What is a Full House in Poker? A Complete Guide to One of Poker’s Best Hands

Full House in Poker: What You’ll Learn

• Definition and Strength: Understand what a full house is in poker and recognize its strength as one of the strongest hands in the game.

• Hand Examples and Scenarios: Learn about specific examples from high-stakes games where full house hands have determined the outcome of the match.

• Notable Hands in History: Discover significant moments in poker history, such as the dramatic hand at the 2010 WSOP, showcasing full house versus full house scenarios.

• Strategic Considerations: Get insights on how to strategically play a full house, balancing betting to maximize winnings without forcing opponents to fold prematurely.

• Rare Losing Scenarios: Acknowledge the rare occasions when a full house might not secure a win against even stronger hands like a bigger full house, straight flush, or royal flush.

Finding a premium hand is always a great feeling at the poker table, with a major opportunity to pick up a bunch of chips in a cash game or propel up the leaderboard in a tournament. Getting dealt strong hands like a full house is a great way to make that happen.

This one of the best hands in poker and the term full house has even carried over to other parts of life (remember that cheesy 1980s and ‘90s Full House television series with John Stamos and Bob Saget?), like other popular poker jargon.

But what is a full house in poker and what are some strategic considerations when you’re dealt this big hand? How does this hand rank and compare to other possible card combinations? Keep reading to answer some of these questions and more.

Definition and Composition

Simply put, a full house is when a player is dealt three cards of one kind and two of another, such as A♠A♣A♦Q♦Q♥. This player has a huge hand with three aces and two queens.

While there are some hands that can beat this full house, this player probably feels good about his chances of scooping a nice pot. However, there may be some challenges to that if opponents suspect you have this strong of a hand. How you play that full house can be key in accumulating chips.

Image Credit: VITALII BORKOVSKYI/Shutterstock

Ranking of a Full House

As with any game, knowing the rules is key and in poker that includes knowing the ranking of hands. Poker is a family of games, but these rankings apply to most variants of the game – from Texas Hold’em to Seven Card Stud to Omaha.

Knowing these rankings is critical and can’t be stressed enough. Here’s a look at the rankings and a look at how a full house stacks up against other hands.

• Royal Flush – Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 – all the same suit. This is the best hand in poker and extremely rare. [A♠K♠Q♠J♠10♠]

• Straight Flush – Five cards in a sequence, all of the same suit. This is a very rare hand as well in most games. [7♣8♣9♣10♣J♣]

• Four of a Kind – All four cards of the same rank. Again, this is another hand a player may not see too often. [10♣10♥10♦10♠]

• Full House – Three of a kind with an additional pair. This is a powerful hand and can win many pots. [10♠10♣10♥3♠3♣]

• Flush – Any five cards of the same suit, but not in a sequence. In the event two players have a flush, the player with the higher flush wins as in the case of this Ace-high flush: [A♥Q♥10♥8♥3♥]

• Straight – Five cards in a sequence, but not of the same suit. Ties are broken by the highest card(s). [6♠7♠8♦9♣10♥]

• Three of a Kind – Three cards of the same rank. [K♠K♣K♥]

• Two Pair – Two different pairs of cards. [K♠K♣8♥8♣]

• Pair – Two cards of the same rank. [9♦9♣]

• High Card – When you haven’t made any of the hands above, the highest card plays. These are generally weak hands and don’t often win a pot.  [A♦Q♦10♠9♦4♥]

As you can see above, a full house falls among the top poker hands, only losing to the extremely rare four of a kind, straight flush and royal flush (which is actually only the highest straight flush possible). Because of this, players should realize that they have a small likelihood of losing when dealt a full house, but it does occasionally happen.

Image Credit: VITALII BORKOVSKYI/Shutterstock

Probability and Rarity of a Full House

A full house can be rare, but not as much as the three hands that outrank it – four of a kind, straight flush, and royal flush. Here are the odds of getting dealt a full house in several popular poker formats.

Texas Hold-Em

The odds of flopping a full house in Texas Hold-Em with any starting hand checks in at 0.14%. For any unpaired hand, that drops to 0.09%. When dealt a pocket pair that rises to 0.98%.

Players have a better chance of hitting a full house when the board pairs and the odds of hitting this hand go up when considering the turn and river. Players hitting two pair on the flop then have an 8.5% chance on the turn and 8.7% chance to hit a full house on the river, for overall odds of 16.5% to land this hand on either the turn or river.

A player flopping a set (a pocket pair connecting with three of a kind on the flop) has a 15% chance to make a full house on the turn and 21.7% on the river. This equates to an overall 33.4% probability of hitting a full house by the river.

Those are pretty nice odds and this is a generally favorable scenario for this player. However, missing that full house can be costly if an opponent catches another strong hand like a flush, straight, or bigger three of a kind.

Omaha

In Omaha Poker, the odds of hitting a full house are 0.14%. That increases to 0.65% on the flop when holding three of a kind. That increases to a 13.33% chance of hitting a full house by the turn and 20.45% by the river.

