A Kicker is a poker term used to describe the left over cards once players have made a hand. They are used to determine the winner of a hand where both players have the same cards but there are still cards remaining to make the best five card hand. Where two players have the same five card hand - most often a Flush, Straight, or Full House then a Split Pot situation arises and the Kicker does not apply. Click here to learn about Split Pots.
Here follows a range of examples where Kickers come into play:
Player 1
Player 2
Community Cards
In this example both players have made a pair of 7's. The kickers are the 2, Jack and 5 on the board and also the 3, King, 8 and 9 held by the players. The winner of this hand is Player 1 with the highest (the King) Kicker.
Player 1
Player 2
Community Cards
Here both players have made Three of a Kind sixes. The kickers here are the Queen, Eight and Four of the Community Cards, and the King (Player 1) and Ace (Player 2). Player 2 takes the pot with 666AQ which beats player 1's 666KQ.
You can see from the above example how in a No-Limit Texas Holdem Poker Game player 1 would be in real trouble with this hand. In player 1's shoes you have to expect to be holding the best hand with trips 6's (three sixes) and a high kicker after the flop. Indeed the only hands that could beat player 1 at the flop would be pocket Queens making QQQ66 or the Ace Six that player 2 holds. The odds of your opponent holding that especially in a heads up game (only 2 players) are tiny. If I were in player 1's shoes in this hand I would lose my entire stack for sure. There is an element of chance in Texas Holdem Poker but on the whole it is a skill game. Experienced players that find themselves in Player 1's position attribute it to bad luck and variance. Obviously if you are dealt Player 2's cards then this would be the sort of card position poker players dream of and exploit as positive variance. You will see swings both positive and negative no matter how good a player you are or become.
Player 1
Player 2
Community Cards
In this example the hand is Ace High, which both players hold. All of the other cards are considered to be Kickers. Player 2 wins this hand with AQJ87 which is higher than AQJ85. This is a very close hand and brings us to the topic of Split Pot situations which is explained in the separate section on the left. If the Community Cards had come out as follows:
with the 9 of diamonds coming out instead of the four of diamonds then the pot would be a Split Pot with both players sharing AQJ98. The 6th and 7th cards held never come into play.
