# Highest poker hand ever beaten by a higher one **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 7, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576 "2010-05-07T01:12:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/1 "2010-05-07T01:12:02Z")
Sorta inspired by the latest Straight Dope Classic reprint [In “Cincinnati Kid,” what hand did Steve McQueen lose to a straight flush?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/277/in-cincinnati-kid-what-hand-did-steve-mcqueen-lose-to-a-straight-flush). I was curious what’s the highest poker hand ever reliably documented has having lost to an even higher one. Has a royal flush ever been beaten by a royal flush of superior suit for instance? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/2 "2010-05-07T01:36:02Z")
In real poker there are no superior suits. I have been in games where a straight flush was beat be a royal flush. I don’t have pictures or anything, you’ll just have to trust me. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/3 "2010-05-07T06:44:10Z")
if you go to twoplustwo forums, I believe there are people who have reported k-9 straight flush beaten by A-10 royal flushes. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/4 "2010-05-07T06:54:47Z")
Omaha is very easy for two players to get high hands in. Only watching on ESPN, I have seen full houses lose to higher full houses on multiple occasions. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/5 "2010-05-10T17:34:02Z")
I’ve seen a lot of bad beats when wild cards are introduced. I will never forget a game of 5 card draw that almost broke out into a fistfight where there was a four of a kind, (Jacks, I believe), followed by 5 Queens, then 5 Aces! ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/6 "2010-05-10T18:38:54Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > In real poker there are no superior suits. Is there another rule then to say which hand beats which, when they are identical except for suit? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/7 "2010-05-10T18:41:52Z")
Wouldn’t you just split the pot if you were called and had an equal hand? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/8 "2010-05-10T18:48:19Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Is there another rule then to say which hand beats which, when they are identical except for suit? Nope. This why it’s good to have that conversation before playing. I’ve seen fist fights break out over whether to chop a pot or cut the deck. The odd thing is almost every time there’s been trouble at the games I’ve seen it’s over a piddly small pot - go figure. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/9 "2010-05-10T18:54:59Z")
Not a final answer, but as good a place as any to mention it… I have lost before with quads, to higher quads (Texas hold-em). Its a strange feeling, a mix of despair and a mad urge to look around shouting, “did you feckin see that!!!”. Play long enough, and I suspect many players will have lost with quads, straight flushes etc ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/10 "2010-05-10T20:30:04Z")
[Useless trivia] The official rules for poker do not include a hand description for a “royal flush”. A royal flush is just a straight flush, ace high, and it gets its top position by virtue of it being the highest straight flush, and the straight flush being the highest hand. [/Useless trivia] ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/11 "2010-05-10T20:38:26Z")
In a ‘deuces wild’ game back in Uni, I won a rather substantial pot with 5 queens (3 natural and a pair of twos). The game was 7 card stud and I started with the pair of 2’s and bet the wazoo out of them. Everyone thought I was bluffing (because I have been known to do so on occasion) and I beat a straight flush (8 high I believe). Fortunately no gunfire ensued. If I remember correctly, the pot was over $200 which was pretty dang amazing at the time for a bunch of grad students on limited incomes. That game began a trend where we all played with a $20 limit PER NIGHT so it was the last big pot won by my group of players. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/12 "2010-05-10T22:49:47Z")
If you are into the more funky games, this is quite common. If you are playing baseball (night or day) you have either seven or nine cards each with both 3s and 9s wild. I have actually won with five of a kind beating lower five of a kind, a straight flush and a four of kind. We all thought the four of a kind was a fool to even stay in House rules were 2 dollars maximum raise, but unlimited re-raises and with three heavy weight hands, it kept going round and round with the guy with four kings just calling each time. Scarred him so bad that he folded the next time that game came up with a three of a kind and three more cards to see. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/13 "2010-05-10T23:07:59Z")
Id have to look it up, but IIRC in a recent WSOP main event a quad was beaten by a straight flush ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/14 "2010-05-11T01:22:19Z")
