the player initiating a throw believes that their play is valid, i.e. that no other player can defeat any component of the throw using cards in the same suit.

Once a throw has been played, each player should (in counter-clockwise order) affirm that the throw is valid and that it cannot be defeated within the same suit. If the throw is determined to be invalid, the player which initiated the throw is obligated to lead with the component that can be defeated. In this implementation, no additional penalties are imposed on incorrect throws.

Other players are not obligated to ensure that their plays are the highest possible plays within their own suits, though they still need to match each component's trick-format as best they can within the suit.

Examples for two decks:

In cases of ambiguity between components (e.g. five-of-a-kind vs. tractor), the interpretation with the longest single component is chosen. If there are multiple ambiguous components of the same length, tractors are preferred over identical cards.

Example of a throw ambiguity:

The above play can be interpreted as either a tractor and a single card ([2♤2♤3♤3♤] + 2♤), or as a triple and a pair ([2♤2♤2♤] + [3♤3♤]). Since the former interpretation has a maximum component length of 4 cards, greater than the latter's 3 cards, we interpret this as a tractor and a single card. The 'full house' concept from poker does not exist in this game.

Only plays which match the trick-format (either in the original suit, or in trump) are eligible to win the trick. As with the other formats, the first player to play an identical play has precedence.

Note: in order to defeat a throw, every component of the throw must be individually defeated. Since a throw is only valid if it cannot be defeated within its own suit, this means that a throw can only be defeated by the same pattern of cards in the trump suit.

Example:

Player 1 wins this trick, because they are the only player to meet the format. Note: though there exists another pair of Q♤Q♤ played by Player 2, this is a valid throw because no player can show that they have K♤K♤ or A♤A♤, which are the only two higher pairs. Player 3 is particularly upset, here, because they had a tractor in spades, but it can't win in a trick with a two-pair-throw format. Since this trick is led with a throw of two pairs, all players had to play two pairs in spades if they had them.

Poker Suit Precedence Against

Example 2: trump is 2♢

Player 2 wins this trick (admittedly contrived): both Player 2 and Player 3 played trump cards in the appropriate format. However, though Player 3's pair of 4♢4♢ is higher than Player 2's 3♢3♢, their 6♢ is not higher than Player 2's 8♢, so Player 2 takes precedence.

Trick structure

In each trick, the first cards (also known as the lead cards) denote the format of the trick. Only plays which match the trick's format are eligible to win the trick.

Every player contributes the same number of cards to each trick. Therefore, every player runs out of cards at the same time.

Players are also obligated to match the trick format to the fullest extent possible: if they are able to match the format within trick's suit, they must play those cards. If they can't match the format but can match a looser variant of the format (e.g. they have a pair in the suit, but the format requires a triple), they are also obligated to play those cards.

This implies that a player can only play cards of a different suit than the leading play in a trick if they have no cards in that suit (i.e. they are void in the suit).

The winner of the current trick will play the first cards (and set the trick format) for the next trick.

Winning the round and leveling up

Poker Suit Precedence Definition

The winning team for each round is determined by the number of points the opposing team earned from tricks. If the opposing team won the last trick, the cards hidden in the bottom are revealed. The point value of any valuable cards at the bottom are multiplied by twice the number of cards in the largest component of the last trick's format and awarded to the opposing team.

There are five possible outcomes depending on the number of decks, as detailed in the following table:

The winning team becomes the defending team in the next round, and the next person counter-clockwise from the current leader is the leader for the next round.

The winner of the game is the person who gets to the highest possible rank and successfully defends it first. In this implementation, this is A.