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In Texas Hold'em poker, there are some cases where a particular card, often called kicker, acts as a tiebreaker between players to determine who wins the pot, or if the pot has to be shared.

For some combinations such as three or four of a kind, there is no doubt: the kicker is the 5th card of the chosen combination, and determines the winner.

Example

Alice has 7 and 10
Bob has 7 and K
On the board are 7, 7, 2, 3, 4

In that case, both have a three of a kind. But because Bob has a king and Alice only a 10, he wins.

Most of poker websites explaining the rules clearly mention the role of the kicker applying to three of a kind and double pairs. But much fewer say something about colors, straights and full houses, and I found many contradicting answers. I also asked the question to some used online poker players and they also gave me contradicting answers.

I have tried to search for official tournament rules, but most of them only explain what happens with bad behaviors, bad deals, incorrect or confusing betting, showing cards when you shouldn't, acting when it's not your turn, etc. without mentioning subtleties about combinations at all.

To simplify my question, I will take three examples; I think it's better to start with examples before getting to the general answer if one exists. So, what's happening in the following 3 examples? Could you give a more generalized answer?

Example 1 - Flushes

Alice has 2♣ and 3♣
Bob has 4♣ and 5♣
On the board are 6♣, 8♣, 10♣, 2♥, 5♦

Contradicting answer 1: it's a tie, because the highest card included in the flush is the 10, which everybody chooses to include in their 5 showdown cards.
Contradicting answer 2: Bob wins, because he has the greatest private card that is part of the flush

Example 2 - Straight

Alice has 6 and K
Bob has 6 and J
On the board are 4, 5, 7, 8, 10

Contradicting answer 1: it's a tie, because the greatest card in the straight is the 8 for both Alice and Bob
Contradicting answer 2: Alice wins, because she owns an extra king, compared to the jack of Bob

Example 3 - Full house

Alice has 3 and 7
Bob has 3 and 6
On the board are 3, 3, 2, 2, 5

Contradicting answer 1: it's a tie, because one is supposed to choose only five cards to make a combination, and a full house is already five cards. There couldn't be any kicker, and thus their showdowns are strictly equals.
Contradicting answer 2: Alice wins because of her extra 7, compared to the 6 of Bob

Thank you very much for your answers.

Note: I'm unable to post next to you, so I edit my own post; strange not be able to answer to an answer.

Ok, So if I summarize what you are saying :

  • In the flush case, Bob wins because at some point, their hand differs. Technically, I can continue comparing the highest private card to decide who wins. I had it correct.
  • In the straight case, if the highest card of the straight is public, then it's technically always a tie, no matter what the players had as second private card (asuming that only one of the two cards was part of the straight).
  • In a full house if both players have the same triplet and the same pair, it's always a tie, no matter what the players had as second private card (assuming again that only one of the two was part of the full house).

Please confirm me that what I summarized is correct. Thank you for your answer.

Joe W
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QuentinC
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    The hand with cards of a same suit is called a flush. The original questions referred to matching colors; this is misleading because matching only colors (as opposed to suits) is not a valid hand in any standard poker game. – sitnaltax Jan 13 '13 at 19:49
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    Every hand is exactly 5 cards. The most common mistake is not using exactly 5 cards. – paparazzo Jan 15 '17 at 17:19
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    For reference - in some languages the word for 'suit' is the word that usually translates into English as 'color'. This is an occasional source of confusion. – Alexander Woo Jun 18 '20 at 01:19
  • Upvote, for the linguisity, but ... seriously? Are there two "families" of cards, or four? There is money at stake,, and I find it hard to believe that such languages would still use ambiguous terminology – Mawg says reinstate Monica Apr 14 '21 at 08:42

3 Answers3

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The first thing to mention is definitely that there are no extra cards. Poker hands are evaluated with exactly five cards. Sometimes you use all five community cards as your best hand, in which case your pocket is useless (bluffing aside, of course). So strike that right away: if you can't beat your opponent with five cards, you've lost (or tied).

This is true even if all players are using the community cards. In the extreme example, say a Royal Flush comes down in the community cards. Everyone gets a Royal Flush (in which case, obviously, you go all in hoping your opponent makes a mistake.) You're not forced to say "Well, I had an ace in my hand, so I break the tie between the two of us." No, no, and no, you all have the community cards, you tie, split the pot and move on to the next hand.

