There are a few truly desirable hands in the game of poker, and the Full House is one of them. It’s not the top ranked hand - that is the Royal Flush, of course - but a Full House can bring a more than decent win if played at the right time. What exactly is a Full House, and what are your chances of getting one during your next session at any of the best online poker sites? Find out as we tell you all about this poker hand in our blog!
What is a Full House?
Before we get into the technical details of how to potentially get a Full House, we should first define what this hand consists of. It’s actually quite simple - a Full House combines two different hands, namely a Three of a Kind and a Pair, in the same hand. Here are a couple of examples of a Full House:
- A♠ A♥ A♣ K♦ K♠ (3 Aces of spades, hearts, and clubs, plus 2 Kings of diamonds and spades).
- 10♦ 10♠ 10♥ 3♣ 3♦ (3 tens of diamonds, spades, and hearts, plus 2 threes of clubs and diamonds).
The naming convention for this hand is actually quite interesting, as you first start with the Three of a Kind followed by the Pair. Thus the first of the above examples would be called an “Aces full of Kings” while the second is a “Tens full of Threes.”
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What is the Ranking of a Full House
In most poker variants, including the best known Texas Hold’em and Omaha, the Full House ranks fourth among all hands available. This means it is underneath the Four of a Kind and over a Flush. In case you’re not familiar or need a refresher this is how all poker hands rank in the game:
- Royal Flush
- Straight Flush
- Four of a Kind
- Full House
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a Kind
- Two Pair
- One Pair
- High Card
The reason why a Full House ranks so high is perhaps obvious. It’s fairly rare to get and as such can only be beaten by just three other hands!
How Full House Hands Rank Against Each Other
How Full House Hands Rank Against Each Other
It’s important to note that not all hands in poker are equal, not even when they are the same hand. In the case of two players both managing to get a Full House, a rare but possible occurrence, then they are ranked according to the Three of a Kind. If these also happen to be equal, then the ranking of the Two Pair determines the winner. Let’s see a couple of examples:
- A♥ A♣ A♦ K♠ K♥ beats K♣ K♦ K♥ A♠ A♦ because Aces are higher than Kings.
- If two players both have three Kings, then the higher pair decides it, so K♣ K♦ K♥ Q♠ Q♦ beats K♣ K♦ K♥ J♠ J♦.
In the very rare case that the two players have the same Full House - something that can happen through the use of community cards - then the pot is split between the two.
How to Form a Full House
As you might know, Texas Hold’em has you receive two hole cards which you’ll use to form a hand together with the five community cards. Speaking of the community cards, you’ll need at least a pair on the board if you’re to get a Full House. This is because you have two cards in your hands, and you’ll need to get both a Pair and Three of a Kind. In Texas Hold’em there’s also the rare chance that the community cards form a Full House since the board holds five cards. Some other poker variants, like Seven Card Stud, have a board consisting of four face-up cards so this is not possible.
The Odds of Getting a Full House
Here’s the mathematics part of our blog about the Full House. These are, understandably, quite high whichever way you slice it but still, let’s take a look:
Pre-Flop Odds
The odds of getting a Full House right away are, as you might imagine, zero. After all this is a hand that requires all five cards in your hand, and you’re dealt all of two hole cards pre-flop.
Post-Flop Odds
This is where we start looking at our chances of getting a Full House. We’re going to use Texas Hold’em and Omaha in this case, since these are the two most popular types of poker. Starting with Texas Hold’em, here are your chances on the flop, turn, and river:
|
Flop |
0.09% |
When 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 |
The numbers change somewhat when playing Omaha: This is because you get four hole cards as opposed to just two, meaning you can potentially get a Three of a Kind as soon as you’re dealt:
|
Flop |
0.65% |
When holding a Three of a Kind |
|
Turn |
13.33% |
When holding a Three of a Kind |
|
River |
20.45% |
When holding a Three of a Kind |
Be Aggressive with your Full House!
Be Aggressive with your Full House!
We have a single tip for playing with a Full House - get aggressive with it! A Full House is one of poker’s strongest hands, meaning you should start betting right away once you get one. Many novice players end up trapping too often, and you won’t get a payout if you check too many times. So take the risk and consider whether your rivals are bluffing if they appear to have a stronger hand. Of course, always play poker responsibly and have fun while trying to get your best hands!
