Four of a Kind

In poker, players with the best hand combinations are more likely to win the game. There are many hand-ranking combinations, and a strong hand can help you win. As the name suggests, the Four of a Kind Poker or Quads is a hand that consists of four cards of equal rank and one other card (kicker). It is one of the best hands you can get in the game of poker.

However, it is a rare hand, but it can increase your chance of winning hand, as it is the third most prominent poker hand ranking, which can beat most poker hands. In this article, we will learn in detail about four-of-a-kind poker hands, covering every aspect.

What is a Four-of-a-Kind Poker?

Poker four of a kind is the third-strongest hand ranking in poker, which consists of four cards of equal rank and one kicker card. Poker four of a kind is also known as quads. Royal Flush and Straight Flush are the only two poker hands that can defeat Four of Kind poker. Hence, players make the best of four-of-a-kind poker from the community and hole cards. If you have a four of a kind poker hand, then your chance of winning hand maximizes. However, it is not the strongest poker hand. Let us understand how four-of-a-kind ranks.

How to Build Four of a Kind Hand in Poker?

Making four-of-a-kind in poker requires several combinations of community cards, hole cards, and dealt cards. In Texas Hold’em and Omaha, a four-of-a-kind poker hand can be achieved through combinations of community cards and hole cards. In seven-card stud, it can be achieved using the combinations of dealt cards. Check the multiple scenarios that can help you achieve a four-of-a-kind hand in poker.

1. Pocket Pair + Two on the Board

When the players are dealt a pocket pair in hole cards, the board passes the other pair with a strong kicker hand. For example, let us suppose player A is dealt one pocket pair of 9-9 hole cards. During the course of the game, after the first round, dealers deal three cards face up which are used by all players with their hole cards to make the best possible hand. Similarly, during the other two rounds, the fourth and fifth community cards are on the board, where players can make their strongest hand. If there are two nine cards on the board, it can make a four-of-a-kind poker hand with a strong kicker card. 

2. One in the Hole + Three on the Board

Suppose our player has one hole cards dealt from the dealers. Now, during the course of the game, the player can obtain the other three cards to make a four-of-a-kind pair. For example, player A has a Q and 4 card after the deal is complete, and he obtains three other card pairs from the board.

3. Four on the Board

In the previous example, King cards make four-of-a-kind poker hands, with 8 being the strongest kicker, which completes the hand.

This case arises when all four matching cards are on the board, and the player's hole card only provides kickers. Players can make a strong four-of-a-kind poker hand using the combinations from the board. Check an example in the table above.

4. Four in your Hand 

The best possible scenario can be in games like Seven Card Stud, where you may have four of the same rank directly in your hand among the seven cards. 

5. Two in the Hand + One on the Board

In Omaha, players can have two cards of the same rank in their hand, and another pair can be found on the board to make poker four of a kind hand. Check an example in the table above.

How Does Four of a Kind Rank in Poker?

Four-of-a-kind poker is one of the most prominent hands, holding a strong position among others. The poker four-of-a-kind hand is only surpassed by Royal Flush and Straight Flush. It ranks above all the other hand rankings in poker, hence improving the winning chance somewhat more. It ranks above Full House, flush, straight, three-of-a-kind, two-pair, one-pair, and High card.

What Happens When Two Players Have Four of a Kind Hand?

When two players have four-of-a-kind hands in poker, the winner is determined by the effective rank of four cards and the kicker card. The player with the highest-ranking four cards wins. For example, when compared to the four aces card and four kings card, the four aces card beats the king cards and hence breaks the tie. 

What if both players have quads of the same rank? In this case, we will compare our fifth card (Kicker) to find the winner. The player with the higher kicker wins the game. In very rare cases, it might also happen that the quads and kicker cards are identical. Here, the pot is split between the two opponents to break the tie. 

Aces > Kings > Queens > Jacks > 10 > 9  > 8 > 7 > 6 > 5 > 4 > 3 > 2 

Given above is the decreasing order of the strength of quads and cards in poker. Players can use this arrangement to break tie situations during the match.

Probability of Getting a Four-of-a-Kind Hand

A deck of 52 cards consists of 13 ranks, which come in four suits. All four cards of the same rank create a four-of-a-kind in poker. The odds of getting a quad hand is 4,164 to 1, which makes it 0.0256%. With a kicker card, there are a total of 624 unique ways of making Four-of-a-kind poker hands and 123 552 possible five-card hands in a deck. 

Let us check the four different stages: preflop, flop, turn, and river. 

Probabilities of getting a Four of a Kind Hand in Texas Hold’em

In the Texas Hold'em poker game, the odds of making quads at some point in the game is 4164 to 1, which depends upon various factors like pocket card holdings, pairs, number of players, etc.

Probability of getting a Four of a Kind Hand in Omaha

In Omaha, players can only use two of their hole cards, and the probability of making a four-of-a-kind in poker hands reduces to 0.0048%. 

