Full House in Poker
What is a Full House?
A full house is three cards of one rank with two cards of another rank. It looks like three of a kind plus a pair. It is also known as a "boat". See where a full house sits alongside other hands on the full poker hand rankings page.
Where a Full House Ranks
Full house is the fourth-highest hand in poker. Four of a kind ranks one place above a full house, and a flush ranks one place below a full house. The complete order from high card to royal flush sits on the poker hands guide.
Example Hands
A full house is ranked on the three of a kind first and the pair second.
- K♦ K♣ K♠ 7♥ 7♦ is a full house that can be described as kings full of sevens
- Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ 4♣ 4♠ is queens full of fours
A full house can form in Texas Hold'em from a mix of hole cards and community cards. A player holding 9♠ 9♥ on a flop of 9♦ 5♣ 5♠ makes nines full of fives. On the same flop, another player could also have a full house if they held 9♣ 5♥. In this scenario, the first player is ahead with nines full of fives beating fives full of nines.
What a Full House Beats and Loses To
At showdown in Texas Hold'em, a full house beats a flush, a straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and high card. A full house loses to four of a kind, a straight flush, and a royal flush.
Ties and Kickers
A full house is compared by its three of a kind rank first. Aces full of twos beats kings full of queens, because three aces outrank three kings, and the accompanying pairs are not compared. The pair matters when two hands share the same three of a kind rank. Kings full of nines beats kings full of fours, because both hold three kings and the pair of nines outranks the fours. A full house is made using all five cards, so there is no kicker. When two hands hold the same three-of-a-kind rank and the same pair rank, the pot is split.
Full House Probability
A full house is a strong and rare hand in Texas Hold'em. The chance of making a full house using the best five of the seven cards seen by the river is about 2.6%. A full house is rarer than a flush or a straight and more common than four of a kind.
Full House Across Variants
A full house holds the same rank in Texas Hold'em, Omaha, and most other high-hand variants. Short Deck poker, like 6+ Hold'em, has a slightly different ranking for a full house. Due to the game using a 36-card deck with twos, threes, fours and fives removed, it means flushes are harder to make and therefore ranks above a full house in Short Deck. In lowball games, where the lowest hand wins, a full house is a weak holding due to its high regular ranking.
Frequently Asked Questions
A full house is three cards of one rank along with two cards of another rank, such as three kings and two sevens. A full house ranks one above a flush and one below four of a kind.
In high-hand poker games, a full house beats a flush, a straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and high card. A full house loses to four of a kind, a straight flush, and a royal flush.
The full house with the higher three of a kind wins. Kings full of fours beats queens full of jacks because three kings outrank three queens. When two hands have the same three of a kind rank, the higher pair decides, so kings full of nines beats kings full of fours. When both the three of a kind rank and the pair rank are shared, the pot is split.
A full house is a rare hand. The chance of making one using the best five of the seven total cards by the river in Texas Hold'em is about 2.6%. A full house is rarer than a flush or a straight and more common than four of a kind.