Yes. Four of a kind beats a full house in Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Seven Card Stud, Short Deck and every other standard high-hand game. Four of a kind is four cards of the same rank; a full house is three of one rank plus a pair. Four of a kind ranks higher because it’s six times rarer: 624 five-card hands against 3,744.
Four of a kind vs full house in brief
- Ranking: four of a kind third, full house fourth, from the top.
- Even the lowest four of a kind, four deuces, beats the best full house, A-A-A-K-K.
- Only a straight flush, including the royal flush, beats four of a kind.
- In Hold’em, both hands need a paired board, and whenever a full house is possible, four of a kind is possible too.
- When four of a kind is on the board, everyone shares it and the fifth card, the kicker, decides.
| Four of a kind | Full house |
|---|---|
| Four cards of one rank plus a kicker: Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ Q♣ 7♠ | Three of a kind plus a pair: J♥ J♦ J♣ 4♣ 4♥ |
| Third-best hand in standard poker | Fourth-best hand in standard poker |
| 624 five-card hands (0.024%, about 1 in 4,165) | 3,744 five-card hands (0.144%, about 1 in 694) |
| Best hand by the Hold’em river 0.168% of the time (1 in 595) | Best hand by the Hold’em river 2.60% of the time (1 in 39) |
| Best: A-A-A-A-K; worst: 2-2-2-2-3 | Best: A-A-A-K-K; worst: 2-2-2-3-3 |
| Two fours of a kind: the higher four wins; the same four (only possible with board help) goes to the kicker | Two full houses: compare the three of a kind, then the pair |
| Beats a full house, a flush and everything below | Beats a flush, a straight and everything below |
| Loses only to a straight flush | Loses to four of a kind and a straight flush |
| Same place in Short Deck | In Short Deck, also loses to a flush |
Exact counts over all 2,598,960 five-card and 133,784,560 seven-card hands, counting each hand by its best five cards. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
Four of a kind against a full house is the biggest cooler most players will ever see. The full house is a monster that almost never loses, and when it does, it’s often to the one hand the player never believed was there. The short answer never changes: four of a kind, often called quads, beats a full house in every standard high-hand game. This guide explains why, then goes further: how much rarer quads really are, why the two hands always become possible on the same boards, how quads are made in Hold’em, what the kicker does when four of a kind is on the board, how often a full house runs into quads at tables of every size, and how video poker bonus games change the way you play both hands.
Every probability here was calculated by the TopSitesPoker.com editorial team, either exactly, by counting every possible combination of cards, or by large simulations where exact counting isn’t practical. The only exceptions are the video poker frequencies and the exact Omaha count, which come from the Wizard of Odds. Each example was checked with a hand evaluator.
- Four of a kind always beats a full house: four deuces beat aces full of kings.
- The gap grows with more cards: full houses are 6 times as common as quads in five cards and 15.4 times as common in seven.
- Both hands need a paired board in Hold’em. On a board with one pair, only a pocket pair of that rank can make quads; with three of a kind on the board, any player holding the fourth card has them.
- Hold’em quads come from the hole cards in an exact 2 : 4 : 1 split: a pocket pair, one hole card with three on the board, or four on the board.
- With everyone seeing the river, a full house loses to four of a kind in about 1 of every 1,438 heads-up deals and 1 of every 188 six-handed deals.
- In Double Double Bonus video poker, you should break aces full to keep the three aces.
Why Four of a Kind Beats a Full House
Poker hands are ranked by how hard they are to make in a five-card deal: the rarer the hand, the higher it ranks. Four of a kind is much rarer than a full house. Both counts are easy to check:
- Four of a kind: choose the rank of the four (13 ways); all four suits of that rank are used, so there’s only one way to take them. Then choose the fifth card, the kicker, from the other 48 cards: 13 × 48 = 624 hands.
- Full houses: choose the rank of the three of a kind (13 ways) and three of its four suits (4 ways), then the rank of the pair (12 ways) and two of its four suits (6 ways): 13 × 4 × 12 × 6 = 3,744 hands.
Here’s a neat way to see where the gap comes from. By rank alone, there are exactly as many kinds of four of a kind as kinds of full house: 13 × 12 = 156 of each, from A-A-A-A-K down to 2-2-2-2-3, and from A-A-A-K-K down to 2-2-2-3-3. The difference is suits. A four of a kind uses every suit of its rank, so the only choice is the kicker’s suit, 4 ways. A full house can pick 3 of 4 suits for its three of a kind and 2 of 4 for its pair, 4 × 6 = 24 ways. That’s the factor of six.
Four of a kind ranks higher because it’s six times rarer in a five-card deal.
Does it hold with seven cards?
Hand rankings are based on five-card deals, but in Hold’em and Stud you use the best five of seven. The extra cards help full houses far more than four of a kind, so the gap grows:
| Cards seen | Four of a kind as best hand | Full house as best hand | Full houses per four of a kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 (a five-card deal, or the Hold’em flop) | 624 of 2,598,960 (0.024%) | 3,744 (0.144%) | 6.0 |
| 6 (the Hold’em turn) | 14,664 of 20,358,520 (0.072%) | 165,984 (0.815%) | 11.3 |
| 7 (the Hold’em river, or Stud’s seventh street) | 224,848 of 133,784,560 (0.168%) | 3,473,184 (2.60%) | 15.4 |
Exact counts by TopSitesPoker.com over every possible hand, counting each by its best five cards.
Why do more cards favor the full house? A full house can be built from many different combinations of pairs and threes, and every extra card is another chance to pair something. Four of a kind needs all four cards of one specific rank, and there’s only one fourth card of each rank you hold three of. With seven cards, you’ll make about 15 full houses for every four of a kind.
The same comparison in other games
| Game | Four of a kind | Full house | Full houses per four of a kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Five-card deal | 0.024% | 0.144% | 6.0 |
| Texas Hold’em or Seven Card Stud, by the river | 0.168% | 2.60% | 15.4 |
| Omaha, by the river | 0.480% | 6.35% | 13.2 |
| Short Deck, five cards (36-card deck) | 0.076% (288 of 376,992) | 0.458% (1,728) | 6.0 |
| Short Deck Hold’em, by the river | 0.535% | 7.58% | 14.2 |
| 9/6 Jacks or Better video poker, final hands with optimal play | 0.236% | 1.15% | 4.9 |
Exact counts by TopSitesPoker.com, except Omaha (four of a kind: the exact count published by the Wizard of Odds, 2,225,270,496 of 463,563,500,400 hands; full house: a TopSitesPoker.com simulation of 200,000,000 hands, which matches the Wizard of Odds’ exact 6.35%) and video poker (published figures from the Wizard of Odds).
Four of a kind is the rarer hand in every game, so it ranks higher everywhere.
