What is a Flush?
A flush is a poker hand where all cards belong to the same suit, whether they are in sequence or not. It is ranked higher than a straight and lower than a full house in the standard poker rankings.
Types of Flushes
- Straight Flush: A straight flush is when all the cards are in sequence and belong to the same suit, such as 5-6-7-8-9 of hearts.
- Flush: A regular flush is when all cards belong to the same suit, but they are not in sequence.
Examples of Flushes
For example, if a player has the Ace, King, 8, 4, and 2 of spades, they have a flush since all cards are spades. In another scenario, if a player has the Queen, 9, 6, 4, and 2 of diamonds, they also have a flush, even though the cards are not in sequence.
Case Studies
In a high-stakes poker game, a player was dealt the 10, 8, 7, 5, and 2 of diamonds. Despite not having a straight, the player ended up winning with a flush when the final card turned out to be a diamond.
Statistics
In a study of poker hands, flushes were found to occur approximately 3,025 times out of 2,598,960 possible five-card hands in a standard deck of cards. This makes flushes a relatively rare, but potent, hand in poker.