Seven Card Stud

In Seven Card Stud, the odds of getting dealt a full house by the time you receive all seven cards is 2.6%. This can be an even more powerful hand in this game because players don’t have community cards to use and only get limited information on what an opponent might be holding because three cards are concealed.

Betting the hand all the way through may pay off if opponents also have decent holdings.

Five Card Draw

The odds of being dealt a full house in a five-card hand such as in Five Card Draw is 0.144%. This is a very difficult hand to receive as there are a limited number of cards a player is dealt. This percentage applies to the initial five cards, and a player’s odds increase at least to some degree when making a draw.

However, this is still an extremely rare hand in Five Card Draw as there are limited cards a player receives and no community cards to use in combination with your own holdings.

Image Credit: VITALII BORKOVSKYI/Shutterstock

Playing Strategies for a Full House

Obviously players will want to maximize their winnings when dealt a full house. As with all poker games, you will want to bet the maximum amount of chips possible that will still get players to call.

In games like Seven Card Stud, where other players can see some of your cards, some players may deduce that your hand is strong and check the action often. In limit games like this, it’s important to keep feeding the pot with bets unless you suspect an opponent will fold.

Mixing in some checks may mean an opponent might be more likely to call bets later in the action. But because your chances of losing with a full house are usually pretty low, you will want to build the pot as much as possible–either by betting out or slow-playing at times.

Full House in Texas Hold’em

As with all  poker variants, a full house is very powerful in Texas Hold’em, the most popular format in poker today. As noted above, a player with a big pocket pair catching a set (three of kind) on the flop has a decent chance of catching a full house on the turn or river card.

Getting callers may require some slow playing at times in this type of situation – or at least smaller bets to keep opponents in. For example, a player landing a full house with only a couple players in the pot may want to check the action and show some weakness. This may induce bets from others, disguising the strength of your own hand.

An opponent who then makes a better hand may be more willing to stay in the hand in these situations. The goal is to keep these players in the pot and committing their chips – usually heading to your own chip stack after a showdown.

Making note of the board texture can help in determining how much to wager. Are straights and flushes possible? Could your opponent have landed one of those on the turn or river? Does an opponent have a set? Would opponents in these situations call off big amounts of chips if you made significant bets?

Having an idea on these types of situations can help determine how much to bet. A player with the nut flush (the highest flush possible in a given situation) may even be willing to call an all-in bet. But betting too much and forcing an opponent to fold can be frustrating and leave some chips “off the table” that might have been moving to your own stack.

What Happens When Two Players have a Full House

Despite a full house being a great hand, there are some possible times you can lose with a full house, although they are fairly rare. For example, imagine a player has pocket five and the flop produces AdAc5d. This player has flopped a full house, but there could possibly be some danger, depending on the turn on the river.

A player holding A-K could hit a full house if a king fell on the turn or river, this player might even find a fourth ace for an even bigger cooler. More bizarre scenarios could play out in seeing two players both get full houses, so it’s always important to pay attention to board texture.

For example, a player dealt those same pockets fives may see another player in the hand with Kd-10d. A flop of AdAc5d completes that full house, but gives this opponent the nut flush draw. If this player calls a bet, imagine the 10c comes out on the turn. This player now has the nut flush and two pair.

If this player doesn’t believe an opponent has an ace, another call might be found. If either the 10s or 10h then fall on the river, this player has completed an even bigger, yet unlikely, full house. When it comes to two full houses, the hand with the higher top pair wins. In this case, 10-10-10-A-A would beat out the flopped full house of 5-5-5-A-A.

Image Credit: ARNIK PRATAMA/Shutterstock

Historical instances of Full Houses

The game of poker has seen some huge instances play out involving full house on major stages like the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour through the years, as well as in popular live-streamed cash games. Here’s a look at a few examples.

At the final table of the 2010 WSOP $10,000 Main Event, high-stakes pro Michael Mizracgi raised with AdQd, only to see Matthew Jarvis move all in with pocket 9h9c. Mizrachi called and the flop brought  Qs8dQc to give him two pair. But the 9s came on the turn to give Jarvis a full house to retake the lead in the hand.

The action wasn’t over, however, and the As fell on the river to hand Mizrachi an even bigger full house. Jarvis was sent to the exit door, finishing eight for just over $1 million. Mizrachi went on to finish fifth for $2.3 million. That bigger full house certainly paid off in a big way.

In a cash game scenario, here’s a look at a big pot from the Hustler Club Live cash game stream. This hand saw another unlikely scenario where two players clashed with full house over full house. In this case, one player scooped a pot of more than $70,000.

Have Mercy!

A full house consists of a five-card hand with three of one card and two of another, such QdQsQc10h10s. This is one of the strongest hands in poker and players can usually, but not always, win with these solid holdings.

It is still a somewhat rare hand, but you will certainly occasionally land a full house in Texas Hold’em and other poker formats. When dealt a full house, players have to balance betting the right amount but not too much where opponents may fold.

Building the pot with these types of hands is important to win more chips. But as noted above, a full house will sometimes lose to a bigger full house and even more rarely, sometimes to a straight flush or even royal flush.

Keep an eye out for a full house for that next session of live poker or when playing online. Some big winnings may just be heading your way.