Four of a kind is the rarer hand in every game, so it ranks above the full house everywhere, including Short Deck, where the flush is moved between them. Video poker narrows the gap more than any other game, largely because optimal strategy keeps pairs and three of a kind and draws to them, and drawing two cards to three of a kind is one of the best ways there is to make four of a kind.
Where Four of a Kind and the Full House Sit in the Rankings
Here’s the full order of poker hands. Each hand beats every hand below it and loses to every hand above it. Four of a kind and the full house are the third and fourth hands from the top:
| Rank | Hand | Example | Five-card hands | Seven-card hands (best five) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush | A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ | 4 | 4,324 |
| 2 | Straight flush | 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥ | 36 | 37,260 |
| 3 | Four of a kind | Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ Q♣ 7♠ | 624 | 224,848 |
| 4 | Full house | J♠ J♥ J♦ 4♣ 4♠ | 3,744 | 3,473,184 |
| 5 | Flush | A♠ J♠ 8♠ 6♠ 3♠ | 5,108 | 4,047,644 |
| 6 | Straight | 9♠ 8♥ 7♦ 6♣ 5♠ | 10,200 | 6,180,020 |
| 7 | Three of a kind | 7♠ 7♥ 7♦ K♣ 2♠ | 54,912 | 6,461,620 |
| 8 | Two pair | K♠ K♥ 8♦ 8♣ A♠ | 123,552 | 31,433,400 |
| 9 | One pair | Q♠ Q♥ A♦ 9♣ 4♠ | 1,098,240 | 58,627,800 |
| 10 | High card | A♠ J♦ 8♣ 6♥ 3♠ | 1,302,540 | 23,294,460 |
Exact over all 2,598,960 five-card and 133,784,560 seven-card hands. Seven-card counts are by the best five cards. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
What beats four of a kind, and what a full house beats
- Only one kind of hand beats four of a kind: a straight flush, including the royal flush. A higher four of a kind also beats a lower one.
- A full house beats a flush, a straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card, plus any lower full house. It loses to four of a kind and a straight flush.
- The neighbors: above four of a kind, straight flushes are about 16 times rarer (40 five-card hands, counting royals). Below the full house, flushes are only a little more common (5,108). The jump from full house to four of a kind, a factor of six, is one of the biggest steps on the ladder.
Which Fours of a Kind and Which Full Houses Come Up Most
Every rank is equally likely to be the four: with seven cards, each of the 13 ranks makes up exactly 7.69% of all fours of a kind. The kicker is a different story. With seven cards, the kicker is the highest card left over, so high kickers dominate:
| Rank | Share of seven-card fours of a kind, by the four | Share of seven-card fours of a kind, by the kicker | Share of seven-card full houses, by the three of a kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ace | 7.69% | 21.6% | 7.81% |
| King | 7.69% | 18.3% | 7.79% |
| Queen | 7.69% | 15.2% | 7.77% |
| Jack | 7.69% | 12.4% | 7.75% |
| Ten | 7.69% | 9.9% | 7.73% |
| Nine | 7.69% | 7.6% | 7.71% |
| Eight | 7.69% | 5.7% | 7.69% |
| Seven | 7.69% | 4.0% | 7.67% |
| Six | 7.69% | 2.7% | 7.65% |
| Five | 7.69% | 1.6% | 7.63% |
| Four | 7.69% | 0.8% | 7.61% |
| Three | 7.69% | 0.3% | 7.59% |
| Two | 7.69% | 0.02% | 7.57% |
Exact over all 224,848 seven-card fours of a kind and 3,473,184 seven-card full houses, by the best five cards. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
A kicker only matters when two players share the same four of a kind, which in Hold’em means four of a kind on the board. We’ll come back to that below. Full houses are spread almost as evenly as fours of a kind: aces full are only a little more common than deuces full.
Can You Have Four of a Kind and a Full House at the Same Time?
Yes, with six or more cards, as in Hold’em from the turn on. Unlike a flush and a full house, which can never share a seven-card hand, four of a kind leaves two or three other cards, and those can hold a pair or even three of a kind. Of the 224,848 seven-card hands whose best hand is four of a kind, 41,808, or 18.6%, also contain a full house. Your hand is always the best five cards, so the four of a kind plays and the rest is just a kicker.
In Hold’em, that happens on a board like K♠ K♥ 9♣ 9♦ 5♠. With 9♥ 9♠, you hold four nines, and the kings on the board would also give you nines full of kings. You play the four nines, with the K♠ as your kicker.
Whenever a full house is possible, so is four of a kind
In Hold’em, both hands need a paired board, and every paired board makes four of a kind possible for someone. With one pair on the board, a player holding the two remaining cards of that rank has four of a kind. With three of a kind on the board, a player holding the last card of that rank has it. So there’s no Hold’em board where a full house is possible and four of a kind isn’t. What changes from board to board is how many hands make each, as the next sections show.
Omaha is different
In Omaha, you must use exactly two hole cards and exactly three board cards. That creates two quirks for four of a kind:
- Four of a kind on the board doesn’t play. You can only use three board cards, so four kings on the board give you three kings, plus whatever your hole cards add. No one shares the board’s four of a kind the way they do in Hold’em.
- You make four of a kind in only two ways: a pocket pair matching a pair on the board, or one hole card matching three of a kind on the board. Holding three or four cards of a rank in your hand doesn’t help, because only two of them can play.
Comparing Fours of a Kind, Full Houses and the Two Against Each Other
- Four of a kind against a full house: four of a kind always wins. No rank can change that.
- Four of a kind against four of a kind: the higher four wins. If both players have the same four, which in Hold’em only happens when all four are on the board, the kicker decides, and equal kickers split the pot.
- Full house against full house: compare the three of a kind first, then the pair.
Hand categories are compared first; only a straight flush beats four of a kind.
| Hand A | Hand B | Winner | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2♠ 2♥ 2♦ 2♣ 3♠ (the lowest four of a kind) | A♠ A♥ A♦ K♣ K♠ (the highest full house) | A | Any four of a kind beats any full house |
| 7♠ 7♥ 7♦ 7♣ 2♠ | K♦ K♥ K♣ Q♣ Q♦ | A | Still four of a kind over full house |
| 9♠ 9♥ 9♦ 9♣ 2♥ | 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ 8♣ A♥ | A | Two fours of a kind: the higher four wins, whatever the kickers |
| 3♠ 3♥ 3♦ 4♣ 4♠ | 2♥ 2♦ 2♣ A♠ A♥ | A | Two full houses: the three of a kind decides first |
| 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥ | A♠ A♥ A♦ A♣ K♠ (the best four of a kind) | A | A straight flush beats any four of a kind |
Every comparison checked with a hand evaluator.
The first row is the one to remember: four deuces beat aces full of kings. Hand categories are compared first, and ranks only matter between two hands of the same category. The third row shows the kicker’s limits: 9-9-9-9 with a deuce beats 8-8-8-8 with an ace, because the kicker is only compared when the fours are the same.
