Editing Kicker (poker)

{{Short description|Tie breaking card in poker}}
A '''kicker''', also called a '''side card''', is a card in a [[poker]] [[hand (poker)|hand]] that does not itself take part in determining the rank of the hand, but that may be used to break ties between hands of the same rank.<ref>{{cite book
| title = The Poker Player's Bible
| first = Lou
| last = Krieger
| publisher = Struik
| year = 2006
| isbn = 978-1-77007-469-9
| page = 249
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| title = The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According to Hoyle
| last =  Wolpin
| first = Stewart
| publisher = New Chapter Press
| year = 1990
| isbn = 978-0-942257-19-9
| page = 335
}}</ref> For example, the hand '''Q-Q-10-5-2''' is ranked as a [[One pair (poker)|pair]] of queens.  The '''10''', '''5''', and '''2''' are kickers.  This hand would defeat any hand with [[no pair]], or with a lower-ranking pair, and lose to any higher-ranking hand.  But the kickers can be used to break ties between other hands that also have a pair of queens.  For example, '''Q-Q-K-3-2''' would win (because its '''K''' kicker outranks the '''10'''), but '''Q-Q-10-4-3''' would lose (because its '''4''' is outranked by the '''5''').

==Kickers in draw poker==
The term is also used in [[draw poker]] to denote an unmatched card (often an ace) retained by a player during the draw in the hope that either it will be paired on the draw, or else play as a kicker (in the first sense) on the [[showdown (poker)|showdown]]. A kicker may also be retained in order to deceive an opponent, for example, to represent a three-of-a-kind when the player has only a pair.

==Kickers in Texas hold 'em==
Kickers take on special importance in [[Texas hold 'em]], because a common winning hand is one card in a player's hand matched with a card on the board, while the player's second card acts as a kicker. For example, if one player holds '''A-8''', a second player holds '''A-7''', and the board is
'''A-K-6-5-4''',  the player with the '''A-8''' will outkick the player with the '''A-7''', since '''A-8''''s best hand is '''A-A-K-8-6''', while the '''A-7''''s hand is '''A-A-K-7-6'''.
However, if the board held '''A-K-Q-J-3''', the players would tie, because both would play the hand '''A-A-K-Q-J'''; in this case it is said that the players' kickers "don't play", or that the "kicker on the board plays". In this case, there would be a split pot.

==See also==
* [[Counterfeit (poker)]]

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kicker (Poker)}}
[[Category:Poker terminology]]

[[de:Liste von Pokerbegriffen#K]]