Poker glossary
Flush
Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence.
Also: flushes, flush draw
A flush is any five cards of the same suit, like K♥ J♥ 8♥ 4♥ 2♥. The cards don’t need to be in order. If they are in order, it’s a straight flush, a much stronger hand.
Where a flush ranks
A flush is the fifth-best hand in poker:
- It beats a straight, three of a kind (trips or a set), two pair, one pair and high card.
- It loses to a full house, four of a kind and a straight flush.
So yes, a flush beats a straight. Full order: poker hand rankings.
Flush vs flush
When two players both have a flush, the one with the highest card wins. If those tie, compare the second card, then the third, and so on down all five. Suits never break ties. An ace-high flush is called the nut flush when no straight flush or full house is possible, because nothing can beat it.
Making a flush in Hold’em
Your flush can use two, one or none of your hole cards, as long as five of your seven cards share a suit.
| Situation | Chance |
|---|---|
| Best seven-card hand is a flush | 3.0% |
| Suited hole cards make a flush using both cards by the river | 6.4% |
| Flush draw on the flop (9 outs) gets there by the river | 35% |
| Flush draw on the turn gets there on the river | 20% |
A flush draw means four cards of one suit, waiting for a fifth. Four cards of a suit on their own are worth nothing at showdown. Count your draws with the outs chart.