Kickers
Kickers are the leftover
cards after a hand is declared. They determine who wins if players
have the same hand. Since not all hands have "leftovers", kickers
only apply to, four of a kind, three of a kind, two pair, one pair,
and high card situations. For situations with straights, flushes,
straight flushes, and full houses, the person with the higher value
cards win. Since those hands you can not have the exact same cards
as you can with two pair, one pair, and high card situations.
In texas hold 'em you always want to use the best combination
of five cards. Since a certain amount of cards are "used up" when
you declare a hand, there can only be a certain number of kickers.
Check out the following examples to understand what I am saying...
Example #1:
- Here you can see an example of
where two people have the exact same hand, in this case they both
have two pair 9's and 10's. The winner is on the right because of
his kicker which is a 10 and is larger than then left side's
7 kicker. The better kicker wins. (remember it takes five cards to
make a hand)
Example #2:
-Again, Both people have the same
hand, 3 of a kind Kings. Who wins? Right side wins because of the
Ace kicker, which beats a Jack kicker.
Example #3:
-This is like the first example
except each player has a pair of 7's instead of two pair. Who wins?
(that's right! Right side wins)
Example #4:
-Here's an easy one... Who has a
hand? Nobody! Therefore right side wins with Ace high because of the
queen kicker vs the 8 kicker left side has.
Example #5:
-Here is a challenge to get your
mind thinking, and really a test to see if you understand how hands
are made and who wins. What hands are out there? What hand does the
left side have and the right side have? At first it seems that the
left side has a full house and should win the hand, but is that the
strongest hand? It is not. Right side wins with four of a kind 7's
with a King kicker (remember hands are made up of 5 cards, and 5
cards only).
***What does the left side have?
If you say four of a kind 7's with a 8 kicker... you are wrong. Look
closely... With the given situation, it is better for the left side
to use all 5 community cards to make a hand, since a Jack kicker is
stronger than an 8 kicker. (there is no such thing as 4 of a kind
with a pair)***
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