The two-pair poker hand doesn’t offer especially high value, either in Texas Hold ‘em or Omaha. In fact, only two hands are ranked lower in poker, so it can prove challenging to play this type of hand in real time.
But what beats 2 pairs in poker, and what are the best strategies when playing this hand? We’ll explore this below while appraising the implied probability of being dealt this hand.
“Poker is a game of chance played by skillful and strategic mathematical geniuses.”
As you can see, a two-pair hand in poker comprises two numerical pairs of any suit. You can be dealt 858 distinct hands comprising two pairs in a standard 52-card deck. Despite being the eighth-best poker hand, it’s one of the most common, with an implied probability of 4.7539% and odds against of 20.03535/1.
As we can see, there are standard odds of 20.03535/1 against you being dealt two pairs at the start of a game. These odds imply a 4.7539% probability of this hand being drawn, making it the third most likely after one pair and a high-value card. Where Does Two Pair Rank in the Poker Hand Ratings Chart?
As I’ve already touched on, a two-pair poker hand is ranked eighth in the overall hierarchy of poker hands. However, although it’s not a particularly high-value hand, the odds of you being dealt two pairs are relatively high on the flop, turn, or river.
This is especially true if you’re dealt a pair of pocket aces, although this could also set up a superior hand such as a full house or even four-of-a-kind. To learn more about precisely where a two-pair hand sits in the poker pantheon, check out our detailed guide!
Seven of the 10 available hands beat 2 pairs in poker, so this remains a low-level hand that’s hard to play effectively. However, it does beat one pair and a high card hand. Here’s an at-a-glance summary for you to consider!
| Two Pairs beats a Royal Flush | ❌ |
|---|---|
| Two Pairs beats a Straight Flush | ❌ |
| Two Pairs beats Four Of A Kind | ❌ |
| Two Pairs beats a Full House | ❌ |
| Two Pairs beats a Flush | ❌ |
| Two Pairs beats a Straight | ❌ |
| Two Pairs beats Three Of A Kind | ❌ |
| Two Pairs beats One Pair | ✔️ |
| Two Pairs beats a High Card | ✔️ |
A Royal Flush is the best possible hand in poker, and it defeats any conceivable brace of pairs. However, your odds of being dealt a Royal Flush are vanishingly low at 649,739/1, implying just a 0.000154% probability of this outcome occurring. Remember, there’s only one distinct hand that comprises a Royal Flush, and 858 potential two-pair combinations in poker.
A Straight Flush ranks second in the poker hand tier. This comprises five numerically sequential cards of the same suit, while your odds of being dealt this hand are 72,192.33/1. So, there’s only a 0.00139% of you constructing a Straight Flush at the beginning of each hand. There are nine distinct hands of this type that can be dealt.
The four-of-a-kind poker hand ranks third overall and includes four numerically identical cards. There are 156 potential iterations of this hand, while the odds against this being drawn are 4,164/1. So, it’s considerably less likely than a two-pair poker hand and has an implied probability of just 0.02401%.
Standard two-pair poker rules also dictate that this hand loses to a Full House. This hand comprises a single pair and three-of-a-kind, while the cards can be of any suit. The odds against this hand being drawn are 693.1667/1 at the beginning of any game, so there’s a 0.1441% implied probability of this outcome occurring.
The fifth-ranked poker hand is called a ‘Flush’. This may be the lowest-ranked flush, but it still defeats a two-pair poker hand. The odds against this hand being drawn are also prohibitive at 507.8019/1, implying just a 0.1965% of you being dealt five non-sequential cards of the same suit. Once you’ve drawn a single pair, you have no chance of being dealt a flush.
The sixth-best poker hand, a ‘Straight’ comprises five numerically sequential cards of any suit. Despite being a lowly hand, it easily defeats two pairs, while your odds of being dealt this are 253.8/1. So, you have a 0.3925% implied probability of being dealt a straight, although this is considerably less likely than ending up with a two-pair poker hand.
The final poker hand that defeats two pairs is three-of-a-kind, which boasts odds of 46.32955/1 and an implied probability value of 2.1128%. Interestingly, there are also 858 distinct three-of-a-kind hands that may be dealt, but you’re more than twice as likely to draw two poker card pairs.
Now that we know what beats two pairs in poker, we can focus on the hands that you can defeat when you’ve drawn these cards. These include:
OK, we hear you ask, but who wins in poker if both have 2 pairs? Well, it’s the highest value pair in a two-pair hand in poker that will prove decisive.
For context, let’s look at a two-pair example hand. In this case, no player has the top pair of aces, one player is dealt K-K-J-J-9, while his opponent is holding Q-Q-10-10-3. The former will win here as Kings rank higher than Queens. If the higher value pair ties, it’s the best lowest value pair that will prove decisive.
In the statistically unlikely event that both players have identical high and low pairs, the outcome is decided by the value of the remaining card or ‘kicker’. A kicker describes any card that doesn’t take part in determining the initial rank of a hand. So, if the competing hands were K-K-J-J-9 vs K-K-J-J-3, the ‘nine’ card would win the hand for the former.
You’re likely to be drawn a pocket pair 6% of the time in poker or in one of every 17 hands dealt on average. The odds of flopping two pairs with an unpaired starting hand is around 2.02 or 1 in 49.5 hands. But what are the odds of drawing two pairs as the game commences?
| Two Pairs Probability | Pocket Aces | Pocket Aces, Kings, Queens, or Jacks | Any other pocket pair |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre Flop Odds | 5.60% | 4.31% | 3.80% |
| Post Flop Odds | 16.7% | 16.7% | 16.7% |
| After The Turn Odds | 19.5% | 19.5% | 19.5% |
| After The River Odds | 20.3% | 20.3% | 19.57% |
At this stage, you may be wondering “Is 2 pairs higher than 3 of a kind?” The short answer is no, but card game novices may also be confused as to why three pairs aren’t higher than a classic two-pair poker hand. If this is unclear we have explained it below. You might also like to check out a separate resource we have on how to play poker.
After all, Texas Hold ‘em is a poker game in which two hole cards are dealt alongside five community cards. So, it’s theoretically possible to construct a hand with three pairs. However, this is not recognized as an official hand in poker as you’re only able to use five of the cards drawn. Here’s some further context:
Poker is rightly categorized as a game of skill. So, you can leverage your choice of poker strategy to create a competitive advantage against your opponents. Now that we’ve answered the question “What is a two-pair hand in poker?”, we’re going to address how to play this hand in a variety of different scenarios.
If you are going to learn how to play poker and successfully leverage Texas Hold ‘em two-pair rules, there are several tutorials that can help. CoinPoker has an in-depth guide published on its website, alongside comprehensive resources for Omaha iterations.
Here at ReadWrite, we have also published several expert poker guides that are aimed at beginners and provide the ideal starting point for your journey as a player.
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The content in this piece is also primarily focused on beginners. Hopefully, it should have imparted some key lessons pertaining to a poker two-pair hand, including the following:
Some of the more advanced strategy guides and resources are linked below. These will provide invaluable information for the more seasoned and knowledgeable players among you!
Because the poker two-pair hand ranks only eighth out of 10, you’ll need to play it carefully and strategically. You’ll also have to protect your hand’s equity and manage your bankroll carefully at all times.
This is key to responsible gambling, as is ensuring that your bankroll covers a finite period of time. You can use customizable deposit limits and timeouts to create practical management tools. Our own responsible gambling resource can help provide further guidance as well. The following resources may also offer more practical help and advice:
The post What is Two Pair in Poker and How Does This Hand Rank? appeared first on ReadWrite.
