Big Two card ranking: cards, suits and five-card hands

Ranking at a glance

• Card ranks run from 2 at the top down through A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 and 4 to the 3.
• Suits run ♠ spades, then ♥ hearts, ♣ clubs and ♦ diamonds.
• Five-card hands, weakest first: straight, flush, full house, four of a kind and straight flush.

The easiest thing to remember is that the 2 is the highest rank, not the ace. The 3 is the lowest. That reverses the habit many players bring from poker and other card games.

Card order

For single cards, compare the rank first. A 2 beats an ace, an ace beats a king, and so on down to the 3.

Suit order

On PlayFaceToFace's main Big Two table, suits follow the Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore order. Spades are highest, then hearts, then clubs, and diamonds are lowest.

Suit only breaks ties between cards of the same rank. A single 2♠ beats the 2♥, and between two pairs of the same rank, the pair holding the higher suit wins, so 10♣ 10♠ beats 10♦ 10♥.

Singles, pairs and triples

The smaller plays all follow the same card order. A pair of 2s beats a pair of aces, a pair of aces beats a pair of kings, and three 2s are the best triple while three 3s are the worst.

Five-card hand ranking

When five cards are played, the type of hand matters most. A stronger category beats a weaker one even when the weaker hand holds higher individual cards. Here they are, weakest first.

1. 1 Straight Five cards in sequence, such as 3-4-5-6-7. This is the lowest five-card category. 3♣ 4♦ 5♠ 6♥ 7♣
2. 2 Flush Five cards of the same suit that do not form a straight. A flush beats any straight. 3♥ 7♥ 9♥ J♥ K♥
3. 3 Full house Three cards of one rank plus two of another, such as 9-9-9-4-4. A full house beats a flush. 9♠ 9♥ 9♣ 4♦ 4♠
4. 4 Four of a kind All four cards of one rank plus any fifth card, such as K-K-K-K-3. It beats a full house. K♠ K♥ K♣ K♦ 3♦
5. 5 Straight flush Five consecutive cards of the same suit. This is the strongest five-card hand in our Big Two rules. 7♠ 8♠ 9♠ 10♠ J♠

When both hands are the same type, this is how our Hong Kong rules decide:

• Straights compare their highest card, then that card's suit.
• Flushes compare suit first, so any ♠ flush beats any ♥ flush. Between two flushes of the same suit, the highest card wins. Some private rooms switch this to highest card first.
• A full house is compared by its three matching cards. The pair never matters.
• Four of a kind is compared by the rank of the four.
• A straight flush compares its top card, then its suit.

Straight rules

Straights are where Big Two house rules differ most. The Hong Kong rules used by our main Big Two game allow two special sequences, A-2-3-4-5 and 2-3-4-5-6. A-2-3-4-5 counts as the highest straight and 2-3-4-5-6 as the next highest. J-Q-K-A-2 is not a legal straight in this ruleset.

If you learned Big Two under different house rules, check this before your first game. Regional versions usually agree on the broad ranking but differ on special straights, suit order and the opening card. See how the variants compare.

What beats what

• A single can only be answered by a higher single.
• A pair can only be answered by a higher pair.
• A triple can only be answered by a higher triple.
• A five-card hand can be answered by a higher hand in the same category or by a stronger category.
• You cannot answer a one-card play with two or five cards just because the combination is strong.

Practice the card order in a live game, or read the full Big Two rules and the strategy guide next.

Common ranking questions