The kicker in poker

What is a kicker in poker? A kicker is the highest side card next to your actual combination, and it decides who wins when two players have the same combination. Two players with a pair of aces are not equal: the one with the highest card alongside takes the pot. More showdowns are decided by kickers than by spectacular hands, and that is exactly why it pays to have this piece of the rules really sharp.

The five card rule

Everything starts with one rule from the Texas Hold'em rules: your hand always consists of exactly five cards, the best combination from your own two cards and the five on the table. One pair therefore fills three places with side cards, two pair one place, three of a kind two places. Those side cards are your kickers. A sixth card does not exist: if your lowest relevant card is lower than what the board offers, the board plays and not your card. Virtually every kicker argument at the table comes back to somebody trying to play six cards, or forgetting that the board already offers five.

The standard example: top pair against top pair

You hold A-K, your opponent A-Q, and the board shows A-7-4-9-2. Both have a pair of aces. Your best five cards are A-A-K-9-7, your opponent's A-A-Q-9-7. The pairs are equal, so you compare the first side card: king beats queen, you win. That is how every kicker comparison works: first the combination, then the side cards from high to low, until a difference turns up or the five cards run out. This is exactly why A-K is worth so much more than A-2, while the difference looks small: on virtually every board with an ace one hand wins the kicker comparison and the other loses it, with the same combination of one pair of aces.

When the kicker does not count

Sometimes your lovely kicker is played off the table by the board. Take A-9 against A-8 on a board of A-K-Q-J-4. Both players make a pair of aces with K-Q-J alongside, because those three table cards are higher than the 9 and the 8. The best five cards are identical for both, so the pot is split, however much the player with the 9 wants to win. So at every showdown do not check what you hold in your hand, check which five cards you are actually playing. If there are two pairs on the table, for instance, the whole showdown comes down to one question: who holds a card higher than the fifth card of the board?

Kickers by hand category

The higher your combination, the fewer kickers take part. With one pair your three side cards are compared, with two pair only one, with three of a kind two, with four of a kind exactly one. A straight and a flush have no kicker at all: those hands fill five cards by themselves. Where your combination sits in the bigger picture you can read back in the poker hand rankings. The pattern stays the same everywhere: first the category, then the height of the combination, and only then the kickers.

What this means for your starting hands

Kicker problems usually start before the flop. A hand like A-3 feels strong because of the ace, and it produces exactly the situations where you lose with a pair of aces anyway to A-J or A-K. Players call that being dominated: you hit your ace, call with full confidence and pay three streets to somebody with the same combination and a better side card. So be choosy with low kickers, and get a little greedier when you are the one with the better side card against a calling opponent. You see the same pattern with K-10 against K-Q and with Q-9 against Q-J: the pair is equal, the side card decides, and the weaker kicker pays the bill.