Why does a flush beat a straight?

[tcmNOWAY]

I've always wondered about this as almost all straight draws have up to 8 outs to hit with <=4-out gutshots being the most common draw (and the 12-out triple belly buster on very rare occasions) while a flush draw has up to 9 outs to hit. Can someone clarify this for me please?

[bxb]

There are more ways to make a straight than a flush.

[btmagnetw]

flushes are harder to get. so yes, there's more outs on the flop, but you don't flop a flush draw as often.

[fourpin]

Poker hands are ranked by their probability of being dealt using only 5 cards. How hard they are to draw to after the flop is not considered.

There are fewer flush combos than straight combos in a deck of 52 cards so the flush ranks higher.

Someone Smarter than me will have to provide the exact math behind this, but I hope it answers your question.

[PBFan]

[ QUOTE ]
Poker hands are ranked by their probability of being dealt using only 5 cards. How hard they are to draw to after the flop is not considered.

There are fewer flush combos than straight combos in a deck of 52 cards so the flush ranks higher.

Someone Smarter than me will have to provide the exact math behind this, but I hope it answers your question.

[/ QUOTE ]

[M4TT]

.... what was the point of just quoting that? I see almost all your posts are quoting someone else, adding nothing. Weird.

[Kimbell175113]

[ QUOTE ]
.... what was the point of just quoting that? I see almost all your posts are quoting someone else, adding nothing. Weird.

[/ QUOTE ]

[BobK]

For being dealt 5 cards from a 52 card deck.
There are 5108 ways to make a flush and 10200 ways to make a straight out of 2,598,960 possible hands.

[BobK]

I neglected to add an additional 40 straight-flushes which may also be dealt.

[Under dog]

[ QUOTE ]
I neglected to add an additional 40 straight-flushes which may also be dealt.

[/ QUOTE ]