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All poker games, or at least the ones that are represented at major poker competitions like the WSOP are played with a standard deck of playing cards, which is made up of 52 cards in total.
These 52 cards are broken up into 13 ranks and four suits, and some poker games are occasionally played without the lowest cards in the deck. That, however, still always leaves us with a total of four suits of each card rank in play.
Suits in poker matter in many ways, but not in those some people imagine after playing other card games in which different suits hold different values, such as Hearts and Spades.
In this article, we are going to explain when card suits matter in poker and when they do not, as well as all the situations in which card suits might come into play in any way.
While the number of actual situations in which card suits matter in poker may not be too high, there are definitely some situations in which they are important.
For those particular situations, the official poker rules do answer the question of which card suit is the highest in the game of poker.
According to the standardized poker rules, the suits are ranked as follows, from highest to lowest:
Note that these rankings are determined solely by the alphabetical order of the suit names in English.
While you may occasionally find poker games in some parts of the world where this ranking is not accepted, and the local names are used to determine the value of the suits, practically all official games adhere to these.
So, if you ever happen to be in a situation where poker suits do matter, having spades will be the best-case scenario, while the clubs will leave you in the dust.
While suits are ranked in value in the official poker rules, the actual use of these rankings is relatively scarce, as there are only a few situations in which the dealer will look at the suits of the cards dealt.
In most key spots, such as flush-over-flush situations in Stud poker games, the suits of your cards won’t play a major role in determining the winner.
Instead, there are a few popular situations in which this rule comes into play, and these are:
These situations are all fairly marginal in importance, and the dealer will only consider the card suits when breaking ties for some of these scenarios, the value of which is not very high.
However, if you want to be truly familiar with all important poker rules, keep reading and find out how poker suits can impact decisions in these situations.
At the start of most poker games, whether cash games or tournaments, the dealer must determine which seat the dealer button will be assigned to for the first hand.
While you could technically simply always assign the dealer to the same seat for the first hand, official poker rules dictate that an element of randomness is used in this regard as well.
Therefore, every poker game starts with the dealer dealing a single card face-up to every player at the table, starting from seat one.
Once every player has the card, the player with the highest card is assigned the dealer button for the first hand.
The value of poker suits comes into play when more than one player has the same highest card, for instance, an Ace.
If multiple Aces are dealt in this scenario, the player whose Ace is of the highest suit would be assigned the dealer button.
So, if you are dealt the Ace of Spades when determining the dealer button, you will always have the button in the first hand.
One of the rare situations in which having higher suit cards than your opponents can matter in a financial sense is in some split-pot situations.
While different venues have different rules for scenarios like this, the suits may come into play when a divided pot is uneven, and one player has to receive more chips than another.
This only happens when the smallest denomination chip in the game cannot be split into two, such as in a $5/10 cash game where the $5 chip is the smallest or a poker tournament where a 100 chip is the smallest.
If one extra chip remains in the pot after the split is completed, it will be assigned to the player with the higher suits in their hand.
Of course, a scenario like this is incredibly rare, and the value of the extra chip is so low that you could also use any other rule to determine who gets the chip, and most players would not care too much.
Stud poker was once the most popular variation of the game, and old-school poker players know that poker suits can impact this one.
Namely, poker suits can be used to break a tie in determining which player posts the bring-in, which is the second forced bet in Stud games.
After all players post the antes, they are dealt their hole cards and the first face-up card, at which point the bring-in is decided.
Depending on whether you are playing Stud Hi, Stud Hi/Lo, or Razz, the player with the lowest or highest card will have to post the bring-in.
However, if multiple players are dealt the same face-up card, the dealer will use card suits to break the tie.
For example, in a game of Stud Hi, two players are dealt deuces as their face-up card, and one of them needs to post the bring-in.
In this case, the player with the lower suit will have to post, so the Deuce of Clubs would always post before the Deuce of Diamonds, etc.
We have now looked at all the major situations in which card suits can matter in poker, so it is worth looking at those when it does not as well.
In fact, unlike many other card games, card suits rarely make any difference in poker games and will not really help you win any pots or make any profit.
Let’s take a look at some common situations in which players may think their suits will help them, but they don’t come into play at all.
In big-bet games like Texas Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha, situations can arise in which multiple players have the exact same hand, such as three of a kind or two pair.
For example, on a board with two Sevens, two players might show A7 at showdown, holding the same three-of-a-kind and splitting the pot.
However, players might start to argue that the one with the Seven of Spades should win the pot or that the one whose Ace kicker has the higher suit should scoop.
The game rules officially dictate that situations like these should result in a split pot, and poker suits don’t matter at all.
In games like Texas Hold’em Poker, it is not possible for players to have two flushes of different suits, which is why kickers always determine which flush is better.
However, in other poker games, namely Stud and Draw games, it is possible for two players to have different flushes.
For example, a Seven Card Stud hand could finish with one player showing down a Spade flush and another showing down a Clubs flush.
Likewise, the same scenario can happen in Five Card Draw, as each player’s cards are completely independent of the other’s.
After reading the previous sections on which suit beats which in poker, you may think that a Spade flush beats all other flushes if the kicker is the same, but that’s actually wrong.
In fact, suits don’t come into play in this situation at all, and the sheer value of the flush is what matters. A higher flush will beat a lower flush.
So, an Ace-high Clubs flush will always beat a King-high Diamonds, Hearts, or Spades flush, as the high card will be looked at as the determining factor.
We have reviewed all the scenarios in which card suits can be used in different poker variations and those in which they don’t matter.
After examining all of them, we can definitely say that card suits play a very small part in poker, as they are only used to break ties in some less-than-key spots.
The suits of the cards do not play a major role in all situations that truly matter in poker and that determine who wins.
Instead, the value of the hand will always be considered over the card suits, and all same-hand situations will end in a split pot regardless of suits.
The next time you are seated in a live poker game, remember these rules if one of the other players tries to enforce a non-existent rule and win a pot from you that is not theirs by right.
Now that you've learned when do your card suits matter in poker, it's time to assess your overall poker prowess. Take the Pokercode Poker Skill Quiz 2024 to evaluate your knowledge and receive free access to coaching videos and additional resources.
Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, this quiz will help you identify areas for improvement and take your game to the next level.
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