A system and method for accessing a hash table are provided. A hash table includes buckets where each bucket includes multiple chains. When a single instruction multiple data (SIMD) processor receives a group of threads configured to execute a key look-up instruction that accesses an element in the hash table, the threads executing on the SIMD processor identify a bucket that stores a key in the key look-up instruction. Once identified, the threads in the group traverse the multiple chains in the bucket, such that the elements at a chain level in the multiple chains are traversed in parallel. The traversal continues until a key look-up succeeds or fails.