How Four of a Kind Is Made in Hold’em
Every Hold’em four of a kind is made in one of three ways, and over all 2,809,475,760 combinations of two hole cards and five board cards, they split in an exact ratio of 2 : 4 : 1:
| How it’s made | Example | Share of all fours of a kind |
|---|---|---|
| A pocket pair plus a pair on the board | 9♥ 9♦ on 9♠ 9♣ K♦ 5♥ 2♠ | 28.6% (2 in 7) |
| One hole card plus three of a kind on the board | K♣ 2♥ on K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 5♦ | 57.1% (4 in 7) |
| All four on the board | Any hand on K♠ K♥ K♦ K♣ 9♦ | 14.3% (1 in 7) |
Exact over all 2,809,475,760 combinations of two hole cards and five board cards. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
Exact over all 2,809,475,760 combinations of two hole cards and five board cards.
More than half of all Hold’em fours of a kind use only one hole card, and one in seven uses none at all. That’s why four of a kind is less of a secret than it seems: most of the time, the board is showing three or four of the rank.
The board decides which hand is possible
| River board | Share of boards | Your best hand is four of a kind | Your best hand is a full house | Full houses per four of a kind | Share of all fours of a kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No pair | 50.7% | 0% | 0% | Neither is possible | 0% |
| One pair | 42.3% | 0.093% | 2.50% | 27.0 | 23.3% |
| Two pair | 4.75% | 0.185% | 16.6% | 89.5 | 5.2% |
| Three of a kind | 2.11% | 4.26% | 29.1% | 6.8 | 53.5% |
| Full house on the board | 0.14% | 4.35% | 95.7% | 22.0 | 3.7% |
| Four of a kind on the board | 0.024% | 100% | 0% | Everyone has four of a kind | 14.3% |
Exact over all 2,809,475,760 combinations of two hole cards and five board cards. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
On a board with one pair, a full house is 27 times as common as four of a kind, because only one two-card hand, the pocket pair of the board’s rank, makes quads. On a board with two pair, full houses are about 90 times as common. Three of a kind on the board is where the balance shifts: any hand holding the fourth card has four of a kind, so more than half of all Hold’em quads are made there, and a full house is only 6.8 times as common.
Against one random hand, both seeing the river.
How often a full house runs into four of a kind heads-up
For a full house against one opponent holding a random hand, both seeing the river, here’s how often the opponent has four of a kind:
| River board | A full house loses to four of a kind |
|---|---|
| One pair | 0.034% (about 1 in 3,000) |
| Two pair | 0.10% (about 1 in 1,000) |
| Three of a kind | 4.44% (about 1 in 23) |
| Full house on the board | 4.54% (about 1 in 22) |
Exact over every combination of board, full house and opponent hand. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
That’s the most practical number in this guide. With one pair on the board, the only four of a kind possible is one specific pocket pair, so a full house is almost never beaten by quads. With three of a kind on the board, the one remaining card of that rank can be in any opponent’s hand with any other card, and the risk jumps more than a hundredfold.
How many hands beat you on each kind of board
| Board | Your hand | Your best hand | Hands that beat you | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K♠ K♥ 9♣ 5♦ 2♠ (one pair) | K♦ K♣ | Four kings | 0 | 0 |
| K♠ K♥ 9♣ 5♦ 2♠ | K♦ 9♥ | Kings full of nines | 0 (the kings are gone) | 2 |
| K♠ K♥ 9♣ 5♦ 2♠ | 9♥ 9♦ | Nines full of kings | 15 (14 full houses, 1 four of a kind) | 0 |
| K♠ K♥ 9♣ 5♦ 2♠ | 2♥ 2♦ | Deuces full of kings | 21 (20 full houses, 1 four of a kind) | 0 |
| K♠ K♥ 9♣ 9♦ 5♠ (two pair) | K♦ 5♥ | Kings full of nines | 1 (9♥ 9♠: four nines) | 44 |
| K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 5♦ (three of a kind) | A♥ A♦ | Kings full of aces | 44 (all four of a kind) | 1 |
| K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 5♦ | K♣ 2♥ | Four kings | 0 | 0 |
| K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 9♦ (full house) | A♥ A♦ | Kings full of aces | 45 (all four of a kind) | 1 |
| K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 9♦ | Q♥ J♥ | Plays the board, kings full of nines | 63 (45 four of a kind, 18 full houses) | 927 |
Exact over all 990 possible opponent hands on each board. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
Kings full of aces on K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 5♦ looks like a monster, and against most hands it is. But it loses to every one of the 44 hands that hold the K♣, whatever the other card is. On the full-house board, 9♥ 9♠ adds one more hand that beats it: four nines.
Four of a Kind on the Board: The Kicker Decides
When all four cards of a rank are on the board, every player has four of a kind, and the pot goes to the best fifth card. That fifth card can be the fifth board card or a card from your hand, whichever is higher. It happens on 1 board in 4,165.
| Board K♠ K♥ K♦ K♣ 9♦ | Your best five | Hands that beat you | Hands that tie you |
|---|---|---|---|
| A♥ 2♣ | Four kings, ace kicker | 0 | 129 (any other ace) |
| A♠ A♦ | Four kings, ace kicker | 0 | 87 |
| Q♥ J♥ | Four kings, queen kicker | 170 (any ace) | 117 (any other queen without an ace) |
| 8♥ 7♥ | Four kings, nine kicker from the board | 584 (any ace, queen, jack or ten) | 406 (everyone else plays the board too) |
Exact over all 990 possible opponent hands. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
Three practical points follow:
- Only one card counts. A♥ 2♣ and A♠ A♦ are exactly as strong here: each plays four kings with an ace, and the second hole card does nothing.
- An ace is the nuts. No hand can beat four kings with an ace kicker on this board, so the only question is how many other players also hold an ace.
- Playing the board splits. If no one has a card higher than the board’s fifth card, every player still in shares the pot, and you still have to show your cards to claim your share.
The same logic applies when the board shows a full house, like K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 9♦. Everyone has at least kings full of nines, and a player who can’t improve it plays the board and splits. On that board, though, a player can do better, with the K♣ for four kings, 9♥ 9♠ for four nines, or a pocket pair above nines for kings full of that pair.
Which Starting Hands Make Four of a Kind
A pocket pair is the only starting hand that can make four of a kind with both hole cards. Here’s how often each kind of starting hand makes each hand, counting every possible board:
| Starting hand | Four of a kind on the flop | Four of a kind by the river | Full house on the flop | Full house by the river |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any pocket pair (A♠ A♦, 10♠ 10♦, 2♠ 2♦ and so on) | 0.245% (1 in 408) | 0.842% (1 in 119) | 0.98% (1 in 102) | 8.55% (1 in 12) |
| Any unpaired hand (A♠ K♠, J♠ 10♦, 7♠ 2♦ and so on) | 0.010% (1 in 9,800) | 0.126% (1 in 794) | 0.092% (1 in 1,089) | 2.22% (1 in 45) |
Exact over all 19,600 flops and 2,118,760 full boards for each starting hand. Figures by the river count hands whose best hand is four of a kind or a full house, including four of a kind on the board. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
Every pocket pair has the same chances, and so does every unpaired hand.
