<p>Assuming you mean in Texas Hold'em (which you should probably state), then they tie. In Texas Hold'em, you make your best five-card hand out of the seven cards you have available to you. It sounds like from your description that Alice was holding</p>

<p>8 J</p>

<p>and that Bob was holding</p>

<p>4 Q</p>

<p>which would mean that the board had to have on it (since both of them had a straight to the 8)</p>

<p>4 5 6 7 8</p>

<p>which means that the best possible five-card hand that both players could have (in fact, that any player could have*) are the five cards on the board. As such, all players tie.</p>

<p>Essentially, the J/Q in that they are holding aren't even part of their hands when it come to determining the winner, and so are irrelevant.</p>

<p><strong>Edit:</strong> * Well, that's not completely true. If another player were holding a 9, or a 9 10, then they would have a straight that was 9 or 10 high, which would obviously beat an 8-high straight.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-16T13:03:29.390Z
Surely if you had a 9 (and 10) you would win the hand? But +1 for a clear answer.
Tim Lymington
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-16T13:29:16.080Z
Well, yes. But that isn't really part of the situation that he described.
Simon Rose
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-16T18:25:45.603Z
@SimonRose I think Tim was referring to what you said about the best hand *anyone* could have.
Cascabel
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-16T18:32:45.243Z
Fair enough, I should probably clarify that. I was mostly assuming that the two players had the best hands, but I can see how that's not really clear.
Simon Rose
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-16T20:04:44.660Z
Actually we don't have enough info to know what the nuts are (assuming another player to have it), as we don't know suits or the fifth card on the table; there could be flush or possibly even full house/quad possibilites.
Michael
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-16T20:10:08.070Z
Oh fine, fair enough. My point though is that everyone has at least a straight to the 8. I suppose it's possible a flush is out there, although no full house or quads could exist (it has to be a 4 5 6 7 8 on the table)
Simon Rose
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-16T12:47:50.883Z
2014-11-16T18:34:13.553Z
2014-11-16T18:34:13.553Z
Simon Rose
<p>Bob had a straight to the 8 and Alice had a straight the 8, Bob had a 4 &amp; Queen, Alice had a 8 &amp; Jack. Who wins?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-17T09:12:14.193Z
What game are you asking about?
doppelgreener
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-17T14:20:31.393Z
possible duplicate of [Poker texas holdem combinations: tie or not tie?](http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/9771/poker-texas-holdem-combinations-tie-or-not-tie)
bwarner
<poker-texas-holdem><poker>
Two players have a straight to the 8
Sean Tyner
# Two players have a straight to the 8

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-11-16)

Bob had a straight to the 8 and Alice had a straight the 8, Bob had a 4 & Queen, Alice had a 8 & Jack. Who wins?

**Tags:** poker-texas-holdem, poker

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What game are you asking about?  
> **username_2**: possible duplicate of [Poker texas holdem combinations: tie or not tie?](http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/9771/poker-texas-holdem-combinations-tie-or-not-tie)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-11-16. Score: 3

Assuming you mean in Texas Hold'em (which you should probably state), then they tie. In Texas Hold'em, you make your best five-card hand out of the seven cards you have available to you. It sounds like from your description that Alice was holding

8 J

and that Bob was holding

4 Q

which would mean that the board had to have on it (since both of them had a straight to the 8)

4 5 6 7 8

which means that the best possible five-card hand that both players could have (in fact, that any player could have\*) are the five cards on the board. As such, all players tie.

Essentially, the J/Q in that they are holding aren't even part of their hands when it come to determining the winner, and so are irrelevant.

**Edit:** \* Well, that's not completely true. If another player were holding a 9, or a 9 10, then they would have a straight that was 9 or 10 high, which would obviously beat an 8-high straight.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Surely if you had a 9 (and 10) you would win the hand? But +1 for a clear answer.  
> **username_3**: Well, yes. But that isn't really part of the situation that he described.  
> **username_5**: @SimonRose I think Tim was referring to what you said about the best hand *anyone* could have.  
> **username_3**: Fair enough, I should probably clarify that. I was mostly assuming that the two players had the best hands, but I can see how that's not really clear.  
> **username_6**: Actually we don't have enough info to know what the nuts are (assuming another player to have it), as we don't know suits or the fifth card on the table; there could be flush or possibly even full house/quad possibilites.  
> **username_3**: Oh fine, fair enough. My point though is that everyone has at least a straight to the 8. I suppose it's possible a flush is out there, although no full house or quads could exist (it has to be a 4 5 6 7 8 on the table)  

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