RANKING RULES:

• Higher ranking hands always beat the lower-ranked hands below it. A full house ALWAYS beats a flush, a straight, three of a kind, two pair, a pair and high card. Four of a kind, a straight flush and a royal flush beat a full house.

• Two hands of the same rank force a showdown of the individual card rankings. Four Kings ALWAYS beats four Jacks. Three fours ALWAYS beats three twos. A pair of nines ALWAYS beats a pair of fives. A straight with a King as its highest ranking card ALWAYS beats every other straight but the one with the Ace used high. A flush with a Jack as its highest card ALWAYS beats every other flush except for those with a Queen, King or Ace as the highest card. If the two hands have equal high cards, the next high card is used (and so on) to determine a winner.

• In the case of two full houses, the hand with the three cards of higher ranking wins. A full house is essentially three of a kind and a pair in the same hand. A full house with three eights ALWAYS beats a full house with three sevens, sixes, fives, fours, threes or twos, but loses to three nines, tens, Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces.

• With comparing equal hands of two pair or a pair, the ranking shifts to the individual cards that aren't paired, the kickers. If two players have a pair of eights, the next highest card in their hands is compared. If those are the same, the next kicker is compared and if that is also the same, the final kickers are compared. If the hands are identical, the pot is split. If two players have the same two pairs - let's say Aces and eights - the highest kicker determines the winner.

Hand rankings in two minutes courtesy of PartyPoker.com: