It’s common to see players that are confused about the relative power of full-house hands in Texas Hold’Em. For example, many players might not know which hand is stronger; AAJJJ (Jacks full of Aces) or JJAAA (Aces full of Jacks.)

Although this situation does not pop up all that often, when it does, it can be remarkably frustrating to see a stack of chips fly to another player when you thought you won, or to deal with the fallout of conflict in a home game.

The answer is quite simple. Whichever hand has the highest trips wins. Therefore, in the example above, the hand JJAAA (Aces full of Jacks) is the winning hand, despite the opposing hand having a higher valued pair (The Aces.)

Remember that different games of poker have different rule sets. Some games may require you to use both your pocket cards and others may not. In Texas Hold’em, the best 5 card hand wins, which is sometimes the 5 cards on the board.

Disputes or frustrations may arise in instances in which one player is holding a hand such as 88 and another has T8, on a board that shows 8 T T 4 2. In this case, one player has a full house, tens over eights, and the other also has a full house, but his or hers is the opposite; eights over tens. Despite the fact that the player with 88 was stronger before the board hit, and both players have a full house, it is the player holding that all-important T8 that wins. Both players have very similar hands but only one can win!

When it happens, it’s a very painful experience. The key is to be very wary on boards like the one shown above, as stronger full houses may be present!

Back to Poker Strategy