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The Kicker Declares the Winner

Circumstances arise when more than one player develop the same hand at poker showdown. And in this case of poker hand ties, a kicker is used to declare the winner in a game. Otherwise, all winning players who have equal five-card hands after studying the rest of the card values will split the pot. So what is a kicker and how does it determine a pot winner in a showdown of equal hands?

A kicker is a single card not used after a poker hand is confirmed which also determines the pot winner in case of a tie. More importantly, the kicker's deciding power only applies to five kinds of poker hand ranks. These include a high card, one pair, some two pair, three-of-a-kind (trips), and four-of-a-kind.

The rest of the poker hand ranks (a full house, straight flush, flush, and straight) use a different method to qualify the winner in case of a tie. It's because in meeting the criteria of a winning poker hand, only five cards are used while disregarding the extra sixth and seventh cards in Texas hold 'em. Since suits don't have ranks in Texas hold 'em, card values are always used.

To illustrate how a kicker declares the winner in case of trips, let's say you have an ace-king pocket while your opponent has an ace-jack pocket, both unsuited. The community cards are two aces, a nine, a seven, and a five. Since both of you have three aces as ranking hands, each of your kickers will determine the winner of the tie. Your kicker is your king and your opponent's is a jack. Since a king beats a jack, you'll win the pot.

Also a kicker that declares the winner isn't exclusive to pocket cards. Let's say you have a queen-ten pocket and the other player has a ten-four pocket, both unsuited. The community cards are two sixes, a ten, a jack, and a two. Both of you have two pair of tens over sixes. You kicker is your queen while your opponent's is a jack. Since a queen beats a jack, you'll win the pot.

The kicker declares the winner in case of a tie with five kinds of poker hand ranks - a high card, one pair, some two pair, trips, and four-of-a-kind. Since these ranks leave one or more extra cards to make a five-card poker hand at showdown, kickers are used to settle a tie. Just remember, card values are used regardless of suits and that's how ties are resolved in Texas hold 'em.