A poker hand containing three of a kind plus a pair (e.g., K-K-K-5-5).
A full house (also called a "boat") is a poker hand containing three cards of one rank and two of another. For example, three Kings and two 5s is "Kings full of fives." Full houses are ranked first by the three-of-a-kind, then by the pair.
In Texas Hold'em, a full house is the fourth-best hand ranking, behind only four of a kind, straight flush, and royal flush. It beats flushes, straights, and all lower hands.
Full houses occur approximately once every 694 hands in Texas Hold'em. In video poker, full house payouts are a key differentiator between paytable variants — the standard Jacks or Better pays 9:1 for a full house, while lower-paying versions may only offer 8:1 or 7:1.
You hold 8♣8♦ on a K♠8♠4♣ flop in a $2/$5 Bellagio game — middle set. The turn brings the K♦, giving you eights full of kings, a full house. Villain, holding A♠K♣, has top trips and is drawing to only 4 outs (the remaining two aces and two kings).
Full house probability on any 5-card hand: roughly 1 in 694 (0.144%). In Texas Hold'em, flopping a full house on a paired board happens about once every 1,088 hands. The hand loses only to quads and straight flushes, so a full house typically plays for stacks in cash games. Against AK on K84KK runout, you win 100% of the chips — a $500 stack becomes $1,000. Slow-play rarely: bet full houses aggressively into top-pair hands that cannot fold.
<p>You hold <strong>8♣8♦</strong> on a <strong>K♠8♠4♣</strong> flop in a $2/$5 Bellagio game — middle set. The <strong>turn brings the K♦</strong>, giving you <strong>eights full of kings</strong>, a full house. Villain, holding A♠K♣, has top trips and is drawing to only 4 outs (the remaining two aces and two kings).</p><p>Full house probability on any 5-card hand: roughly <strong>1 in 694 (0.144%)</strong>. In Texas Hold'em, flopping a full house on a paired board happens about once every 1,088 hands. The hand loses only to quads and straight flushes, so a full house typically plays for stacks in cash games. Against AK on K84KK runout, you win 100% of the chips — a $500 stack becomes $1,000. Slow-play rarely: bet full houses aggressively into top-pair hands that cannot fold.</p>
A poker hand containing three of a kind plus a pair (e.g., K-K-K-5-5).
<p>You hold <strong>8♣8♦</strong> on a <strong>K♠8♠4♣</strong> flop in a $2/$5 Bellagio game — middle set. The <strong>turn brings the K♦</strong>, giving you <strong>eights full of kings</strong>, a full house. Villain, holding A♠K♣, has top trips and is drawing to only 4 outs (the remaining two aces and two kings).</p><p>Full house probability on any 5-card hand: roughly <strong>1 in 694 (0.144%)</strong>. In Texas Hold'em, flopping a full house on a paired board happens about once every 1,088 hands. The hand loses only to quads and straight flushes, so a full house typically plays for stacks in cash games. Against AK on K84KK runout, you win 100% of the chips — a $500 stack becomes $1,000. Slow-play rarely: bet full houses aggressively into top-pair hands that cannot fold.</p>
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