Does a Straight Flush Beat Four of a Kind in Poker?

A straight Flush is a poker hand that contains five of a kind from the same suit in sequential order. It stands in third place in the hands ranking list and can defeat four of a kind easily. The odds of making a Straight Flush hand is 72192.3 to 1, which puts it at a higher rank than four of a kind. 

If players form a combination of straight flush hands using hole cards and community cards, they can defeat their opponents with four-of-a-kind hands, irrespective of the rank of quads. 

What Beats Four of a Kind in Poker?

Four of a kind is a strong hand in poker games at the third position in the top ten hand ranking lists. The lower the probability of obtaining a certain hand, the higher its rank in the game. Royal straight Flush ranks above the Four of a Kind Poker and can defeat it. However, obtaining these two hands is quite unlikely in the game. Royal Flush consists of the highest rank cards of the same suit, which include Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten. Straight Flush consists of five cards, all from the same suit and in sequential order. 

Players with a Royal Flush have the strongest hand and can defeat any player in the betting round. Also, players with ace high Straight flush hands have stronger hands, which can beat a four-of-a-kind poker hand. The probability of obtaining a straight flush or Royal Flush is very low and, hence, ranked above the four-of-a-kind poker. If you draw a set of five cards from a deck of 52 cards, the chance of making a straight flush card is 0.00139%. 

What Hands Does a Four-of-a-Kind Beat?

Four of a Kind hand consists of four equal ranked cards and a kicker card, also known as “quads”. It sits in the third position in the hand ranking chart and can beat all the other hands except Royal Flush and Straight Flush. The four-of-a-kind hand can beat a full house, flush, three-of-a-kind, two pairs, one pair, and high card. 

However, if two opponents have quads, the winner depends on the rank of the quads and kicker card. The player with high-rank quads or kickers defeats the other opponent. 

How many 4 of a Kind are possible?

There are 13 different ranked cards in a deck of 52 cards, and for each rank card, there are exactly 4 cards of one rank, such as four aces, four kings, etc. Now, players can choose any one of the 13 ranks to form a poker four-of-a-kind. So, there are a total of 13 possible ways to form a poker four-of-a-kind hand. 

Now, for choosing the fifth card, players will need to choose a card of a different rank, which leaves them with 48 remaining cards from the complete deck. Let us know using a simple method to find the number of possible four-of-a-kind poker hands

Total Number of Quads =  Number of ranked cards x Number of choices for fifth card = 13 x 48

Total Number of Quads = 624

Hence, we have a total of 624 ways of forming a 4-of-a-kind hand.

Strategies to Play with a Four of a Kind Hand 

It is important to implement informed strategies while playing four-of-a-kind poker. Check some of the strategies below.

Value Betting: This is a strategy where players with strong four-of-a-kind poker hands build the pot to maximize their winnings. Here, players size their bet in a way that attracts their opponents to use a weaker hand. It might be used when the board cards show that opponents might have a stronger hand, like a full house or flush. 

Maximize Value: If you have quads by the river stage, focus on extracting as much as possible. It might be successful if your opponent has a second-best hand. You can go all in this stage.

Read the Board Carefully: Always read the cards on the board, as they might help you predict your opponent's combination. This will help players make informed decisions. 

Understand your opponents: Know your opponents, check their strategies, and play accordingly. You need a different strategy for passive and aggressive players.

Sizing your Bet: Adjust your bet amount as per the situation demands. Small bets can help keep more players in the pot and larger bets can extract more value from opponents having weaker hands.

Bluff Strategy: You can induce bluffs in your opponent’s mind by applying small bets and pretending to be weak. This strategy may encourage your opponent to raise more chips.

Pre-Flop Round: If you have a pocket pair in the pre-flop round, consider playing slow and save the strength of your hand for better hands.

Flop: If you hit a four-of-a-kind hand in flop, then make some misleading moves to encourage opponents to continue in the hand.

Turn: If you have a strong hand and you get quads on the turn, you should place some modest bets to encourage your opponents to raise or bet in the hopes of taking the lead.

Conclusion 

A four-of-a-kind or quads is one of the most important hands in poker. It ranks third in the hand ranking lists, with only Royal flush and Straight flush above it. It offers a strong advantage over most poker hands like full houses, flushes, straight, two-pair, three-of-a-kind, and more. Players must know how to obtain three of a kind in Omaha, Texas Hold’em or Seven card stud version of poker to maximize their chances of winning.

There are many methods of forming quads, such as pocket pairs plus two on the board, one in the hole plus three on the board, four on the board, etc. It is important to use frequent strategies like value betting, maximizing value, reading the board, etc. Keep adjusting the bet sizes and inducing bluffs to extract maximum value from your opponents. Overall, a four-of-a-hand is a prominent and strong hand in poker.