The next step is to evaluate the hands. It starts like this:

  1. Does any single player have a straight flush? A straight flush is having both a straight and flush at the same time. A flush is all 5 cards being the same suit. A straight is having 5 consecutive cards, consecutive being defined with the order A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A. Ace is in the list twice, but you cannot overlap A. Thus, A, 2, 3, 4, 5 is a straight, 10, J, Q, K, A is a straight, but Q, K, A, 2, 3 is not. A Royal Flush (10, J, Q, K, A of the same suit) is sometimes considered a special straight flush, but in reality it's just the best straight flush.
    • If yes, that player is the winner.
  2. Do multiple players have a straight flush?
    • If yes, the winner is the one with the highest card. (A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight, while 10-J-Q-K-A is the highest straight.)
    • If multiple people share the highest card (either in a different suit or because there is a straight flush in the community cards) they split the pot.
  3. Does any single player have 4 of a kind?
    • If yes, that player is the winner.
  4. Do multiple players have 4 of a kind?
    • If yes, the one with the highest 'set of 4' is the winner.
    • If multiple players have the highest set of 4 (which is not achievable with a standard poker deck, but is with a double deck or community cards), the one with the highest kicker (highest card not in the set of 4) is the winner.
    • If this card is the same, they split the pot.
  5. Does any single player have a full house?
    • If yes, that player is the winner.
  6. Do multiple players have full houses?
    • If yes, then keeping in mind that a full house is a 3-set and a 2-set, the player with the highest 3-set wins the pot.
    • If multiple players share the highest 3-set (which isn't possible without community cards like in hold 'em, or a double deck) then the player with the highest 2-set is the winner.
    • If the 2-set and 3-set is the same, those players split the pot.
  7. Does any single player have a flush? A flush is defined as all 5 cards of the same suit.
    • If yes, that player is the winner.
  8. Do multiple players have a flush?
    • If yes, the player with a flush with the highest unique card is the winner.
    • This hand is similar to 'high card' resolution, where each card is effectively a kicker.
    • Note that a flush requires the same suit, not just color. While the colors used on the suit are red and black, two each, there's nothing to that connection. A club is no more similar to a spade than it is to a heart - only suit matters. The colors are red and black for historical purposes and so the same deck can be played for other games where that might matter.
  9. Does any single player have a straight? A straight is 5 consecutive cards that do not wrap around the Ace. See full explanation in the Straight Flush description.
    • If yes, that player wins the pot.
  10. Do multiple players have straights?
    • If so, the player with the highest straight wins. (A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight, while 10-J-Q-K-A is the highest straight.)
    • If multiple players share the highest straight, they split the pot.
  11. Does any single player have a 3 of a kind?
    • If yes, that player wins the pot.
  12. Do multiple players have 3 of a kind?
    • If yes, the player with the highest 3-set wins the pot.
    • If multiple players have the highest 3-set, the player with the highest kicker wins the pot.
    • If multiple players tie for highest 3-set and highest kicker, the player with the highest "second kicker" wins the pot. (For example, A A A K Q beats A A A K J - here, A A A are the 3-set, K is the kicker, and Q and J are the second-kickers.)
    • If the players tie for the highest 3-set, highest kicker, and highest second kicker, the players split the pot.
  13. Does any single player have 2-pair?
    • If yes, that player wins the pot.
  14. Do multiple players have 2-pair?
    • If yes, the player with the highest pair wins the pot.
    • If multiple players tie for the highest pair, the player with the second highest pair wins the pot.
    • If multiple players tie for both pairs, the player with the highest kicker wins the pot.
    • If multiple players tie for both pairs and the kicker, the players split the pot.
  15. Does any single player have a pair?
    • If yes, that player wins the pot.
  16. Do multiple players have a pair?
    • If yes, the player with the highest pair win.
    • If multiple players have the highest pair, the player with the highest kicker wins.
    • Compare second and third kickers as expected to resolve conflicts, or split if all three kickers tie.
  17. At this point, all cards are kickers, so compare the first, second, third, fourth, and if necessary, fifth highest cards in order until a winner is resolved, or split the pot if the hands are identical.

Note that when comparing two hands, all suits are equal in Poker - the ranking of suits from games such as Bridge and Five Hundred have no bearing on evaluating Poker hands. Bridge order is, however, used for certain "bring in" tie breakers, such as 7 card stud.

