Pokeriad / Learn / Straight flush
What is a straight flush in poker?
Updated November 2026
A straight flush is five cards in a row, all in one suit, such as the 9-8-7-6-5 of spades. It's the second-best hand in poker, and only a royal flush beats it.
A royal flush is really the top straight flush, so in a sense the whole category sits at the head of the list.
| Cards | Five in a row, one suit |
|---|---|
| Beats | Four of a kind and below |
| Loses to | Royal flush |
| Dealt five cards | 1 in 72,193 |
| By the river | 1 in 3,591 |
Highest and lowest
What does it need?
Both things at once. Five cards in sequence gives you a straight, and five cards of one suit gives you a flush. It only counts when the same five cards do both jobs.
That catches people out. Holding a straight and a flush using different cards at the same time gets you a flush and nothing more.
One set of five cards
Can the ace be low?
Yes. A-2-3-4-5 of one suit is the lowest straight flush, and it's five-high. Sequences can't wrap around the corner, so Q-K-A-2-3 is nothing at all.
The lowest one
The ace plays low, so a six-high straight flush beats it.
How often does it come up?
Dealt five cards there are 36 of them, not counting the four royals, so it's 1 time in 72,193. Seven cards make it far likelier, at 1 time in 3,591 by the river. Hold a suited connector such as 8-7 and you'll flop one exactly 1 time in 4,900.
What if two players both have one?
The higher top card wins. If the top cards match, the whole hand matches, and the pot is split.
Why does it beat four of a kind?
Because there are far fewer of them. Four of a kind has 624 five-card combinations, and straight flushes have 36.
Can you tell which hand wins?
Twelve spots in three rounds.
Questions players ask
Is a royal flush a straight flush?
Yes, the highest one.
Does a straight flush beat a full house?
Yes. It beats everything except a royal flush or a higher straight flush.
Do suits break a tie?
No. Two straight flushes with the same top card split the pot.
How the numbers on this page were worked out
We counted all 2,598,960 possible five-card hands and all 133,784,560 seven-card deals. The totals match the published tables on Wikipedia's poker probability page. "By the river" assumes you stay in until all five community cards are out, and in a real game you fold most hands long before that.
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