Four of a Kind in Poker: How to Make It and Play It Correctly

Most hands in hold'em are won by weak holdings. High cards and top pairs regularly take down pots. Sets, straights and flushes come much less often. The strongest poker hands are something players may only see once every few months. They are often tricky to play. Let's discuss what quads are in poker and how to play them correctly.

Key facts about quads:

• A combination of four cards of the same rank. For example, the starting hand 5♣️ 5♠️ on a flop of 5♦️5♥️3♣️ makes quads fives.

• Beats: high card, pair, two pair, set, straight, flush and full house.

• Loses to a straight flush and a royal flush.

• If both players make the hand, the pot goes to the holder of the higher rank. Quads 8♣️8♦️8♠️8♥️ beat 7♣️7♦️7♠️7♥️ because eights outrank sevens.

• The probability of quads in poker depends on the player's starting hand. A pocket pair will hit quads on the flop 0.25% of the time. With an unpaired holding, quads arrive in 0.01% of cases.

• Some rooms pay a jackpot for wins and losses with quads.

What are quads

Quads in poker are four cards of the same rank. For example, holding 9♣️9♦️ on a board of T♠️9♠️9♥️ gives you quads nines. 

In most hands, four of a kind is a guaranteed winner

You can make the hand in three ways:

1. Pocket pair + 2 repeats on the board. For example, J♠️J♥️ on a flop of J♣️J♦️5♦️.

2. One card from an unpaired hand + 3 repeats on the board. For example, A♠️K♠️ on a board of Q♠️K♣️K♥️2♦️K♦️.

3. Four cards of the same rank on the board. For example, A♥️J♠️ on a board of 8♣️8♦️8♠️8♥️3♣️. The rarest runout.

In the hand hierarchy quads ranks third behind the royal flush and straight flush. It beats: high card, pair, two pair, set, straight, flush and full house. You can make the hand in no-limit hold'em, Omaha, short deck, seven-card stud, draw poker and pineapple. 

Which quads are higher — comparison rules

In hands of “quads versus quads”, the winner is easy to determine. The pot goes to the holder of the higher combination. For example, Liv entered the hand with pocket A♣️A♥️. Igor called with T♠️T♦️. The board runs T♣️T♥️A♠️6♥️A♦️. The players have made hands of equal strength, but Liv wins the hand. A♣️A♥️A♠️A♦️ outranks T♠️T♦️T♣️T♥️.

If both players have quads, rank decides the winner

In most quads spots, the fifth card in the hand does not matter. Except in hands where four of a kind is on the board. For example, Liv raised with K♣️J♥️ and Igor called with J♠️T♦️. The board came 3♠️3♦️3♣️3♥️7♦️. Liv and Igor both made the same quads 3♠️3♦️3♣️3♥️. Do we declare a chop and split the pot? No, the pot goes to Liv because her kicker is higher. 3♠️3♦️3♣️3♥️K♣️ beats 3♠️3♦️3♣️3♥️J♠️. Not all poker players know how the rules work when quads are on the board. Opponents often think they will split the pot and call any bet. Don't be shy about value-betting if you have an ace as your kicker.

Probability of making quads

The rarer the hand, the more valuable it is. The chance to hit quads depends on the player's starting hand. A pocket pair will make two repeats on the flop 0.24% of the time. If a player is dealt an unpaired hand, the probability drops to 0.01%. With a set on the flop, quads will arrive by the river 4.3% of the time. The chance of hitting the one out on a single street is 2%. Let's summarise the probabilities for a set in the table:

For two-street calculations, a more complex formula with out subtraction is used, but the table simplifies it to 2 : 47. 

In Omaha, players start the hand with four cards, which increases the chance of making quads. With a pocket pair in the starting hand, a player will hit quads on the flop 0.27% of the time. Two pair preflop raise the odds to 0.53%. The chance of hitting quads with a set also rises slightly. The other two cards in the starting hand drive the increase. For example, a player entered the pot with 4♠️4♦️K♣️J♥️ and got a board of Q♠️7♦️4♣️. We remove K♣️J♥️ from the deck and the odds of making quads rise slightly.

How to play quads

With quads, a player will almost always win the hand. There is no point in protecting the hand against another quads or a straight flush. That probability can be ignored. However, the win often won't be more than a few blinds. The problem is a paired board. A flop with two cards of the same rank makes players think about trips. So the player will not want to put big money into the pot. At the same time, quads wipes out the opponent's chance of trips, which makes their range even weaker.

The most famous hand with two quads was played in the 2021 WSOP Main Event. Then Ozgur Secilmis's sixes beat Chang Liu's fours  

The only way to win a serious pot with quads is to give your opponent a chance to make a decent hand. On the flop choose a slow-play. If the opponent shows aggression, answer with a call. 

Against loose-passive opponents, make small value bets. Let's show it with an example. Suppose a player picked up 6♠️6♦️ preflop and raised. A “station” on the big blind called. The flop came J♦️6♣️6♥️. The opponent's range contains plenty of top pairs, ace-x hands and overcards. So we will often get a check-call to a bet of 1/3-1/4 pot. On the turn, we increase the sizing to 3/4 pot to extract value from top pairs and made draws. Repeat the heavy bet on the river as well. The opponent will often fold, but sometimes we will also see calls from top pairs. 

Tracker stats can point to the best decision. Does the opponent rarely fold to c-bets and like to bluff? Make a modest continuation bet on the flop and allow the opponent to show aggression. Does the opponent play by the cards and fold discipline? Choose a passive line and give them the chance to make a respectable hand.

Which rooms reward quads

Some platforms run Bad Beat Jackpot promotions. To receive the payout, a player must win or lose with quads. The terms of the promotion usually look like this:

• make a premium hand;

• use both hole cards in the combination;

• get to showdown.

The rooms set the minimum qualifying hands in the promotion rules. For example, on POKEROK it is enough to lose with a full house A-A-A-T-T or better. POKEROK runs the biggest BBJ. By the end of April 2026, the jackpot exceeded $2,205,000. Players regularly receive a share of the BBJ. For example, on 26 April 2026 a user nicknamed “V Kostrub” lost with quad kings at an Omaha table. His opponent showed a heart royal flush and took down the pot. The bad beat earned the player $127,442.

Cash-game players are usually rewarded for losing with premium hands. Busting out with ace quads at the WSOP is priceless. Yet the hand went down in poker history forever

Bad Beat Jackpot promotions are run by POKEROK, Pokerdom, TigerGaming, Stake Poker, 1Win Poker and Pinco Poker.

How to learn to play poker

To win a hand with quads, you do not need to know GTO perfectly or see through your opponent. A powerhouse holding leaves opponents with no chance. However, a good player will win their stack, while a bad player will only take a few blinds. To get the most from every spot, a poker player must work on their game regularly. You can improve in different ways: watching videos, reading books, analysing hands in software, working with a coach. 

It is difficult to build a study process on your own. What materials should you study? How much time should you spend on theory? How long can you keep the conclusions from reviewed hands in memory? Some players take years to find the right approach. If you want to systemise your learning process, join FunFarm. For beginners, we recommend the FF Start course. 

Graduates of the beginner programme are invited onto the advanced course

It includes 30 lessons on poker rules, maths, adaptation to different opponent types and strategy for playing the late stages of MTTs. Experienced poker players will suit the advanced FF Player Path programme. It will help you beat micro stakes and reach a monthly average income from $1,200.