If you have been in casino playing cards or just a spectator, you would know what a thrill every game has. In each game as the dealer deals, the players’ heartbeat starts racing and the mind starts making calculations. It is very interesting to be around when a poker game is being played. Each player comes with a strategy of his own and brings some uniqueness to the table.
You have some cards in your hand, you anticipate what could be the cards in other players’ hands by trying to understand the facial expression, playing pattern, the combination of cards that you are sure won’t be in the other player’s hands and then make a move. It is very interesting to see that some players are able to lie to other’s face and pretend to have bad or good hands and turn the table in their favour and scare even the players who have winning hands. Such players are said to have a poker face and go a long way in the game. While some players do not have a poker face and are able to win the table simply by counting the cards and making sure that they know well which player has better cards than they do and then either eliminate those players or by putting his own guards down.
If you have played poker, you will know that it is one of the best feelings when winning in the poker hands. There are some hands like five of a kind which is surely the deal stealer and you can bet on these hands blindly and be assured that you will beat all the other player’s hands.
What is ‘Five of a Kind’?
Five of a Kind is the strongest possible hand in certain games of Poker. In the standard rules of most popular formats, such as Omaha and Texas Hold’Em, a Five of a Kind is not possible since each deck of cards contains only four cards of each kind. However, in certain variants, Jokers are included as a wildcard, which may be used to make five of a kind if the player has four other cards of the same rank.
‘Five of a Kind’ Explained
Five of a Kind is an extremely rare hand in other variants of Poker, although there are two main sets of rules for how a Five of a Kind can be achieved. Sometimes, the Joker acts as a wildcard which can substitute for an Ace, but only if the player has four other Aces. It cannot be used to make five of a kind for cards of any other rank. In these rules, the Joker may also be used to complete straights, flushes, and straight flushes. However, in some variants, the Joker is simply allowed to act as any card in the deck of the player’s choosing. In this case, it is possible to have Five of a Kind of other ranks beside Aces – for example, five queens or five sevens. Standard hand ranking for four of a kind, three of a kind and pairs applies in this situation: so, for example, Five of a Kind – Queens would be a higher ranking hand than Five of a Kind – Sevens. In most variants of poker, however, a five of a kind is not a legitimate hand and is impossible to obtain. Thus, the highest possible hand is ordinarily the Royal Flush (the highest possible straight flush).
There are only 13 sets of cards in the entire deck that can result in five of a kind. The wild card must be present, and the other four cards need to be quads. There is only one way to make five of a kind for each of the thirteen values in the deck.
13 five of a kind hands.
- With two wild cards, the disparity between three of a kind and two pairs increases.
- Also, with two wild cards, a pair becomes more common than a high card.
- With two wild cards, four of a kind, and a full house occur with the same frequency.
- With One-eyed Jacks wild, four of a kind becomes more common than a full house.
- With all the two’s wild, four of a kind becomes quite common, and the number of high card hands reduces even though no wild cards are used in these hands (because it becomes impossible to have a seven-high hand with no natural twos).
- Similarly, with one-eyed Jacks wild, the number of natural Jack-high hands is reduced.