As with full houses, the ranks and suits make no difference: every pocket pair has exactly the same chances, and so does every unpaired hand. A pocket pair makes four of a kind almost seven times as often as an unpaired hand, 1 in 119 against 1 in 794, and flops it 24 times as often.
An unpaired hand’s four of a kind always needs heavy help from the board: the board has to show three cards of one of your ranks, or all four of some other rank. That’s why an unpaired hand’s four of a kind is usually visible to everyone at the table, while a pocket pair’s four of a kind can hide behind an innocent-looking pair on the board.
The flop numbers also show why you shouldn’t expect it. With a pocket pair, you’ll flop four of a kind about once in every 408 times you see a flop, and a full house about once in 102.
How long you’ll wait for each
Another way to feel the difference between the two hands is to count how many hands you’d have to play to the river to see them. Here are the four strongest hands in Hold’em, for a player who sees all seven cards every time:
| Best hand by the river | Chance per hand | About once in | At least once in 100 hands | At least once in 1,000 hands | At least once in 10,000 hands |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full house | 2.60% | 39 hands | 92.8% | Almost certain | Certain for practical purposes |
| Four of a kind | 0.168% | 595 hands | 15.5% | 81.4% | Certain for practical purposes |
| Straight flush (not royal) | 0.0279% | 3,591 hands | 2.7% | 24.3% | 93.8% |
| Royal flush | 0.0032% | 30,940 hands | 0.3% | 3.2% | 27.6% |
Exact seven-card frequencies over all 133,784,560 hands; “at least once” treats each hand as independent. Real players fold most hands before the river, so in practice the waits are much longer. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
A player who saw every river would make a full house every 39 hands or so, but would wait about 595 hands for four of a kind, and even across 1,000 hands would miss it altogether almost one time in five. That rarity is exactly what the rankings reward. It also explains why a full house feels unbeatable at the table: most of the time, it is.
Drawing to Four of a Kind
Four of a kind is almost never a draw you play for. It usually arrives on its own, when you already hold three of a kind or a full house and the last card of your rank appears. Here’s how often that happens:
| What you hold | Outs to four of a kind | Four of a kind by the river | Full house by the river |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pocket pair, before the flop | Two cards of your rank | 0.84% | 8.55% |
| Set or trips on the flop | 1 (the last card of your rank) | 4.26% (1 in 23.5) | 29.1% |
| Set or trips on the turn | 1 | 2.17% (1 in 46) | 19.6% |
| Full house on the flop, like 9-9 on 9-K-K | 1 (the last nine) | 4.26% for four nines | Already made |
| Two pair on the flop, both hole cards paired | Runner-runner only | 0.19% | 16.6% |
| Pocket pair, no set, unpaired flop | Runner-runner only | 0.09% | Depends on the board |
Exact from 47 unseen cards after the flop and 46 after the turn, ignoring the opponent’s cards. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
Exact, ignoring the opponent’s cards.
With one card of your rank left, you have one out on the turn and one on the river, 2 chances in 47 from the flop. Pocket pairs make four of a kind 0.84% of the time mostly this way: flop a set, then catch the last card.
Coolers: four of a kind and full houses against each other
| Situation | Hands | Board | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full house against trips, on the flop | 9♥ 9♦ against K♦ Q♣ | 9♣ K♠ K♥ | 77.1% against 22.9% |
| The same, on the turn | 9♥ 9♦ against K♦ Q♣ | 9♣ K♠ K♥ 4♦ | 84.1% against 15.9% |
| Top full house against a lower full house, on the flop | K♣ K♦ against K♠ 9♥ | K♥ 9♦ 9♣ | 95.6% against 4.4% |
| Four of a kind against a full house, on the flop | 9♥ 9♦ against K♠ K♥ | 9♠ 9♣ K♦ | 95.6% against 4.4% |
| The same, on the turn | 9♥ 9♦ against K♠ K♥ | 9♠ 9♣ K♦ 2♥ | 97.7% against 2.3% |
| Four of a kind against a straight flush draw, on the flop | 9♥ 9♦ against J♠ 10♠ | 9♠ 9♣ 8♠ | 91.2% against 8.8% |
| Set over set, on the flop | K♠ K♥ against 9♥ 9♦ | K♦ 9♣ 4♠ | 95.7% against 4.3% |
Exact over every possible turn and river. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
The first row is a trap for the full house. 9♥ 9♦ has nines full of kings on 9♣ K♠ K♥, but K♦ Q♣ has three kings and four outs on the turn: three queens for kings full of queens and the K♣ for four kings. If the turn is a new rank, like the 4♦, the three remaining fours become outs too, seven in all on the river. That’s the underfull problem: a full house whose three of a kind is lower than the board’s pair can be passed by a single card.
The rest show how little a hand can do once it’s behind a bigger full house or four of a kind. Nines full of kings against kings full of nines needs the last nine, 4.4%. Kings full against four nines has exactly one out, the K♣, for four kings: 4.4% on the flop and 2.3% on the turn. Only a straight flush draw has more, two outs in the Q♠ and the 7♠.
How Often a Full House Runs Into Four of a Kind
Four of a kind beats a full house every time they meet, but how often do they meet? We simulated 400,000,000 Hold’em deals at every table size from two to nine players, with every player seeing all five board cards:
| Players | Someone has a full house | Someone has four of a kind | A full house loses to four of a kind | Winning hand is a full house |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 4.8% | 0.31% | 1 deal in 1,438 | 4.7% |
| 3 | 6.7% | 0.46% | 1 in 601 | 6.5% |
| 4 | 8.4% | 0.60% | 1 in 355 | 8.2% |
| 5 | 10.0% | 0.74% | 1 in 247 | 9.6% |
| 6 | 11.5% | 0.89% | 1 in 188 | 10.9% |
| 7 | 12.8% | 1.03% | 1 in 151 | 12.1% |
| 8 | 14.0% | 1.18% | 1 in 127 | 13.2% |
| 9 | 15.2% | 1.32% | 1 in 110 | 14.3% |
TopSitesPoker.com simulation, 400,000,000 deals per table size, every player seeing the river. “A full house loses to four of a kind” counts deals where the winning hand is four of a kind and at least one other player has a full house. The heads-up row is exact; the simulation gave 1 in 1,444. The winning-hand column includes split pots.
