freeCodeCamp/curriculum/challenges/english/blocks/daily-coding-challenges-python/69f90c1329a94b37e2a2086c.md

id, title, challengeType, dashedName

id	title	challengeType	dashedName
69f90c1329a94b37e2a2086c	Challenge 293: Best Hand	29	challenge-293

--description--

Given an array of five strings representing playing cards, return the name of the best hand.

• Each card is represented as a two-character string: the rank followed by the suit, "2h" for example.
  • Ranks, from low to high, are: "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "T", "J", "Q", "K", and "A".
  • Suits are: "h", "d", "c", and "s".
• Aces ("A") can be used as high or low in a straight.

The hands, in order from worst to best, are:

Name	Description
"High Card"	No pair or better
"Pair"	Two of one rank
"Two Pair"	Two of one rank and two of another
"Three of a Kind"	Three of one rank
"Straight"	Five ranks in a row
"Flush"	Five of the same suit
"Full House"	Three of one rank, and two of another
"Four of a Kind"	Four of one rank
"Straight Flush"	Five ranks in a row of the same suit
"Royal Flush"	"A", "K", "Q", "J", "T" of the same suit

Return the name of the best hand.

--hints--

get_best_hand(["7s", "7h", "7d", "2c", "5h"]) should return "Three of a Kind".

({test: () => { runPython(`
from unittest import TestCase
TestCase().assertEqual(get_best_hand(["7s", "7h", "7d", "2c", "5h"]), "Three of a Kind")`)
}})

get_best_hand(["Ks", "Kh", "Kd", "4s", "4h"]) should return "Full House".

({test: () => { runPython(`
from unittest import TestCase
TestCase().assertEqual(get_best_hand(["Ks", "Kh", "Kd", "4s", "4h"]), "Full House")`)
}})

get_best_hand(["2h", "5h", "7h", "9h", "Jh"]) should return "Flush".

({test: () => { runPython(`
from unittest import TestCase
TestCase().assertEqual(get_best_hand(["2h", "5h", "7h", "9h", "Jh"]), "Flush")`)
}})

get_best_hand(["As", "Ah", "Ad", "Ac", "Kh"]) should return "Four of a Kind".

({test: () => { runPython(`
from unittest import TestCase
TestCase().assertEqual(get_best_hand(["As", "Ah", "Ad", "Ac", "Kh"]), "Four of a Kind")`)
}})

get_best_hand(["Ts", "Th", "9d", "9c", "8h"]) should return "Two Pair".

({test: () => { runPython(`
from unittest import TestCase
TestCase().assertEqual(get_best_hand(["Ts", "Th", "9d", "9c", "8h"]), "Two Pair")`)
}})

get_best_hand(["9c", "8c", "7c", "6c", "5c"]) should return "Straight Flush".

({test: () => { runPython(`
from unittest import TestCase
TestCase().assertEqual(get_best_hand(["9c", "8c", "7c", "6c", "5c"]), "Straight Flush")`)
}})

get_best_hand(["As", "Kh", "Jd", "8c", "5h"]) should return "High Card".

({test: () => { runPython(`
from unittest import TestCase
TestCase().assertEqual(get_best_hand(["As", "Kh", "Jd", "8c", "5h"]), "High Card")`)
}})

get_best_hand(["As", "2h", "3d", "4c", "5h"]) should return "Straight".

({test: () => { runPython(`
from unittest import TestCase
TestCase().assertEqual(get_best_hand(["As", "2h", "3d", "4c", "5h"]), "Straight")`)
}})

get_best_hand(["Ts", "Th", "7c", "6d", "5h"]) should return "Pair".

({test: () => { runPython(`
from unittest import TestCase
TestCase().assertEqual(get_best_hand(["Ts", "Th", "7c", "6d", "5h"]), "Pair")`)
}})

get_best_hand(["As", "Ks", "Qs", "Js", "Ts"]) should return "Royal Flush".

({test: () => { runPython(`
from unittest import TestCase
TestCase().assertEqual(get_best_hand(["As", "Ks", "Qs", "Js", "Ts"]), "Royal Flush")`)
}})

--seed--

--seed-contents--

def get_best_hand(cards):

    return cards

--solutions--

def get_best_hand(cards):
    rank_order = "23456789TJQKA"

    ranks = [c[0] for c in cards]
    suits = [c[1] for c in cards]

    is_flush = len(set(suits)) == 1
    rank_indices = sorted(rank_order.index(r) for r in ranks)

    def is_straight(indices):
        is_regular = all(indices[i] == indices[i - 1] + 1 for i in range(1, len(indices)))
        is_low_ace = indices == [0, 1, 2, 3, 12]
        return is_regular or is_low_ace

    straight = is_straight(rank_indices)

    counts = {}
    for r in ranks:
        counts[r] = counts.get(r, 0) + 1
    freq = sorted(counts.values(), reverse=True)

    if is_flush and rank_indices == [8, 9, 10, 11, 12]:
        return "Royal Flush"
    if is_flush and straight:
        return "Straight Flush"
    if freq[0] == 4:
        return "Four of a Kind"
    if freq[0] == 3 and freq[1] == 2:
        return "Full House"
    if is_flush:
        return "Flush"
    if straight:
        return "Straight"
    if freq[0] == 3:
        return "Three of a Kind"
    if freq[0] == 2 and freq[1] == 2:
        return "Two Pair"
    if freq[0] == 2:
        return "Pair"
    return "High Card"