[pritz]

I have had many altercations recently about the 'Kicker'. One of my buddies says it does not come into play sometimes. Here is what happened recently -

I had an A & 10 in the pockets (off-suit). On the flop was A, K, and 3. The fold was 5 and River was 9. No flush draws either. When it came time to show cards with the other dude that was in with me, we both had the Ace for a pair. I had 10 and he had 7. He said the rules were that we used the King on the table as both of our kicker and we split the pot. Is this BS or should I have won with my 10 above his 7?

Also, what is the rule for 2 pairs and the kicker? Say if you have a pair showing on the table and a pair with your pocket and another card on the table....do you use the second card as a kicker or is the kicker offset when 2 pairs are showing (and no, no full-shouse, flushes or straights are showing).

[chris]

You make the best 5 card poker hand of the 7 cards available.

First hand, you should have won and not split. The 3 non-paired cards are considered kickers, you compare them. If the first one ties, then you compare the next highest and keep going. If all kickers tie, then it splits.

You: AAK109
Buddy: AAK97

If a pair is in the community cards, you still make the best 5 card hand.

Say you have pocket 9's and your friend has A8

board: Q Q 4 7 8

You: QQ998 - You win with the higher second pair.
Friend: QQ88A

Say you have AK and your friend has K5

Board: 9 9 3 3 2

You: 9933A - ace kicker plays and wins
Friend: 9933K

Any other questions?

[norshvind]

You would have won in this case. It's the best 5 card hand. Your hand would have been AAKT9. His would have been AAK97. Your 10 would have beat his 9 kicker.

In the case of 2 pair it's the same. Best 5 card hand. If the board had AAKK4 and you had T9 and he had 98 then you would win AAKKT against AAKK9. If the board would have been AAKKJ you would split the pot.

[johnf]

Use the best five card hands. In the first situation, you have AAK109, he has AAK97. You win! The first 3 cards are tied, so you go to the fourth and you have a 10 over his 9. If those were tied you would go to the 5th card. (Never go more than 5 cards though, 6th and 7th never play)
With a pair on board, its the same thing, but use the fifth card. Say its A10 vs. A7, board of AJJ65, then A10 has AAJJ10 vs. AAJJ7. A10 wins again. If the board is AJJK5, then its a split both using AAJJK.

[lork]

Chris last example is wrong because the friend would have trip 9s, but I sure he meant that if the friend had K10, then your Ace would beat his King with the two pair on board.

[chris]

Lork,you're right. My mistake. I'll edit up that last post to remove confusion. Mean to put in an irrelevant rag and screwed it up. Thanks for pointing it out.

[ThomasR]

Indeed, it doesn't always feature all that much, but it's largely there as a decider and as a reward for playing higher cards.

That's why playing A-2 and similar is risky. Anyone with A-3 or above is going to beat you instantly.