Every player seeing the river; 400,000,000 simulated deals per table size, heads-up exact.
Heads-up, a full house loses to four of a kind about once in every 1,438 deals. At a full nine-handed table with everyone seeing the river, it’s about once in 110, 13 times as often. Four of a kind is still rare at any table size: even nine-handed, only 1.3% of deals produce one, and about 1 deal in 4,165 puts all four on the board for everyone to share.
What happens to a full house at showdown
| Players | Full house wins | Splits | Loses | Loses to a higher full house | Loses to four of a kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 87.0% | 7.2% | 5.8% | 4.5% | 1.3% |
| 4 | 74.4% | 10.2% | 15.5% | 11.4% | 4.0% |
| 6 | 65.2% | 11.8% | 23.0% | 16.3% | 6.7% |
| 9 | 55.3% | 13.0% | 31.7% | 20.9% | 10.7% |
Share of all players whose best hand is a full house, in the same simulation. Losses to a straight flush, 0.1% or less at every table size, are included in “Loses” but not shown separately. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
A full house loses to a higher full house more often than to four of a kind at every table size. Heads-up, fewer than one in four of its losses are to four of a kind; nine-handed, about one in three. That’s the same lesson the board-by-board numbers teach: most of the danger to a full house comes from bigger full houses, and four of a kind becomes a serious threat mainly when the board shows three of a kind.
What happens to four of a kind at showdown
| Players | Four of a kind wins (board not showing four of a kind) | Loses to a higher four of a kind | Loses to a straight flush | Two different fours of a kind in one deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 99.98% | 0.007% | 0.011% | 1 in 4.8 million deals |
| 4 | 99.95% | 0.021% | 0.033% | 1 in 808,000 |
| 6 | 99.91% | 0.036% | 0.055% | 1 in 326,000 |
| 9 | 99.86% | 0.057% | 0.088% | 1 in 134,000 |
Share of all players whose best hand is four of a kind, leaving out deals with four of a kind on the board, in the same simulation. The heads-up row is exact. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
Four of a kind is as close to a sure thing as poker gets: outside of four of a kind on the board, it won more than 99.8% of its showdowns at every table size. And when it wins, it’s often against a big hand. Heads-up, 20.7% of all fours of a kind won a pot against an opponent holding a full house; nine-handed, 60.1% won a pot in which at least one opponent held one.
All of these figures describe the worst case for big hands, with every player staying to the river. In real games, most players fold before the river, so showdowns are smaller. The patterns hold in any game, though: the more players see the river, and the more the board pairs up, the more often a full house runs into four of a kind.
Four of a Kind vs Full House Showdowns: Worked Examples
Here are thirteen Hold’em showdowns involving four of a kind and full houses, including the kicker situations that come up when four of a kind is on the board. In each one, both players use their best five of seven cards.
| Board | Player A | Player B | Winner | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K♠ K♥ 9♣ 5♦ 2♠ | K♦ K♣: four kings | 9♦ 9♠: nines full of kings | A | Any four of a kind beats any full house |
| K♠ K♥ 9♣ 5♦ 2♠ | K♦ 9♥: kings full of nines | 9♦ 9♠: nines full of kings | A | Three kings beat three nines |
| K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 5♦ | A♥ A♦: kings full of aces | K♣ 2♥: four kings | B | One card, the last king, beats the best full house |
| K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 5♦ | 9♥ 9♦: kings full of nines | A♥ A♦: kings full of aces | B | Same three kings, so the pair decides |
| K♠ K♥ 9♣ 9♦ 5♠ | K♦ 5♥: kings full of nines | 9♥ 9♠: four nines | B | A pocket pair matching one of the board’s pairs |
| K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 9♦ | A♥ A♦: kings full of aces | 9♥ 9♠: four nines | B | Four of a kind beats a full house even with a lower rank |
| K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 9♦ | Q♥ J♥: plays the board | 8♠ 2♣: plays the board | Split | Kings full of nines is on the board |
| K♠ K♥ K♦ K♣ 9♦ | A♥ 2♣: ace kicker | Q♥ J♥: queen kicker | A | Same four kings, so the kicker decides |
| K♠ K♥ K♦ K♣ 9♦ | 8♥ 7♥: plays the board | 6♠ 5♠: plays the board | Split | Both play the board’s nine as the kicker |
| K♠ K♥ K♦ K♣ 9♦ | A♥ 2♣: ace kicker | A♠ 3♦: ace kicker | Split | Only one kicker counts; the second hole card doesn’t play |
| Q♠ Q♥ 7♣ 7♦ 3♠ | Q♦ Q♣: four queens | 7♥ 7♠: four sevens | A | Two fours of a kind: the higher four wins |
| 9♠ 9♣ 8♠ 7♠ 2♥ | 9♥ 9♦: four nines | J♠ 10♠: jack-high straight flush | B | A straight flush beats four of a kind |
| A♠ A♥ 8♦ 8♣ 4♥ | A♦ K♣: aces full of eights | 8♥ 8♠: four eights | B | The best full house on the board loses to the pocket pair |
Every showdown checked with a hand evaluator.
The eleventh row is one of the rarest coolers in Hold’em: two pocket pairs that both match a pair on the board. Even at a full nine-handed table with everyone seeing the river, any two different fours of a kind meet only about once in 134,000 deals, and six-handed about once in 326,000. This exact pattern accounts for three in seven of those; the rest come from a full house on the board, where one player holds the last card of the three and another holds the pocket pair that matches the board’s pair.
The last row shows why a full house on a two-pair board is vulnerable. A♦ K♣ has aces full of eights, the best full house possible, but 8♥ 8♠ turned the board’s pair of eights into four of a kind. On a board with two pairs, each pair gives exactly one pocket pair a chance at four of a kind.
How to read a paired board from the top
- Check for a straight flush. Three cards of one suit within five ranks make one possible.
- Find the four of a kind. For each pair on the board, one pocket pair makes four of a kind. For three of a kind on the board, any hand with the last card of that rank does.
- Find the best full house. The top full house uses the highest possible three of a kind with the highest possible pair.
- Place your hand. Count how many of those better hands your opponent could hold, and remember that your own cards block some of them.
How to Play a Full House When Four of a Kind Is Possible
Four of a kind is possible on every paired board, but how much it should worry you depends almost entirely on the board’s shape. The key is to count how many hands make it.
One pair on the board: worry about bigger full houses, not quads
On K♠ K♥ 9♣ 5♦ 2♠, exactly one two-card hand makes four of a kind: K♦ K♣. That’s 1 of the 990 hands an opponent could hold. If you hold 9♥ 9♦ for nines full of kings, 15 hands beat you, but 14 of them are bigger full houses: every king that pairs a nine, five or deuce on the board. The underfull, a full house whose three of a kind is lower than the board’s pair, is the real risk here, not four of a kind.