I lost a heavily betted draw poker hand of 4-10s to a guy with four Jacks. On the very next hand, I lost a hand of four queens to four kings. To the same guy. I didn’t play poker again for many years. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/15 "2010-05-11T02:40:35Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > … in a recent WSOP main event a quad was beaten by a straight flush [Here it is](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kycdQnKPz0) - from 2008. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/16 "2010-05-11T03:56:01Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I lost a heavily betted draw poker hand of 4-10s to a guy with four Jacks. On the very next hand, I lost a hand of four queens to four kings. To the same guy. I didn’t play poker again for many years. Probably a good idea, at least against that guy…the odds of 2 people getting 4 of a kind in 1 draw poker hand is like 1 in 16 million. the odds of the same 2 people getting 4 of a kind in 2 consecutive draw poker hands are nearly unfathomable, like 1 in over 20 trillion ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/17 "2010-05-11T11:03:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Useless trivia] > The official rules for poker do not include a hand description for a “royal flush”. A royal flush is just a straight flush, ace high, and it gets its top position by virtue of it being the highest straight flush, and the straight flush being the highest hand. > [/Useless trivia] Cite? Every book and website I have ever seen, including “According to Hoyle” and “Robert’s Rules of Poker” provides a description for a Royal Flush. In fact, the same description you posted. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/18 "2010-05-11T12:12:07Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Every book and website I have ever seen, including “According to Hoyle” and “Robert’s Rules of Poker” provides a description for a Royal Flush. It’s one thing to provide a description and another to regard the royal flush as being in a different category from a straight flush. [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_poker_hands) is one example of a site that does not affect to regard it as separate. Given that the RF is the highest possible SF - and thus the highest ranking natural hand - by the normal rules of ranking straight-flushes makes placing it in a separate category deeply illogical - on a par with declaring that four aces is somehow fundamentally different from four of any other denomination. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/19 "2010-05-11T12:31:02Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Sorta inspired by the latest Straight Dope Classic reprint [In “Cincinnati Kid,” what hand did Steve McQueen lose to a straight flush?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/277/in-cincinnati-kid-what-hand-did-steve-mcqueen-lose-to-a-straight-flush). I was curious what’s the highest poker hand ever reliably documented has having lost to an even higher one. Has a royal flush ever been beaten by a royal flush of superior suit for instance? In ‘standard’ poker (by which I’ll mean standard casino poker), suits are all equal rank. Two Ace-high straight flushes of different suit would split the pot. And given the number of poker hands played I am absolutely sure that at one point a K-high straight flush has lost to an Ace-high straight flush. [It’s even plausible with competent players in Texas hold-'em: one person has a 9-8 suited, which is a reasonable hand to see a flop with if it hasn’t been raised a lot, flops/rivers Q, J, 10 of his suit and gets all his money in before the K comes on the end, making him lose to the Ace-3 suited, which is another reasonable hand to see a cheap flop with and stay in when the flush comes] ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576/20 "2010-05-11T13:13:01Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > It’s one thing to provide a description and another to regard the royal flush as being in a different category from a straight flush. [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_poker_hands) is one example of a site that does not affect to regard it as separate. > > Given that the RF is the highest possible SF - and thus the highest ranking natural hand - by the normal rules of ranking straight-flushes makes placing it in a separate category deeply illogical - on a par with declaring that four aces is somehow fundamentally different from four of any other denomination. Nonsense! Your use of Wiki for the official rules of poker is deeply illogical.:rolleyes: No one is suggesting that a royal flush is in a separate category. **Chronos** ’ statement is false unless he can provide a cite to prove otherwise. As written: > [@Chronos](#): > > [Useless trivia] > **The official rules for poker do not include a hand description for a “royal flush”.** A royal flush is just a straight flush, ace high, and it gets its top position by virtue of it being the highest straight flush, and the straight flush being the highest hand. > [/Useless trivia] …bolding mine. All the official rules I have ever seen **DO** **include a description of royal flush** within the straight flush definition including your own Wiki link ! Here: > [@](#): > > An ace-high straight flush such as A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ is known as a royal flush, and is the highest ranking standard poker hand. and here: > [@](#): > > \*\*Royal Flush \*\*A [straight flush](http://boards.straightdope.com/wiki/Straight_flush) of the top five cards of any suit. This is generally the highest possible hand. Secondly, casinos do differentiate for Royal Flushes and provide for much larger payouts for other games such as Carribean poker, Grand Prix poker, Video poker, Slots, etc.. And this is provided included in all their official rules. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-poker-hand-ever-beaten-by-a-higher-one/538576.md?page=2)