At the end of a hand, at showdown, every remaining player reveals their cards and the best hand is determined. In Texas Hold'em, each player builds the best possible 5-card hand from their two hole cards plus the five community cards. Understanding this process precisely prevents costly misreads.
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From strongest to weakest: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. See the full list with examples in our poker hands guide, practice direct comparisons in the hand comparison tool, and keep our poker cheat sheet handy until the order sticks.
Up to 7 cards are available at showdown: 2 hole cards and 5 community cards. But the final hand must be exactly 5 cards. This means a player can use both hole cards, one of them, or neither — if the five community cards alone form the best possible hand (called "the board plays"). Full game rules are in our poker rules page, and the game structure itself is covered in Texas Hold'em.
When two players reach the same hand type (e.g., both have a pair of tens), the remaining cards that complete the 5-card hand — the kickers — decide who wins. A player with a pair of tens and a king kicker beats a pair of tens with a jack kicker. Remember: if the top kicker is shared via the board, move to the next kicker. A common mistake is forgetting to check the second or third kicker before declaring a winner.
When two or more players have the exact same 5-card hand, including kickers, the pot splits evenly. The most common case is when players "play the board" — meaning neither improves on what's already on the table. Another classic case: two players sharing the same straight formed entirely by community cards.
The two most common mistakes: (1) missing that the board itself might already be the best hand, so even a player with weak hole cards shares in the pot; (2) a "counterfeited" two pair, where a player's bottom pair from hole cards gets outranked by a higher pair forming on the board, leaving them with only one pair plus kickers. Practice reading hands fast using our hand comparison tool, play real hands against our free AI bot, then keep sharpening with real players in the ClubGG Israel community.
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