If you hold one of the two remaining kings yourself, the four of a kind is impossible, and a king with the highest other board card is the nuts. On this board, K♦ 9♥ can’t be beaten.
Two pair on the board: two specific pocket pairs
On K♠ K♥ 9♣ 9♦ 5♠, one pocket pair for each board pair makes four of a kind, K♦ K♣ and 9♥ 9♠. If you hold one card of either rank, you block that pocket pair completely: K♦ 5♥, kings full of nines, loses only to 9♥ 9♠ and ties with the 44 hands holding the K♣.
Three of a kind on the board: the last card
This is where full houses really do run into four of a kind. On K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 5♦, the K♣ makes four kings with any other card, so 44 of the 990 hands beat even kings full of aces. Heads-up against a random hand, a full house on a board with three of a kind loses to four of a kind 4.4% of the time; against a player who keeps raising, far more often.
There’s no blocker to help you here. If you held the K♣, you’d have four of a kind yourself. The practical answer is to value-bet full houses but to slow down against heavy action, especially from players who rarely bluff.
How to Play Four of a Kind
Once you have four of a kind, you almost never lose: with the board not showing all four, a four of a kind won more than 99.8% of its showdowns in our simulations at every table size, losing only to straight flushes and, very rarely, to a higher four of a kind. The question is how to get paid, and that depends on what your opponents can have:
| Your hand and board | Opponent hands with a full house | Opponent hands with three of a kind | Opponent hands with two pair or less |
|---|---|---|---|
| K♦ K♣ on K♠ K♥ 9♣ 5♦ 2♠ (pocket pair, one pair on the board) | 9 | 0 | 981 |
| K♣ 2♥ on K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 5♦ (one card, three on the board) | 306 | 684 | 0 |
Exact over all 990 possible opponent hands. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
The two situations call for opposite plans. With a pocket pair matching the board’s pair, almost no opponent has a hand that can call a big bet, so many players check or bet small to let others bluff or catch up. With three of a kind on the board, every opponent has at least three of a kind and almost a third have full houses, so betting for value is usually the better way to get paid.
Four of a Kind vs Full House in Other Poker Games
Four of a kind beats a full house in every standard high-hand game, Short Deck included. What changes is how often the two meet and, in video poker, how much four of a kind is worth.
Omaha
Both hands are far more common in Omaha, where each player has four hole cards and must use exactly two of them with exactly three board cards. By the river, 0.48% of Omaha hands finish with four of a kind, according to the exact count published by the Wizard of Odds, and 6.35% with a full house, according to our 200,000,000-hand simulation. That’s almost three times the Hold’em rate for four of a kind and about two and a half times for full houses.
Omaha changes how four of a kind is made. You need a pocket pair that matches a pair on the board, or one hole card that matches three of a kind on the board. Four of a kind on the board itself doesn’t play at all, and two players can never share the same four of a kind, so there are no kicker battles. In our simulation of 30,000,000 six-handed Omaha deals, with every player seeing the river, a full house lost to four of a kind once every 70 deals, against once every 188 in Hold’em; heads-up, a separate 60,000,000-deal simulation put it at once every 609 deals, against 1,438. Omaha four of a kind won 99.5% of its six-handed showdowns, while an Omaha full house lost 26.8% of the time, most often to a higher full house (20.0%), with about a quarter of its losses going to four of a kind.
Short Deck (6+ Hold’em)
Short Deck removes the 2s through 5s, leaving 36 cards. Four of a kind stays above the full house, and above the flush, which most Short Deck rules move above the full house:
| Short Deck hand | Five-card hands | By the river, Short Deck Hold’em |
|---|---|---|
| Four of a kind | 288 of 376,992 (0.076%) | 0.535% |
| Flush | 480 (0.127%) | 2.10% |
| Full house | 1,728 (0.458%) | 7.58% |
Exact over all 376,992 five-card and 8,347,680 seven-card Short Deck hands. The four of a kind and flush rows leave out straight flushes. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
With nine ranks instead of 13, each rank is a bigger share of the deck, so four of a kind is about three times as common as in the full deck: 0.535% by the river of Short Deck Hold’em against 0.168% in Hold’em. It’s still rarer than the flush and the full house, so it keeps its place above both.
Seven Card Stud
Stud players see seven cards, so the frequencies match Hold’em: four of a kind 0.168% and a full house 2.60% by seventh street. The difference is that every player’s hand is their own, so two players can’t share a four of a kind and there’s no board to play. Starting with three of a kind on third street, “rolled up”, you’ll finish with four of a kind 8.2% of the time and a full house 32.0%, before counting the cards you can see in other players’ hands. If one of your rank is showing in someone else’s up cards, your four of a kind is dead.
Five Card Draw
Dealt pat, four of a kind comes once in 4,165 hands. When you draw:
- Three of a kind, drawing two: four of a kind 4.3%, full house 6.1%.
- Three of a kind plus a kicker, drawing one: four of a kind 2.1%, full house 6.4%.
- One pair, drawing three: four of a kind 0.28%, full house 1.0%.
Drawing two to three of a kind doubles your chance of four of a kind compared with keeping a kicker, because you see two new cards instead of one.
Lowball
In lowball games, where the lowest hand wins, four of a kind and full houses are among the worst hands you can hold. Pairs count against you in Deuce-to-Seven, Ace-to-Five and Razz alike, and both hands are built from pairs.
Video poker
In full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better, four of a kind pays 25 for 1 and a full house 9 for 1. According to the Wizard of Odds, with optimal play four of a kind appears in 0.236% of final hands and a full house in 1.15%. Bonus games raise the four of a kind payouts, and that changes how you play full houses. In Double Double Bonus Poker, four aces pay 160 for 1, or 400 with a 2, 3 or 4 as the kicker:
| Game | Dealt hand | Best hold | Average return per credit | Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacks or Better | 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ K♣ K♥ | The full house | 9.00 | The three eights: 4.31 |
| Jacks or Better | K♠ K♥ K♦ K♣ 7♥ | The four kings | 25.00 | Keeping or drawing the kicker makes no difference |
| Double Double Bonus | A♠ A♥ A♦ K♣ K♥ | The three aces | 12.72 | The full house: 9.00 |
| Double Double Bonus | A♠ A♥ A♦ 2♣ 2♥ | The three aces | 12.27 | Three aces and the 2♣: 11.70; the full house: 9.00 |
| Double Double Bonus | 3♠ 3♥ 3♦ A♣ A♥ | The full house | 9.00 | The three threes: 7.39 |
| Double Double Bonus | 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ K♣ K♥ | The full house | 9.00 | The three eights: 5.37 |
| Double Double Bonus | A♠ A♥ A♦ A♣ 7♥ | The four aces, drawing a new kicker | 221.28 | Keeping the 7♥: 160.00 |
| Double Double Bonus | 3♠ 3♥ 3♦ 3♣ 9♥ | The four threes, drawing a new kicker | 100.43 | Keeping the 9♥: 80.00 |
Exact over every possible draw. Full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better: pair of jacks or better 1, two pair 2, three of a kind 3, straight 4, flush 6, full house 9, four of a kind 25, straight flush 50, royal flush 800. 9/6 Double Double Bonus: four aces with a 2, 3 or 4 kicker 400, four aces 160, four 2s, 3s or 4s with an ace, 2, 3 or 4 kicker 160, four 2s, 3s or 4s 80, other fours of a kind 50, full house 9, flush 6, straight 4, three of a kind 3, two pair 1, jacks or better 1, straight flush 50, royal flush 800. All per credit with maximum coins. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
These are some of the strangest correct plays in video poker. In Double Double Bonus, aces full is worth less than the chance of four aces, so you throw away a paying full house and keep the three aces. And when you’re dealt four aces or four 2s, 3s or 4s without a bonus kicker, you discard the kicker and draw for one, because the chance of the 400 or 160 bonus is worth more than the sure payout.
