High Card Flush

7/26/2022by admin

The “nut flush” is the name given to the highest possible flush, typically ace high. If your hole cards are A♥ K♥ and the flop comes Q♥ 4♥ 10♥, you have flopped the nut flush. If two players have a Flush, the player with the highest card wins. If both players have the same high card, the second-highest card wins, etc. High Card Flush. High Card Flush is a suits based game where the objective is to obtain multiple cards in the same suit (Flush). MORE + All products.


Overall General Rules

- Cards are individually ranked A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low, for straights or low games).
- Suits have no value. The suits of a card are used to determine of a hand qualifies for a flush or not. If two players have two hands that are the same, except for the suits, the hand is considered a tie, and the pot is split.
- A hand is always a five card hand. In games that used more than five card, a player will pick the five cards that make the best five card hand.
- Hands are ranked first by category, and then by the card rank. That is to say, even the lowest qualifying hand of a rank is better than the highest hand of a lower rank. So a hand that has two pair, 2's and 3's will be better than a pair of aces.

Poker Hand Rankings

Royal Flush>Straight Flush>Four of a kind>Full House>Flush>Straight>Three of a kind>Two Pair>One Pair>High Card

Royal Flush

A Royal Flush is made up of all the 'broadways cards' and they must all be of the same suit. This is also an Ace High Straight Flush. But that isn't quite as sexy as a Royal. Generally this pays a big bonus at your local card room!


Straight Flush

A straight flush is a hand that contains five cards in numerical sequence, all of the same suit. If two people have straight flushes, the hand with the card of a highest rank (i.e. highest card) is considered the winner, so Ks Qs Js 10s 9s would defeat Jh 10h 9h 8h 7h. The low ace rule applys for the five high straight flush (also known as the wheel). An ace high straight flush, such as Ad Kd Qd Jd 10d is called a royal flush, and is the highest ranked hand in standard poker, without wild cards.


Four of a kind

Also known as quads, four of a kind is a hand like 7h 7s 7c 7d 2s, that has four cards of the same rank, and one other card. Quads is better than a full house, and worse than a straight flush. Higher ranked quads will defeat lower ranked quads, so Quad tens are better than quad 2's. In games with wildcards, or games with community cards (like Texas Hold'em), where more than one person can have the same quad hand, ties are broken by remaining fifth card.


Full house

Also know as a full boat or sometimes just boat, a full house such as 3d 3h 3s 4c 4d (threes full of fours), is a hand that has three cards all of the same rank, plus an additional two different cards of the same rank. A full house is better than a flush, but worse than four of a kind. In judging which full house is the best full house, the full house with the highest ranking set of three cards wins. If two or more hands have the same set of three cards (possible in wild card games or community card games like Hold'em), the hand with the highest pair wins. In the example above, the hand would be described 'sevens over queens,' 'sevens full of queens,' or 'sevens full.'


Flush

A flush is a hand that contains five cards, all of the same suit, but not in sequential rank, such as Ks 10s 8s 6s 2s. A flush is better than a straight, and worse than a full house. If two or more hands have a flush, hands are compared by their high cards to determine the winner. If more than one hand has the same high card, the second highest card is used - then the third, then the fourth and finally the fifth. Keeping in mind that suits have no value, if two flushes use five cards of the same rank, but different suits, the hands are considered tied. When declaring a flush, they are described by their highest card, such as 'Ace-high flush.'


Straight


A straight is a hand which has five cards of sequential rank, but of more than one suit, such as 6h 5s 4h 3s 2d. A straight is better than three of a kind, and worse than a flush. In determining which straight is better, the highest ranked card of each straight are compared, and the highest is the winner. If two straights are of the same rank, the pot is split between the two. In community card games, straights are the most commonly tied hands. When declaring a straight, they are described by their highest card. The example above would be a seven high straight. An ace can be used for both high, in an ace high straight (As Ks Qh Jd 10s) and for a low in a five high straight ( 5s 4h 3d 2d Ac). A five high straight is also known as a wheel or bicycle and is the lowest ranked straight. In most games, the ace does not 'wrap around', so a 'three high' straight (3h 2d As Ks Qd) is not a legal straight, but instead is an ace-high, no-pair hand.


