Does a royal flush beat a flush?
Yes. A royal flush beats a flush in poker — every time. In the ranking of 10 hand categories, royal flush is #1 and flush is #5. Categories are compared first: the royal flush is the single best hand in poker — nothing beats it, and every flush loses to it.
A-K-Q-J-10, all one suit. The unbeatable hand.
Five cards of one suit, any order.
How rare is each hand?
Rarity is exactly why the order is what it is. Out of 2,598,960 possible five-card hands, a royal flush shows up in 0.000154% of them (4 combinations), while a flush appears in 0.197% (5,108 combinations). The harder a hand is to make, the higher it ranks.
Does a flush ever beat a royal flush?
No — never. The category comparison is absolute: the highest possible flush still loses to the lowest possible royal flush. Ranks inside a category only matter when both players hold the same category.
Prove it to yourself
Which hand wins? Tap it.