What Is a Kicker in Poker? Definition and Examples
Level 2 · Lesson 10 of 103 min read
When does the kicker decide the pot?
When two hands tie on the made hand and that hand uses fewer than five cards.
Both of you hold a pair of aces, so the hand rankings are tied and the comparison moves to the leftover cards. Your best five are A♠ A♥ K♦ 7♦ 2♣; theirs are A♠ A♦ Q♣ 7♦ 2♣. The king is your kicker — the highest card in your five that is not part of the made hand. It beats their queen.
Two cards are still to come, and either one can change which hand is ahead.
Does your kicker always play?
No. It reaches your hand only if it outranks the board's own spare cards.
A pair of aces leaves three kicker slots, and the board offers a king, a queen and a seven to fill all three. Your 2♣ is lower than every one of them, so the best-five rule leaves it out — and their 3♥ with it.
Hold J♣ instead and it displaces the seven — then the pot is yours.
How many kickers does a hand have?
It depends on how many of the five slots the made hand already fills.
| Your hand | Cards in the made hand | Kicker slots |
|---|---|---|
| High card | 1 | 4 |
| One pair | 2 | 3 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 2 |
| Two pair | 4 | 1 |
| Four of a kind | 4 | 1 |
| Straight, flush or full house | 5 | 0 |
One pair is also the finish you reach about 44% of the time, which is why a kicker question comes up as often as it does.
Can a kicker win when the board makes four of a kind?
Yes. Four of the five cards are settled before anyone looks at their hole cards, so the last slot decides everything.
The fifth slot goes to the highest single card each player can reach, and the board's own 6♠ is one of the candidates. Your K♥ beats it, their 9♠ beats it, and the king beats the nine. The 4♦ and the 2♥ are too low to matter.
Quick check
Same four queens, but the last board card is an ace: Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ Q♣ A♦. You hold K♥ 4♦ against 9♠ 2♥. Who takes the pot?
You'll also run into these
- A board that beats you both. When the five community cards outrank everything either player holds, no side card is used at all — that is playing the board.
- "Top pair, top kicker." The shorthand for A♥ K♦ on an ace-high flop: the highest pair the board allows, plus the best side card that can sit with it.
- Any unfamiliar term here is defined in the poker terms glossary.
Practice this in Vibe Poker
Play the top-pair-top-kicker spot yourself — Level 26 in Vibe Poker takes under a minute. Free, play-money.
Free, play-money only. 18+.