Gambling terms, explained straight

Poker

Full boat poker

A full boat is a five-card poker hand that contains three matching cards of one rank and two matching cards of a different rank.

Hand pattern
Three of a kind plus a pair (3 + 2 cards of different ranks)1
Ranking
Below four of a kind, above a flush1
Comparison
First by the rank of the triplet, then by the rank of the pair1

Key points

  • The terms full boat, boat and full house are synonyms in poker.12
  • A full house ranks below four of a kind and above a flush in standard hand rankings.1
  • When comparing two full houses, the higher triplet wins; if triplets are equal, the higher pair decides.1

Where this term is used

Not the same as

Poker Poker boat vs full house Explains that boat and full house are the same hand. Poker Full house poker Covers the full house hand in detail. Poker Pai gow poker A casino table game using poker hand rankings. Poker Gto poker Game theory optimal strategy in poker. Poker Draw poker A poker variant where players can replace cards. Poker Quads poker A hand containing four of a kind.

Sources

  1. List of poker hands en.wikipedia.org Defines the full house hand pattern, ranking, and comparison rules.
  2. Glossary of poker terms en.wikipedia.org Confirms full boat as a synonym in the glossary of poker terms.

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.