One Pair Poker Hand

One Pair, as the name suggests, is a flush of cards with two cards of the exact same denomination. One pair in poker holds eighth place in the hand rankings chart. It is made of two cards having the same rank, such as Q♣Q♠K♥10♥8♠, where Q♣Q♠ form a pair in the hand.

It ranks above the High Card hand, which means that there is only one card that ranks below poker one pair. If you are a beginner, you probably would be wondering what is one pair in poker. Well, we will do a deep dive to learn more about poker one pair in this article. 

Here are a few examples to understand the One Pair hand:

K♥K♣Q♠T♠7♦, where K is one pair.

 A♠A♣ Q♥10♦8♠, where A is one pair.

 A♠A♣ Q♥J♦9♠, where A is one pair.

 K♦A♣J♥J♥10♥, where J is one pair.

 A♠A♦Q♣J♥10♥, where A is one pair.

What is One Pair in Poker?

One Pair in poker is a hand ranking card having equally ranked cards and the other three non-paired pocket cards. In Texas Hold 'em, one pair poker hand can be formed using the two hole cards in the player’s hand or a combination of hole cards and community cards. 

The value of the same pair hand and the ranking of the other cards are known as kickers. It determines the strength of one pair hand in a poker game. The probability of getting one pair of poker hands is 1 out of 1.37 times, which means you can easily obtain this hand. 

What does One Pair Look Like? 

The One Pair poker hands are formed by combining five cards, with two cards of the same rank and the other three non-paired pocket cards in a five-card hand. The strength of One pair hands is determined first by the rank of pair cards and if required, by the ranks of the kickers to break a tie. 

Also, you must note that there can only be one pair in the combination. Such as in a hand if the combination looks like K, K, A, A, 10, then this is not a one-pair hand, it is a two-pair hand with K and A. One pair stands at the second last position in the poker hand rankings, only above the high card. Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, and Two Pair Hand Rankings combinations can beat one pair in poker.

How Does a One-Pair Poker Hand Rank?

Poker One-Pair hand ranks eighth in the list of poker hand rankings in poker games. It stands at the second last position in the hand-rankings chart, just above the high card. The chances of winning with one pair of cards are very low. 

In Texas Hold'em, the chances of winning depend on the value of the pair. The poker hand rankings from the best to the worst are given in the table below. You must be aware of the hand rankings sequence to dominate in the game.

Here, the One-pair card ranks just above the high card, which means it can dominate only high cards. It ranks below royal flush, straight flush, full house, four-of-a-kind, flush, straight, three-of-a-kind, and two-pair. 

How to Play Poker One Pair in Hold’em?

Playing with the poker one pair hand in Texas Hold’em requires a proper understanding of the game, the strength of your pair, and your opponent's strategies. Some of the key points that must be kept in mind while playing with one pair of hands in poker. 

If you have a top pair with a strong kicker, focus more on betting for value protection. Be more cautious with the middle pairs, as they are more vulnerable. 

• High pair hands like AA, KK, and QQ are strong starting hands that must be played aggressively with frequent raises and re-raises. 
• Middle pair hands like TT, 99, and 88 are strong options but should be played with caution. You can consider a more cautious approach, like calling and raising in a balanced way. 
• Lower pairs, such as 77 and 22, are the most vulnerable and are often considered to be the flop pairs. 

Always pay attention to your opponent’s tendencies, try to interpret their strategies, and adjust your play accordingly. Playing poker one pair hands in the early phase of the match can be tricky, as most of the players can have much better combinations. 

What Happens When Two Players Have One Pair?

There are many occurrences of two players having poker one pair hands in Texas Hold’em. A standard 52-card deck consists of a total of 1,098,240 one-pair hand combinations. Pokers are ranked based on their pair value and kicker cards.

The winner here is determined by comparing the ranks of the pairs. The highest-ranking card wins the hand. To handle this situation during the game, we must know certain important cases. 

• The first approach is to compare the pairs of opponents and find which one is a higher pair. The next highest card wins the game. For example, if one player has a pair of queens and another has a pair of tens, then clearly, the first player wins as queens rank higher than ten. 

• If both players have the same pair, you need to compare the highest kickers in their hands. For example, if one player has a pair of queens with the highest kicker as 10 number cards and another has a pair of queens with 9 number cards and other kickers. The first player wins the hand.

• If the highest-ranking kicker is also the same, the next kickers are compared, and so on, until we find the greater hand. 
• If all the cards are the same, then the pot is split between the opponents.

Players must adapt their strategies according to the game's situation and their opponent's mindset. It is important to have a better comparison of the poker one pair cards to play the winning hand. 

One Pair Poker Probabilities 

Let us know the probabilities of forming one pair poker hands at various stages of the poker game: the Flop, Turn, and River in PLO and Texas Hold’em Poker. 

• Pre-flop: This is the first round, which takes place after the players receive their hole cards. No community card is dealt with at this stage.
• Flop: It involves dealing with the first three community cards face up and their hole cards on the table to make a potential hand.
• Turn: This is the third stage of poker, in which the fourth community card, along with the hole cards, is used. 
• River: It is the last betting round with a fifth community card and hole cards to form the best possible five-card hand. 

Probability Of Getting One Poker In Texas Hold’em 

Probability of Getting One Poker in Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)