What is a Full House in Poker? Everything You Need to Know
Published by: Jon Pill
As
part of Poker’s cards chart and poker hands series, we bring you a full rundown of the
full house, including its definition, ranking, hands that beat it, hands that it beats,
probability, and some examples.
To be successful at poker, you must learn the poker
hierarchy of hands. If you don’t understand the different potential hands and their
rankings, you could misplay your own hand and lose a critical pot.
A full house in
poker is a solid, yet unique card hand that combines three-of-a-kind and a pair.
Considered one of the best hands in poker, a full house is still not the best hand on
the felt. You can beat it with a four-of-a-kind and all the straight flushes, including
a royal flush.
One of the most memorable full houses in poker history is the final hand
of the 2003 WSOP Main Event. With a J♠5♠4♣ flop, Chris Moneymaker flopped two-pair
while holding 5♦4♠ versus Sammy Farha’s top pair as he held J♥10♦. After they went
all-in post-flop, the dealer turned the 8♦ and rivered the 5♥, completing Moneymaker’s
winning full house that ultimately changed poker forever.
What is a Full House?
A full
house in poker is a five-card hand containing a three-of-a-kind and a pair. It can also
be called “a full boat,” more commonly shortened to just “a boat.” A full house is
considered a very strong hand in poker and it is often a winning poker hand. Although
this unique hand outranks many common poker hands, a full house is not unbeatable.
Full
House Rankings
The full house is the third-highest hand in the standard poker hand
rankings (fourth if you count royal flushes as a separate hand from other straight
flushes).
The full house marks a transition between the more common hands and the rarer
“monster” hands. It is just above a flush in value, and just below four-of-a-kind.
What
Beats a Full House in Poker?
A full house is one of the best hands in poker, but it can
still be beaten. One of the most memorable losses by a full house in poker history was
an unbelievable hand between poker superstars Daniel Negreanu and Gus Hansen.
In one
hand during Season 2 of the popular television show High Stakes Poker, Negreanu was
dealt 6♠6♥, while Hansen was dealt 5♦5♣. When the dealer flopped 9♣6♦5♥, both players
had hit a set (or three-of-a-kind).
Negreanu had a stranglehold on the hand as Hansen
was drawing all but dead to one card. But when the miracle 5♠ fell on the turn, Hansen
catapulted into the lead and would clinch the hand when the 8♠ fell on the river. After
they were all-in, Hansen would win aR$575,700 pot, which was the largest in High Stakes
Poker history to that point.
The hands that beat a full house are, in order:
Royal
flush — ace, king, queen, jack, ten all in the same suit, which beats:
All other
straight flushes — five consecutive cards in the same suit, which beats:
Four-of-a-kind
— four cards of one rank plus a kicker of any other rank, which, in turn, beats: Full
House
What Poker Hands Does a Full House Beat?
If you’re dealt a full house, you can
rest easy that you’ll win the pot more often than not. The three-and-two card mix of
the full house in poker beats many common and plenty of more typical hands, as seen
below.
In certain poker games, you must meet specific criteria to have this hand as a
possible outcome. For example, in no-limit hold’em, a player cannot have a full house
unless there’s at least a pair on the board. As for seven-card stud games, since three
cards are face down, full houses can be hidden, which is extremely powerful and
dangerous.
A full house beats:
Flush — five cards of the same suit that are not
consecutive, which beats:
Straight — a run of five consecutive cards in at least two
suits, which beats:
Three-of-a-kind — three cards of the same rank, plus two other
cards of differing and non-matching ranks, which beats:
Pair — two cards of the same
rank, plus three other cards of differing and non-matching, which beats:
High card —
five cards of differing ranks in at least two suits.
Who Wins if Both Players Have a
Full House?
In rare instances, two opponents could both have full houses, often
resulting in an extremely large pot. When two very good poker hands are up against each
other in the same hand like this, we typically call it a “cooler.”
Where two full
houses are up against each other, the rank of the three-of-a-kind settles the
difference. For example, 5♠5♥5♦6♠6♦ beats 4♠4♥4♦K♠K♣.
When playing with a standard
deck, there are only four cards of each rank. This means there will never be a draw
between two full houses, except in games where cards are shared (mostly flop games like
hold’em) or wild cards are utilized. In these cases, the pair breaks ties where
possible.
The Probabilities of a Full House
The odds of being dealt a full house off
the top of a shuffled deck is 0.1441%.
This is because in a standard 52-card deck there
are 3,744 combinations that make a full house out of a total of 2,598,960 possible
hands. This is equivalent to odds of 693-to-1.
For comparison, the odds of getting a
royal flush are 0.000154%, a straight 0.3925%, and a high hand 50.112%.
Examples of
Full Houses
K♠K♣K♦Q♠Q♥, 9♠9♥9♦J♥J♣, 2♠2♥2♣A♠A♥ , are all examples of full houses. Here
they are ordered from the highest rank to the lowest rank, as the rank of the
three-of-a-kind is prioritized.
2♠2♥2♣A♠A♥ is described at showdown as “a full house,
twos (or deuces) over aces.” You may hear this elided as: “a boat, deuces of aces.”
How
to Play a Full House in Texas Hold’em
The relative strength of a full house, like all
hands, depends on the board (in flop games) or your opponent’s visible cards (in stud
games). In hold’em sometimes a full house can be the nuts (i.e. the best possible
hand), while other times it can be worth peanuts.
In general, though, full houses are
one of the best hands in poker and are worth playing aggressively. Because a full house
requires the board to contain at least one pair, you must be cautious in particular of
competing for full houses and fours-of-a-kind. The paired board will also clue
opponents into the possibility of your hand, so you may need to disguise the strength
of your hand by making slow plays like checks and calls. Fully understanding poker
strategy will let you maximize your pots and winnings.
Featured image source: Flickr by
Poker Photos used under CC license
