When playing poker, you will at least once meet with the term “kicker” and see the kicker concept applied to the game. A kicker is a card that can break ties between two or more players when they have the same hand strength. If you’ve found yourself wondering what a kicker is in poker, this text is for you.
If two or more of your opponents have the same hand strength at the end of a hand, their kicker (the highest card in their hand that isn’t a part of a made hand) will be used to determine who wins. Let us show you how kicker works in Texas Hold’em.
For example, as you play, and the are no K♠ T♥ 8♣ 5♥ 2♦ cards on the board, two players will show K♣ Q♣ and K♦ J♥ in their hands. We see that both players have kings in their hands. However, the player with K♣ Q♣ will win the current pot because he has a better kicker thanks to his Q♣. If players have not only the same hand strength, but also the same kicker too (this is an extremely rare but still possible situation), then the victory will be decided by the next-highest card in the hand that comes into play.
