Does a pair beat ace high?
Yes. One pair beats ace high, which is a high-card hand.
Makes a pair.
Makes a high card.
Any pair, even a pair of twos, beats the best high-card hand. Ace high never makes a pair, so it sits at the bottom of the ranking. A pair of sevens with weak kickers still beats ace-king high.
On a board of J♠ 8♦ 3♣ 6♥ 2♠, one player holds A♠ K♦ for ace high and the other holds 4♦ 4♣ for a pair of fours. Neither hand connected with the board, but the pair of fours was made before the flop, and at showdown it beats the big cards that missed.
This matchup decides more small pots than any other, usually after both players check down. Ace king that misses is still the best high-card hand and beats other unpaired hands, but it loses to any pocket pair and to any hand that paired a board card, however small. That is why unimproved big cards should not call down bets: they only beat bluffs.
Quick tip: A pair always beats ace high. High card is the weakest hand in poker.
Now put the rankings to work.
Practice real hands against opponents who punish the wrong calls.
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