Poker kicker
In poker games, the side cards that do not assign the rank of a hand is called a kicker, which only comes into play when there is a tie when two or more players who are holding same ranked cards. So, if a hand is holding ace, ace, 10, 7 and 2, then the rank of his hand is a pair of aces whereas the 10, 7 and 2 cards are his kickers. The hand will emerge winner against anyone holding a hand without any pair or with a lower-ranked pair whereas will be beaten by any better ranked hand. Now if two players are holding hands such as ace, ace, queen, 3, 2 and ace, ace, 10, 4, 2 then the first player will win against the player with ace, ace, 10, 7 and 2 since his queen kicker card is higher than the 10 kicker who will in turn defeat the second player since his 7 kicker card is superior to the other player’s 4 kicker card.
In draw poker games, kicker sometimes assumes a special meaning. So it is used to refer to an unpaired ace card which is retained by a player either in hope that it would get paired when he draws or to deceive his opponent he has a three of a kind hand or to play the card as a regular kicker during showdown.
The concept of kicker is very significant in Texas hold ‘em games where the common winning hand combination is formed from one hole card from the player’s hand and 4 out of 5 cards in the board. So, the player’s second hole card becomes the kicker which comes into play to break ties. Sometimes, even kickers cannot break ties as using both hole cards mean using three cards from the board. Since the kicker fail to work, it is said the players’ kickers ‘don’t play’ and the pot is split between the tied players.
