Four of a Kind in Poker
What is Four of a Kind?
Four of a kind is a poker hand consisting of four cards of the same rank plus a kicker. It is also known as "quads". For the order of every hand from high card up to royal flush, see the poker hand rankings.
Where Four of a Kind Ranks
Four of a kind is the third-highest hand in poker. A straight flush ranks one place above it. A full house ranks one place below it. The poker hands guide describes all the other hands around four of a kind and the ranking order.
Example Hands
Four of a kind is four cards of one rank with a kicker.
- K♦ K♣ K♠ K♥ 7♦ is four kings with a seven kicker.
- 9♠ 9♥ 9♦ 9♣ A♦ is four nines with an ace kicker.
The rank of the four matching cards determines the strength first. Four aces is the highest four of a kind possible, and will beat four kings, and four kings will beat four queens, and so on. The kicker is pivotal only when two players hold the same rank of four of a kind, which can happen in Texas Hold'em when the four of a kind is formed across the community cards. In that case, the highest fifth card, decides the winner. A hand of Q♣ Q♦ Q♥ Q♠ K♠ beats a hand of Q♣ Q♦ Q♥ Q♠ 9♦ because the king kicker outranks the nine kicker.
What Four of a Kind Beats and Loses To
Four of a kind beats a full house and below, including a flush, a straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card. Four of a kind loses to a straight flush and a royal flush. Only those two hands rank above it so it is a very strong hand.
Ties and Kickers
The kicker determines the winner only when two players share the same four of a kind at showdown. In Texas Hold'em, this happens when all four matching cards appear on the board, so every player still in at showdown holds the same quads. The best fifth card then decides the winner. On a board of 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ 8♣ 4♠, a player holding an ace makes 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ 8♣ A♦ and beats a player holding a king, who makes 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ 8♣ K♦. The pot is split when the strongest kicker is a community card that every player uses and therefore gives everyone the same best five-card hand.
Four of a Kind Probability
Four of a kind is one of the rarest hands in poker. There are only 13 variations of four of a kind, one for each rank. In Texas Hold'em, where a player uses the best five of seven available cards, the chance of making four of a kind is 0.17%.
Four of a Kind Across Variants
Four of a kind holds the same high ranking in high-hand games like Texas Hold'em and Omaha. In short deck poker, it remains above a full house. In lowball games like Razz and 2-7 Triple Draw, the lowest hand wins, so four of a kind inverts to one of the weakest holdings. In Hi/Lo variants, four of a kind has a strong chance of winning half of the pot but wouldn't qualify as a low hand to be eligible for the other half.
Frequently Asked Questions
Four of a kind is a poker hand made of all four cards of one rank accompanied by an additional card called the kicker. Four of a kind is the third-strongest hand in poker, ranking above a full house and below a straight flush.
In high-hand poker games, four of a kind beats a full house and every hand below it, including a flush, a straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card. It loses only to a straight flush and a royal flush.
The rank of the four matching cards first decides who wins, so four aces beat four kings. When both players hold the same four of a kind, which can happen in Texas Hold'em when all four matching cards are community cards, the highest kicker decides. If the best available kicker is also a shared community card, the pot is split.
Four of a kind is one of the rarest hands in poker and that is why it ranks so highly. The chance of making four of a kind in the best five cards out of a possible seven cards in Texas Hold'em is 0.17%.