Four of a Kind and Full Houses at Showdown: Rules and Etiquette
- Cards speak. Your hand is what your cards make, not what you say. If you announce “full house” and turn over four of a kind, the four of a kind is what’s read [TDA 13]. Deliberately miscalling a hand can be penalized.
- Show both hole cards. Table all your hole cards face up so they can be read [TDA 14]. When four of a kind is on the board, the kicker in your hand may be what wins, so let the dealer see it. Even when you’re playing the board’s four of a kind or full house for a split, you have to show your cards to get part of the pot [TDA 20].
- Don’t muck too soon. Players on a board with four of a kind sometimes throw away a winning kicker because they assume everyone splits. Once your cards hit the muck and can’t be identified, they’re dead [TDA 15].
- Suits never break ties. Two identical fours of a kind with the same kicker rank split the pot, and so do two identical full houses.
- Odd chips. When a pot is split in a flop game, TDA rules give any odd chip to the first winner to the left of the button [TDA 21]. In Stud, it’s usually awarded by suit to the high card.
- Bad beat jackpots. Many cardrooms pay a jackpot when a very strong hand, often four of a kind or a big full house, loses at showdown. Qualifying rules vary widely, for example whether both hole cards must play, so read the posted rules before you count on one.
The TDA rules apply only in events and rooms that adopt them. Home games and many cardrooms use their own procedures, so check the posted rules where you play.
Common Mistakes With Four of a Kind and Full Houses
| Mistake | Why it costs you | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Thinking a big full house beats low four of a kind | Four deuces beat aces full of kings; categories come before ranks | Compare the hand category first |
| Fearing quads on every paired board | With one pair on the board, only 1 of 990 hands makes four of a kind | Worry about bigger full houses there, not quads |
| Ignoring the last card on a board with three of a kind | Any hand with the fourth card has four of a kind: 44 of 990 hands beat kings full of aces on K-K-K-9-5 | Slow down against heavy action on boards with three of a kind |
| Overvaluing an underfull | 9-9 on K-K-9 loses to every king that pairs a board card | Count the bigger full houses before you raise |
| Mucking on a board with four of a kind | The kicker decides; an ace in your hand may win the whole pot | Show your cards and let the kicker be read |
| Counting two hole cards as kickers | Only one card beside the four of a kind plays | Take the single highest card left |
| Expecting a shared four of a kind in Omaha | Omaha uses exactly three board cards, so four on the board doesn’t play | Build every Omaha hand from two hole cards plus three board cards |
| Keeping aces full in Double Double Bonus | Three aces are worth 12.72 per credit; the full house 9.00 | Break the full house and keep the aces |
| Keeping a dead kicker with four aces in Double Double Bonus | Drawing for a 2, 3 or 4 is worth 221.28; keeping the 7 is worth 160 | Discard a kicker that doesn’t qualify for the bonus |
Figures from the exact counts in this guide. Calculated by TopSitesPoker.com.
Most of these come down to counting. On a paired board, ask how many two-card hands make four of a kind, and how many make a bigger full house than yours. The answers differ enormously from board to board.
Four of a Kind vs Full House Quiz
Test yourself. Every answer was checked with a hand evaluator or calculated exactly.
| # | Question | Answer | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Which wins: 2♠ 2♥ 2♦ 2♣ 3♠ or A♠ A♥ A♦ K♣ K♠? | Four deuces | Any four of a kind beats any full house |
| 2 | How many five-card fours of a kind and full houses are there? | 624 and 3,744 | Six full houses for every four of a kind |
| 3 | Board K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 5♦. A♥ A♦ against K♣ 2♥? | K♣ 2♥ | Four kings beat kings full of aces |
| 4 | Board K♠ K♥ K♦ K♣ 9♦. A♥ 2♣ against A♠ 3♦? | Split pot | Same four kings, same ace kicker |
| 5 | Board K♠ K♥ K♦ K♣ 9♦. 8♥ 7♥ against 6♠ 5♠? | Split pot | Both play the board’s nine as the kicker |
| 6 | Which wins: 9-9-9-9 with a deuce or 8-8-8-8 with an ace? | The four nines | The kicker only counts when the fours match |
| 7 | How often does a flop set become four of a kind by the river? | 4.26%, about 1 in 23.5 | One out on the turn and one on the river |
| 8 | Can Omaha players share four of a kind on the board? | No | Only three board cards can be used |
| 9 | What’s the only hand that beats four of a kind? | A straight flush | Including the royal flush |
| 10 | In Double Double Bonus, what do you keep from A♠ A♥ A♦ K♣ K♥? | The three aces | 12.72 per credit against 9.00 for the full house |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does four of a kind beat a full house?
Yes, in Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Seven Card Stud, Five Card Draw, Short Deck and every other standard high-hand game. Four of a kind ranks third from the top and a full house fourth.
Why does four of a kind beat a full house?
Because it’s six times rarer in five cards. Of the 2,598,960 possible five-card hands, 624 are four of a kind and 3,744 are full houses. Poker ranks rarer hands higher.
Does the lowest four of a kind beat the highest full house?
Yes. Four deuces with any kicker beat aces full of kings, A-A-A-K-K. Hand categories are compared before ranks.
What beats four of a kind?
Only a straight flush, including the royal flush, and a higher four of a kind. When all four are on the board, the same four of a kind with a better kicker also wins.
What is “quads”?
Poker slang for four of a kind. Four kings are “quad kings” or “four kings.”
Does a kicker matter with four of a kind?
Only when two players have the same four of a kind, which in Hold’em happens only when all four are on the board. Then the highest fifth card wins, whether it’s in your hand or on the board. Only one kicker plays, so A-2 and A-K are equal there.
What happens when four of a kind is on the board?