Three of a kind


Also known as trips or a set, three of a kind is a poker hand that contains three cards of the same rank, plus two additional unpaired cards, for example Ah Ac As Ks Jc. Three of a kind is better than two pair, but worse than a straight. In comparing hands, the highest ranked three of a kind defeats lower ranked three of a kinds. If two hands have the same three of a kind (possible in wildcard games or in community card games like Hold'em), the kickers are compared to break the tie.


Two Pair


A hand that contains two cards of the same rank, plus two other cards of another matching rank, plus one unpaired card is called two pair, for example Ah Ac Kh Ks 2d. Two pair is better than one pair and worse than three of a kind. In comparing two or more hands that contain two pair, the higher ranking pair is first compared, and the highest is the winner. If two hands contain the same higher pair, than the second pair is compared. Finally, if two hands have the same two pair, than the kick, or rank of the fifth card, of each hand determines the winner. When declaring a two pair hand, the hand is described higher pair over lower pair. So in the example above, the hand could be described 'aces over kings,' 'aces and kings,' or 'aces up.'


One pair

One pair is a poker hand that contains two cards of the same rank, plus three unpaired cards. It is better than any high-card, no-pair hand, but it is worse than two pair. Pairs of the higher rank defeat pairs of the lower rank. If two hands have the same rank of pair, the ranks of the unpaired cards determine the winner.

High Card

Also known as a no-pair hand, a high card hand has five cards all of different ranks that are not in sequence and are not of the same suit, for example Ac Qd 9h 7c 5s. High card hands rank below all other poker hands. When comparing two or more high card hands, the highest card of each hand is compared first, and the higher card is the winning hand. If the highest card is the same, then the next highest ranked cards are judged, then the third highest ranked card and so on. The lowest possible high card hand is 7 5 4 3 2.

Go Back to POKER RULES

First introduced in 2011, High Card Flush is a fairly new table game that was inspired by flush rankings in poker. Just like other popular poker-based casino games such as Three Card Poker or Caribbean Stud, High Card Flush is played against a dealer using a 52-card deck. The goal of this game is simply to make the highest flush ranking possible (multiple cards of the same suit) using the 7 cards you are dealt. All hands are ranked based on the strength of any 3+ card flush.

The rules for betting in High Card Flush are unique and unlike most other table games – the better your hand is, the more money you can wager. For example, if you are dealt a six-card or seven-card flush, you are allowed to wager 3x your initial bet. There are also two optional side bets which offer large bonuses that pay up to 8,000:1 (for a 7-Card Straight Flush). This adds another level of excitement to the game by giving players multiple ways to win big.

Though it was once a relatively unknown game that was only available at one casino, High Card Flush has slowly but surely gained popularity since being introduced in 2011. Over the last several years it has attracted a large following of loyal players and is now available at many casinos in the United States.

How To Play High Card Flush

Since High Card Flush uses basic poker flush rankings to determine the winner, it is a pretty straightforward game. Regardless of whether you’re familiar with how to play poker or not, High Card Flush is actually one of the easiest table games to learn, so you should have no problem picking up on the rules.

Ante Bet

When you sit down at a High Card Flush table you will start off by placing an ante bet. The ante bet is your primary wager, and it’s required to play. This will determine the amount of your next bet (if you decide to play the hand). You also have the choice of placing two optional side bets; the flush bonus and straight flush bonus (explained below).

If you follow proper strategy while playing, you will end up calling 67.86% of the time. The dealer will typically have a qualifying hand 75.36% of the time, and there is a 0.08% chance the dealer will push with any player(s).

Card

Flush Bonus Side Bet

The Flush Bonus is an optional side bet that pays out if you are dealt a flush of 4 or more cards, regardless of whether you have a winning hand or not. The odds and payout structure differ from one casino to another, so we have listed the Flush Bonus paytable from Dover Downs as an example:

High

7-Card Flush300:1
6-Card Flush100:1
5-Card Flush10:1
4-Card Flush1:1

Straight Flush Bonus Side Bet

The second side bet offered in High Card Flush is the Straight Flush Bonus, which has the highest possible payout in the game. This bet pays extra for hands with a straight flush of 3 or more cards. As is the case with the Flush Bonus, the payout structure offered will vary from one casino to the next. For the sake of example, we have listed the Straight Flush Bonus paytable from Dover Downs below:

