Does a royal flush beat a pair?
Yes. A royal flush beats a pair in poker — every time. In the ranking of 10 hand categories, royal flush is #1 and one pair is #9. Categories are compared first: the royal flush is the single best hand in poker — nothing beats it, and every one pair loses to it.
A-K-Q-J-10, all one suit. The unbeatable hand.
Two cards of the same rank.
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 pair appears in 42.3% (1,098,240 combinations). The harder a hand is to make, the higher it ranks.
Does a pair ever beat a royal flush?
No — never. The category comparison is absolute: the highest possible one pair 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.