Every player has it, and the pot goes to the best kicker. If no one holds a card higher than the fifth board card, everyone still in plays the board and splits. It happens on 1 board in 4,165.
Can you have four of a kind and a full house at the same time?
Yes, with six or more cards: 18.6% of seven-card fours of a kind also contain a full house. The four of a kind always plays, with the highest remaining card as the kicker.
How rare is four of a kind in Texas Hold’em?
For a player who sees all seven cards, it’s the best hand 0.168% of the time, about 1 in 595. A pocket pair makes it 1 in 119 times by the river and flops it 1 in 408 times.
What are the odds of turning a set into four of a kind?
From the flop, 4.26%, about 1 in 23.5: one card is left, and you have two chances to catch it. From the turn, 2.17%, 1 in 46.
Is four of a kind possible on every paired board?
Yes. With one pair on the board, the pocket pair of that rank makes it; with three of a kind on the board, the last card of that rank does. On a one-pair board it’s only one two-card hand, though, while on a board with three of a kind it’s 44 or more.
How often does a full house lose to four of a kind?
With everyone seeing the river, in about 1 of every 1,438 heads-up deals, 1 in 188 six-handed and 1 in 110 nine-handed. Heads-up against a random hand, a full house on a board with three of a kind loses to four of a kind 4.4% of the time, and on a board with one pair only 0.034%.
Who wins if two players have four of a kind?
The higher four of a kind. Four queens beat four sevens, whatever the kickers. Two different fours of a kind need a board with two pairs, where two pocket pairs each match one, or a full house on the board, where one player holds the last card of the three and another the pocket pair matching the pair. It’s one of the rarest coolers in poker.
Does four of a kind beat a full house in Short Deck?
Yes. Short Deck moves the flush above the full house, but four of a kind stays above both: 288 five-card hands against 480 flushes and 1,728 full houses.
Does four of a kind beat a full house in Omaha?
Yes. The difference is how you make it: a pocket pair matching a board pair, or one hole card matching three of a kind on the board. Four of a kind on the board doesn’t play in Omaha, because you can only use three board cards.
How much does four of a kind pay in video poker?
25 for 1 in full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better, against 9 for 1 for a full house. Bonus games pay more for certain fours of a kind, up to 400 for 1 for four aces with a 2, 3 or 4 kicker in Double Double Bonus.
Should you ever break a full house in video poker?
Yes, in Double Double Bonus with aces full: keeping the three aces is worth 12.72 per credit, the full house 9.00. With a lower three of a kind, like threes full of aces or eights full of kings, keep the full house.
Four of a Kind vs Full House: Quick-Reference Summary
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does four of a kind beat a full house? | Yes, in every standard high-hand game, Short Deck included |
| Why | It’s six times rarer: 624 five-card hands against 3,744 |
| Rank | Four of a kind third, full house fourth of the ten standard hands |
| Lowest against highest | 2-2-2-2 beats A-A-A-K-K |
| Both in one hand | Possible with seven cards (18.6% of fours of a kind); the four of a kind plays |
| Odds by the Hold’em river | Four of a kind 0.168% (1 in 595), full house 2.60% (1 in 39); 15.4 full houses per four of a kind |
| How Hold’em fours of a kind are made | Pocket pair 2, one hole card 4, all on the board 1, an exact 2 : 4 : 1 |
| Starting hands | Pocket pairs make four of a kind 1 in 119 times, unpaired hands 1 in 794 |
| Set to four of a kind | 4.26% from the flop, 2.17% from the turn |
| Full house loses to four of a kind, heads-up | 0.034% on a one-pair board, 4.4% on a board with three of a kind |
| How often, everyone to the river | 1 deal in 1,438 heads-up, 1 in 188 six-handed, 1 in 110 nine-handed |
| Four of a kind on the board | Everyone has it; the single best kicker wins |
| Video poker | 25 for 1 in 9/6 Jacks or Better; in Double Double Bonus, break aces full to keep the three aces |
About This Guide
This guide uses the standard poker hand rankings used in casinos, cardrooms and online, and the TDA 2026 rules (version 1.0, September 7, 2026) where showdown procedure is concerned. House rules, especially on Short Deck rankings, Stud procedures, split pots and bad beat jackpots, vary, and the rules of the room or site where you play always apply.
Every probability except the video poker frequencies and the Omaha four of a kind count was produced by the TopSitesPoker.com editorial team rather than copied from other sources:
- Exact counts: five-, six- and seven-card counts over all 2,598,960, 20,358,520 and 133,784,560 hands; fours of a kind by rank and kicker; how fours of a kind are made and hand frequencies by board shape over all 2,809,475,760 combinations of two hole cards and five board cards; heads-up full house losses by board shape over every combination of board and hands; starting-hand figures over every flop and every board; Short Deck over all 376,992 five-card and 8,347,680 seven-card hands; and every example, equity, beat count, outs figure and Stud or Draw probability over all possible remaining cards.
- Simulations: the Omaha full house frequency from 200,000,000 simulated hands; the Omaha showdown figures from 30,000,000 simulated six-handed and 60,000,000 heads-up deals; and the Hold’em table-size figures from 400,000,000 simulated deals per table size, all with every player seeing the river.
- Video poker: the hold values are exact over every possible draw. The four of a kind and full house frequencies under optimal 9/6 Jacks or Better strategy are published figures from the Wizard of Odds, as is the exact Omaha four of a kind count.
- Evaluator checks: every example, comparison, showdown and quiz answer was verified with a hand evaluator, with Omaha hands evaluated using exactly two hole cards and three board cards.
Hold’em, Omaha and Stud figures assume every hand is played to the end. In real games, many players fold before the river, so showdowns are smaller and big hands like four of a kind and full houses win more often than these worst-case figures suggest.
The Bottom Line
Four of a kind beats a full house in every standard high-hand game, because it’s six times rarer in five cards and more than 15 times rarer by the Hold’em river. Four deuces beat aces full, and only a straight flush beats four of a kind.
The practical skill is counting what the board allows. With one pair on the board, only one two-card hand makes four of a kind, so a full house there should fear bigger full houses, not quads. With three of a kind on the board, the last card of that rank beats every full house, and 44 hands hold it. With four of a kind on the board, it all comes down to the kicker. Count before you bet, and when the biggest cooler in poker does arrive, you’ll at least have seen it coming.
About the Author and Legal Notes
Written and fact-checked by the TopSitesPoker.com Editorial Team. Our editors write, test and review every guide on the site. Poker odds in our guides are calculated with exact enumeration or large-scale simulation, never copied, and rules are checked against current Poker Tournament Directors Association (TDA) standards and published cardroom rules.
Last updated: September 24, 2026
Next scheduled review: March 2027
- For information only. This guide is for educational and informational purposes. It isn’t legal, financial or professional gambling advice, and nothing in it guarantees a result at the table.
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