7-Card Straight Flush8,000:1
6-Card Straight Flush1,000:1
5-Card Straight Flush100:1
4-Card Straight Flush60:1
3-Card Straight Flush7:1

Evaluating Your Hand

Once all bets have been placed, every player at the table (including the dealer) will receive 7 cards. They are dealt face-down, so you won’t know what kind of hand the dealer has. After all cards have been dealt you should evaluate your hand based on two factors; the number of cards you have in the same suit and the value of the cards. As is the case with other variations of poker, Aces are the highest ranking card (followed by K, Q, J etc.) and no one suit has any greater value or ranking over another suit.

The first step is to see how many cards you have in any one suit (heart, spade, clubs or diamonds). This is commonly referred to as “maximum flush” and will help determine the strength of your hand; the more cards that you have in the same suit, the stronger your hand is. For example, if you receive a hand with a four-card flush it will beat any hand with a 3-card flush, but will lose to hands with a flush of 5 or more cards.

The second step is to consider the strength of your hand based on flush rankings in poker. This is determined by the highest card(s) in your flush. For example, a hand containing a flush of K-Q-J-10 would beat a hand with a maximum four-card flush of Q-J-10-9, but lose to a hand with a maximum four-card flush of A-2-3-4. The best possible hand a player can have is a 7-card straight flush with A-K-J-Q-K-10-9-8.

Decision Making

Upon evaluating the strength of your hand, you will need to decide whether you want to continue playing or not. This is done by either folding, calling or raising your ante bet. Basic strategy dictates that players should raise with suited J-9-6 or higher and fold with suited 9-7-4 or lower. Hands with suited 9-7-5 to J-9-5 are a toss-up.

Fold: Surrender, losing your ante bet.

Call/Raise: Place a second bet that is equal to (at least) the ante bet. The maximum amount of the call wager depends on the rank of your hand:

Two-card, three-card, or four-card flushes: The maximum call wager is equal to the ante wager.
Five-card flushes: The maximum call wager of 2x the ante wager.
Six-card or seven-card flushes: The maximum call wager is 3x the ante wager.

Winning Hands

After all players make their decisions, the dealer’s cards are revealed to the table. Similar to the rest of the table, the dealer must evaluate their hand and determine their best flush based on the standards listed above. If the dealer does not have at minimum a three-card flush with a nine-high, all of the players at the table have their ante bets paid and their call bets are pushed.

However, if the dealer does in fact have at least a three-card flush with a nine-high their hand is compared to each of the player’s hands according to the following scale:

Players with a higher-ranking hand win both their ante and call wagers at even money.

Players with a lower-ranking hand lose both their ante and call wagers.

Players with the exact same ranking hand as the dealer push both their ante and call wagers.

Lastly, any bonus wagers will be evaluated and paid or collected accordingly.

High Card Flush Origins and History

A man named Mike Pertgen came up with the original concept for High Card Flush in 2010. At that time, Pertgen was working as a dealer at Rio in Las Vegas. For reasons unknown, he came up with an idea for a new table game based on poker flush hand rankings and started developing it. He went on to partner with a company called Red Card Gaming to help with marketing. In 2011 the first High Card Flush table debuted at Harrah’s in Laughlin, NV – but it did not receive much attention.

High card flush poker

High Card Flush Poker

Galaxy Gaming Acquires the Rights to High Card Flush

7 Card Flush Game

In September of 2012, the rights to High Card Flush were acquired by Galaxy Gaming; a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of table games and other products for the casino industry. Seeing untapped potential, the company immediately made several improvements to the original game. In October of 2013 Galaxy Gaming introduced the new and improved version of High Card Flush to the gambling industry at the annual Global Gaming Exposition in Las Vegas.

High Card Flush Poker Online

High card flush poker

The improvements also helped High Card Flush earn the “Best New Table Game of 2012″ title from Casino Journal. Just a few months later, in January of 2013, the game was placed inside of 10 casinos across Nevada, California, and Washington for testing. This time around, it was extremely well received and the game was deemed a success.

High Card Flush Payouts

The rights to High Card Flush are still owned by Galaxy Gaming to this day, and the game has been introduced to a number of casinos across the United States.

High Card Flush online, free

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