A “full house” in poker refers to a hand made up of five cards. A full house is made up of a pair and a three-of-a-kind, i.e., three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank. For example, if you have 8-8-8-3-3 in your hand, you have a full house, three eights and two threes.

A full house is a very strong hand in poker, and it beats a flush (five cards of the same suit), a straight (five consecutive cards of different suits), and all lower hands, but loses to a quad (four cards of the same rank) and a straight flush (five consecutive cards of the same suit).

When comparing two full houses, the one with the higher-ranking three-of-a-kind wins. For example, a full house with K-K-K-9-9 will be stronger than one with 10-10-10-A-A. If the three-of-a-kind is the same, the pairs are compared.