thesilican
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corsiKa
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  • Nothing can be more accurate and complete answer. Thank you very much ! – QuentinC Jan 13 '13 at 09:14
  • Where does this tell about five of a color, such as example 1 in the question? – b_jonas Jan 13 '13 at 19:26
  • You forgot flushes! 2. It's possible for multiple players to share the same 4-of-a-kind or 3-of-a-kind in single-deck games with shared cards, like Texas Hold'em.
    • – sitnaltax Jan 13 '13 at 19:43
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    @user8067: There is no hand composed of five of a color. However, this answer omits five of a suit, which is a flush, and ranks above a straight and below a full house. – sitnaltax Jan 13 '13 at 19:50
  • @sitnaltax For sure, I thought I added the commnunity qualifier to that like I did to full house... looks like I omitted it. I wrote it pretty late :) – corsiKa Jan 14 '13 at 16:44
  • Added flushes (whoops) and clarified community 4-sets. – corsiKa Jan 14 '13 at 16:46
  • For pairs, highest pair wins; kickers only matter if players have the same pair. – Chris Dodd Jan 14 '13 at 21:58
  • @Chris absolutely right - fixed. – corsiKa Jan 14 '13 at 22:06
  • One special-case that should be evaluated before anything else in community-card poker. If the five community cards represent the best hand for each player at the table, all players still in split the pot regardless of their hole cards. A player can beat the community by having a hole card that betters the hand "on the table", such as an Ace of a flush suit. – KeithS Nov 13 '15 at 22:44
  • @KeithS That is not true. The players split the pot in that case. You might have a house rule for that, but it's not part of tournament poker. – corsiKa Nov 13 '15 at 22:50
  • @corsiKa - That's exactly what I said. Maybe I could have said "all players who haven't folded split the pot", but yes, the players split the pot. – KeithS Nov 13 '15 at 22:53
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    I'm confused then - why does that need to be evaluated first? Quite simply, each player evaluates their hand individually, and the first person (or people) to have one according to the algorithm above win the hand. I suppose you could optimize it by saying "can anyone beat the five card community hand?" and eliminating those that don't, but you still have to go through the entire process anyway, so I don't think you gain much by doing that. In essence, your comment adds more confusion than it solves. – corsiKa Nov 13 '15 at 22:56
  • The ties you describe in 2 cannot happen. The board needs at least 3 of a suit to make a flush. You cannot have 3 + 3 if the board is only 5 cards. – paparazzo Jan 15 '17 at 17:15
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    @Paparazzi It cannot happen in Texas Hold'em with a different suit (although it can happen in the same suit if all 5 community cards comprise the straight flush or with different ranks if for example the board is an open ender straight flush and hero has the high end and villain has the low end) but I felt for completion's sake I should leave it in there because there are many games where it can exist and if you'll notice, my answer doesn't even touch what game, just how to evaluate any poker hand. – corsiKa Jan 17 '17 at 16:57
  • The stated question is texas holdem. – paparazzo Jan 17 '17 at 17:03
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    @Paparazzi This answer is intended to be (and indeed is used as) a canonical answer. It is used to answer any question that uses the standard poker resolution. – corsiKa Jan 17 '17 at 17:40
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    I've done a bit of reformatting to help improve clarity. Feel free to make further changes or undo it entirely if you don't like it. – Thunderforge Aug 29 '18 at 01:35
  • Sorry to dredge this up, but I just want to confirm that with a straight flush A2345 loses to any other straight flush, as you say the hand with the highest card wins, and ace is the highest card. – Matt Ellen Jun 17 '20 at 17:03
  • That is correct - the Ace, in a wheel (A2345) is the lowest card. That was expanded upon in the Straight section, I've copied the relevant material to the Straight Flush section. – corsiKa Jun 17 '20 at 18:19
  • As a comment on straight flushes - In games where there are wild cards (or more rarely for poker multiple decks), a royal flush is distinct from other straight flushes - 5 of a kind beats straight flush, royal flush beats 5 of a kind. – Andrew Jun 18 '20 at 04:53
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    @Andrew That might possibly be, however I would not be surprised if such a card also actually skews the odds out of order for the traditional hand sets. I would not expect anything other than friends at a kitchen table to use wild card. I don't mean to dismiss that very important use-case, but such things will vary so wildly from house to house that it would be difficult to succinctly capture in my answer. – corsiKa Jun 18 '20 at 05:08
  • A reminder, as Alexander Woo had to the question, that in many non-English languages, "suit" = [their word for] "colour". We should be careful to be clear, and assist people in understanding that it is different in English, but to the Spanish, "el corazón no es del mismo color que el diamante". – Mycroft Jun 19 '20 at 15:34
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    @Mycroft The site, and this answer, are in English. It uses terms that can be looked up in any glossary of poker terms. The answer is, to be frank, longer than an answer should be already. – corsiKa Jun 20 '20 at 02:08
  • @corsiKa: It is a great answer, and the answer's comment about colour vs suit is reasonable. Some of the comments to this answer, and to the question, and I have heard several times to conversations in this game and others, veer farther to "colour doesn't matter, only suit matters" [implication deleted]. I'm hoping only for some understanding from those people that it reads to non-native English speakers as "suit doesn't matter, only suit matters" and avoid that construction, in favour of "colour - red/black - is different from suit - clubs/spades; and only suit matters in poker." – Mycroft Jun 20 '20 at 15:36
  • Explanaition under 12 could be misunderstood - "If multiple players tie for highest 3-set and highest kicker, the player with the next highest kicker wins the pot." as written could mean if the three of a kind is in the community cards, one player has AQ, one has AJ and the third has KJ, the KJ wins it because he has the next highest kicker card after the tied aces. – Andrew Nov 09 '20 at 02:27
  • @Andrew An odd interpretation, but I added a clarification. – corsiKa Nov 09 '20 at 04:14