You’re sitting at a home game, the pot is bloated, and your heart is hammering against your ribs because you just hit a heart on the river to complete your flush. Then the guy across the table flips over a seven-high straight and starts reaching for the chips. You stop him. He looks confused. He thinks five cards in a row is harder to get than five cards of the same suit. He’s wrong. Is a flush higher than a straight? Yes. Every single time. In standard Texas Hold'em, Omaha, and Seven-Card Stud, the flush sits comfortably above the straight on the hierarchy of winning hands. It’s one of those fundamental rules that feels counterintuitive to beginners until you actually look at the cold, hard numbers.
Poker isn't about what looks "cooler" or what seems more organized. It's about math. Pure, unforgiving probability.
The fundamental math of why a flush beats a straight
Why does the flush win? It comes down to the frequency of occurrence. In a standard 52-card deck, there are 5,108 possible ways to flop or draw into a flush. Compare that to the 10,200 ways to make a straight. Basically, a straight is roughly twice as likely to happen as a flush. Because a flush is rarer, it earns a higher spot on the leaderboard. It's the scarcity principle in action.
If you’re playing Hold'em, you’re looking at seven total cards to make your best five-card hand. The probability of hitting a flush by the river is about 3%, whereas a straight lands around 4.6%. Those percentages might seem small, but over thousands of hands, that gap is a chasm. I’ve seen players lose thousands of dollars because they miscalculated their "outs" or, worse, didn't realize their nine-high flush crushed the opponent's "wheel" (an A-2-3-4-5 straight).
How the hands actually look
A straight is five cards in sequential order, like $8 \clubsuit - 9 \diamondsuit - 10 \heartsuit - J \spadesuit - Q \clubsuit$. The suits don't matter. You just need the numerical bridge.
A flush is five cards of the exact same suit, such as $2 \spadesuit - 5 \spadesuit - 9 \spadesuit - J \spadesuit - K \spadesuit$. The numbers don't have to be in order. They just have to share that same black spade or red diamond icon.
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Now, if you have both—five cards in a row and all the same suit—you’ve got a straight flush. That's the king of the mountain (unless someone has the Royal version). But in the vacuum of "one or the other," the flush takes the pot.
Common points of confusion in home games
Most of the time, the "is a flush higher than a straight" debate happens in low-stakes basement games where someone grew up playing a weird regional variation or just hasn't checked a chart in a decade. There’s also the "Short Deck" factor.
In Short Deck Poker (also known as 6+ Hold'em), which has exploded in popularity in high-stakes circles in Macau and on televised games like Triton Poker, the deck is stripped of all 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s. Because there are fewer cards of each suit, it actually becomes harder to make a flush than a full house in some variations, and it's definitely harder to make a flush than a straight. In many Short Deck rule sets, a flush beats a full house, and the straight/flush relationship is even more emphasized.
But unless you’re playing that specific, stripped-deck game, stick to the standard: Flush > Straight.
The "Ace" factor
Aces are the wildcards of the straight world. They can be high ($10 - J - Q - K - A$) or low ($A - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5$). This flexibility makes straights feel common. You have more "connectors" to work with. Flushes don't have that flexibility. You either have the suit, or you don't. You can't use a Heart as a Diamond just because it's the right color. This rigid requirement is exactly why the flush is the superior hand.
Strategic implications: Don't overplay the straight
If the board shows three cards of the same suit—let's say the $4 \clubsuit$, $9 \clubsuit$, and $K \clubsuit$—and you have a straight, you are in a terrifying spot. Honestly, you're probably beat. Even if you have the "nut" straight (the best possible straight), any player holding two clubs has you crushed.
I remember a hand at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) where a player shoved with a King-high straight on a flushed board. He was convinced his hand was "big" enough to win. His opponent snap-called with a 2-high flush. The 2-high flush won. It doesn't matter how "small" the flush is; if it’s a flush, it kills the straight.
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- The "Four-Flush" Scare: If there are four cards of one suit on the board, your straight is essentially garbage unless you can represent the flush yourself.
- Implied Odds: You can often get paid off more with a flush because people see a straight coming when the cards are $7 - 8 - 9$. They don't always notice when the third spade hits the board on the river.
Short Deck and other outliers
While we've established that the answer to "is a flush higher than a straight" is a resounding yes in standard poker, the gambling world loves to mess with the rules. In some niche versions of Three Card Poker or certain video poker machines, the payout structures are adjusted based on the difficulty of hitting the hand with fewer cards.
In Three Card Poker, for example, a straight is actually harder to get than a flush because you only have three cards to work with. In that specific game, the straight usually beats the flush. This is where 90% of the confusion comes from. People take the rules from a casino table game and try to apply them to Texas Hold'em. Don't be that person. In a standard game of poker, the flush is the undisputed winner.
Breaking down the rank of hands
If you're still doubting it, look at the full hierarchy. It’s a ladder, and you need to know where you stand before you push your stack into the middle.
- Royal Flush: The $10$ through $Ace$ of a single suit.
- Straight Flush: Any five cards in a row of the same suit.
- Four of a Kind: Also called "quads."
- Full House: Three of one rank and two of another (a "boat").
- Flush: Five cards of the same suit.
- Straight: Five cards in a row of any suit.
- Three of a Kind: Three of the same rank (a "set" or "trips").
- Two Pair: Two different pairs.
- One Pair: Just two of a kind.
- High Card: When you've got absolutely nothing and you're praying for a miracle.
The gap between the straight and the flush is one of the most important boundaries in the game. It’s the line between having a "strong" hand and having a "monster."
Actionable insights for your next game
Knowing that a flush beats a straight is just the beginning. To actually win money with this knowledge, you have to apply it to board textures.
First, evaluate the "wetness" of the board. A "wet" board is one with lots of coordinated cards—either high cards close together or multiple cards of the same suit. If the board is $J \heartsuit - 10 \heartsuit - 2 \diamondsuit$, you are looking at both straight and flush possibilities. If you have the straight, you need to be wary of that third heart.
Second, check the rules before you play. If you’re joining a "home brew" game or a new variant like Short Deck, ask the dealer: "Does a flush beat a full house here?" or "Does a flush still beat a straight?" It’s better to look like a cautious amateur for ten seconds than to lose your buy-in on a misunderstood rule.
Third, count your outs carefully. If you have an open-ended straight draw, you have eight cards that can help you. If you have a nut flush draw, you have nine cards. While the flush is a stronger hand, the draws are statistically similar, which leads many players to value them equally in the heat of the moment. They aren't equal. Always prioritize the flush draw if the betting gets heavy.
The next time someone tries to tell you their straight wins because it was "harder to sequence," just tell them to look at a deck of cards. There are four suits and thirteen ranks. The math never lies, and the math says the flush is king. Or, well, at least higher than the straight.
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Next Steps for Players:
- Memorize the Hand Rankings: Print out a cheat sheet if you're playing at home. There is no shame in double-checking.
- Study Board Texture: Use a simulator to see how often a straight gets cracked by a flush on different river cards.
- Pay Attention to Suits: It’s easy to focus on the numbers and forget that three little diamonds on the board change everything.
- Clarify Game Type: Always confirm if you are playing Standard, Short Deck, or a regional variant before the first hand is dealt.