Hand Rankings: What beats what?

Royal Flush: 10, J, Q, K, A, all of the same suit. The highest
possible hand in poker. Even playing extremely
often, you will rarely see the royal flush.

Straight Flush: Any five consecutive cards of the same
suit. While not as rare as the royal flush, the straight flush
is still extremely rare in poker.

Four of a Kind: A four of a kind occurs when you have four of the
same numbered cards. This is typically the highest
hand you will see in a game taking place over a couple
of hours, although still relatively rare.

Full House: A full house is essentially a three of a kind combined with a pair. However, a full house can beat out another full house. To determine this, first look at the three cards of the same number. Whoever has the higher cards wins. Assuming the three cards are the same for more than one player, then compare the two cards. Therefore three K's and two 5's beats three K's and two 3's.

Flush: A flush occurs when you have five cards of the same suit.
If there cards were also in succession, then this would be
a straight flush. If there is more than one player holding a
flush in a hand, the person with the highest card in the flush
that they are holding in their hand wins the pot.

Straight: A straight occurs when a player has five consecutive cards, such as
9-K, not all of the same suit. Two things to note are that when there
is more than one player with a straight, the player with the higher top card in
their straight wins, and that an Ace can be high and low in a straight,
meaning it can be a 1, as well as higher than a K.

Three of a kind: A three of a kind occurs when you have three cards of the same number, and will typically be a good enough hand to win the pot, but of course there are many hands that can be it as you can see above. There are actually two types of three-of-a-kind, however both rank the same, although it's not a bad idea to know the difference. If you have a pocket pair (a pair in your hand) and another card comes up on the board, you have a "set." If you have one card, and two others come up on the board, you now have an actual three-of-a-kind.

Two Pair: Two pair is when your best five card hand includes two different pairs, such as a pair of 7's
and a pair of Q's. Assuming more than one person has two pair (relatively common), the player
with the higher pair wins. Assuming more than one player has the same higher pair (i.e. two
players both have Aces), then the player with the highest lower pair win. Therefore, a player
with a pair of Aces and 7's beats a player with a pair of Aces and 4's.

Pair: One pair is the hand you'll be getting the most, and trying to win
with the most. Top pair (a pair using the highest community card)
is usually the hand you'll be betting and trying to win some pots
with. When more than one person has the same pair, then the
"kickers" come into play. This means if a player has a pair of 10's
with an Ace in his hand, he beats a player who has a pair of 10's with a J in his hand.

High Card: The high card hand is the highest non-pair hand. Sometimes Ace-high can
win, but this is quite rare in the low-limit games. Assuming no one who is still
in the hand at the end has any pair, the player with the highest card in
his hand wins the pot.