Three of a kind is a poker hand such as 2♦ 2♠ 2♥ K♠ 6♠, which contains three cards of the same rank, plus two unmatched cards. Also called "trips" or "a set." It ranks above two pair and below a straight. There are 54,912 possible three of a kind hands, so the odds of getting trips given five cards are 4077:88 or approximately 46:1. This article is about the card game. ... A hand in poker can mean any of the following: A unit of play consisting of a deal, one or more rounds of betting, and possibly a showdown. ... A poker hand such as J♦ J♣ 4♣ 4â™  9â™ , which contains two cards of the same rank, plus two cards of another rank (that match each other but not the first pair), plus one unmatched card, is called two pair. ... A straight is a poker hand such as Q♣ J♠ 10♠ 9♥ 8♥, which contains five cards of sequential rank, of varying suits. ... In probability theory and statistics the odds in favor of an event or a proposition are the quantity p / (1 − p), where p is the probability of the event or proposition. ...

Between two such hands, the hand with the higher ranking matched set wins. If both have the same matched set (this is possible only in games with wild cards or community cards), then the kickers are compared to break the tie. Poker games may contain one or more cards designated as wild. ... Probably starting about the time of World War II, many modern poker games used community cards (also called shared cards or widow cards), which are cards dealt face up to the center of the table and shared by all players. ... A kicker, also called a side card, is a card in a poker hand that does not itself take part in determining the rank of the hand, but that may be used to break ties between hands of the same rank. ...

Examples:

• 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ 5♠ 3♣ ("three eights" or "trip eights") defeats 5♣ 5♥ 5♦ Q♦ 10♣ ("three fives")
• 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ A♣ 2♦ ("three eights, ace kicker") defeats 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ 5♠ 3♣ ("three eights, five, three")

In Texas hold 'em, a set usually refers to a three of a kind in which two of the cards are in the player's hand and the third is on the board, whereas trips more often refers to one card in the player's hand and two on the board. Three of a kind suggests either. The terms may all be used interchangeably, however. Texas hold em (or simply hold em or holdem) is the most popular of the community card poker games as of 2005. ...