Poker
Full house poker
A full house is a five-card poker hand that combines three cards of the same rank with two cards of another rank.
Key points
- A full house consists of a three-of-a-kind and a pair in the same five-card hand.1
- When comparing two full houses, the hand with the higher-ranked triplet wins; if triplets are equal, the pair decides.1
- Suit does not affect the ranking of a full house.1
- The hand is also called a full boat, boat, tight, or full hand.12
- In poker dice, a full house occurs with a frequency of 3.86%.6
Full house examples
| Hand | Triplet | Pair | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| K♠ K♥ K♦ 5♣ 5♠ | Kings | Fives | High |
| Q♣ Q♥ Q♠ 9♦ 9♠ | Queens | Nines | Medium |
| 7♥ 7♠ 7♦ 2♣ 2♠ | Sevens | Twos | Low |
Why is it called a full house?
The name reflects that the hand is 'full' of both a triple and a pair, filling the five-card hand completely. Older terms include full hand, and the synonym boat (or full boat) is also common.12
Full house in poker variants
The full house hand ranking applies to standard poker variants such as Texas hold 'em and six-plus hold 'em.35 It is also used in Chinese poker and poker dice.46 In Caribbean stud poker, a full house pays 7 to 1 on the wager, while in full-pay Jacks or Better video poker, it pays 9 times the bet.78
To form a full house, you need one three-of-a-kind and one pair in the same five-card hand.12 When comparing two full houses, the one with the higher-ranked triplet wins; if those are equal, the pair rank breaks the tie.1 Suit does not matter for ranking among full houses.1
Common questions
Where this term is used
Related terms
Sources
- List of poker hands en.wikipedia.org Defines the full house hand, its ranking, and how it compares to other hands.
- Glossary of poker terms en.wikipedia.org Provides alternative names for the full house hand.
- Texas hold 'em en.wikipedia.org Confirms the full house applies to Texas hold 'em.
- Chinese poker en.wikipedia.org Confirms the full house applies to Chinese poker.
- Six-plus hold 'em en.wikipedia.org Confirms the full house applies to six-plus hold 'em.
- Poker dice - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Gives the frequency of a full house in poker dice.
- Caribbean stud poker - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Lists the payout for a full house in Caribbean stud poker.
- Video poker - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org States the full-house payoff in Jacks or Better video poker.
- Poker probability - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Provides the probability and odds of a full house in five-card draw.
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.