Gambling terms, explained straight

Card Games

Flush

A flush is any hand in which every card belongs to the same suit, regardless of their numerical order.

Poker hand size
5 cards of the same suit, not sequential2
Big Two hand size
Any 5 cards of the same suit5
Teen Patti hand size
3 cards of the same suit6

Key points

  • A poker flush is ranked by its highest card, then the next highest, and so on.2
  • A flush draw in Hold'em has 9 outs; the chance to complete it is 34.97% with two cards to come or 19.56% with one.4
  • A straight flush (same suit, consecutive ranks) and a four flush (four cards of one suit) are not the same as a flush.13
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Sources

  1. Flush (cards) en.wikipedia.org Defines flush and distinguishes it from straight flush.
  2. List of poker hands en.wikipedia.org Provides poker flush hand size and ranking rules.
  3. Four flush en.wikipedia.org Defines four flush as a near-flush, not a completed flush.
  4. Draw (poker) - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Gives outs and probability for a flush draw in Hold'em.
  5. Big Two - card game rules pagat.com Specifies Big Two flush as any five cards of the same suit.
  6. Teen Patti - card game rules pagat.com Specifies Teen Patti flush as three cards of the same suit.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.