When Does High Card Matter In Poker

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When Does High Card Matter In Poker Game
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When Does High Card Matter In Poker Terms
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How Does a High Card Hand Match Up? High Card is the ninth best possible hand in the poker hand ranking system – putting it in last place. One pair ranks directly above it, with the best One Pair being Aces. There are no hands that rank below High Card. Therefore, it is the worst hand according to the standard poker hand ranking system. It rarely wins at showdown unless someone’s making a superb bluff. High Card Poker. If two or more players have the same hand the high card determines the winner. For straights or flushes, the highest top card is declared the winner. For one pair and two pair hands, the highest kicker wins. If players have the same 5-card hand, it is a tie and the pot is split equally.

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Poker rules can be confusing at times. You might think you know them all, but then during your play with friends, you come upon a situation, and you are unsure of the rule. One such scenario that might confuse you is when you see two players having a flush. So who wins? The answer is pretty clear to an experienced player like myself, and after reading this article, it will be simple for you to know next time also.

A player with the highest flush rank wins. If both players have the flush of the same rank, then the pot would get split between them. This, of course, holds true only if no one else has a card combination higher than a flush.

Flush is a very powerful hand in poker. You are expected to dominate your opponents very often once you hit it. Therefore it is no surprise it doesn’t usually happen that you get to hit one. You will hit a flush only 0.2% percent of the time. There is a common misconception that a flush is easier to hit, but in fact, you will hit flush half as often as you hit a straight (0.4% chance to hit a straight). And because a flush is harder to hit, your winrate with flush will be higher than with a straight.

It is very crucial to play the right hands to maximize your chances of hitting a flush.

Best cards to hit a flush are high suited hands. AK suited is, of course, the best one to have, followed by AQ suited. Your winrate will still be high with all of the suited broadway hands (JTs, QTs, KTs, ATs, QJs, KJs, AJs, KQs, AQs, and AKs).

Of course, you can hit a flush with a non-suited hand also, but having a suited hand with increase your chances to hit a flush by a lot.

Bigger cards are better for hitting a flush

Why is a high double suited hand a lot better than the lower double suited hand? If you play AKs, AQs, or AJs, you will always have the nut flush (ace-high flush) when you hit a flush compared to 98s. A flush is a very strong hand, no matter how high your flush is. It is tough to lay down a flush, even to strong bets.

If you hit the nut flush on 5hKcThJh7s board with AhQh and your opponent has 8h9h, it will be very tough of him to fold his flush (AQTJ5 high flush wins against JT895 high flush because it has higher ranking cards). It will also be very tough for you to hold a low flush when you are facing bets, after all, you beat many hands that are willing to bet – all sets, two pairs, some smaller flushes, and bluffs.

Therefore you must be on the winning side of a flush as often as possible. And big suited cards do exactly that.

Please note, due to the little chance of having a straight flush of 0.0014%, I just assume that Ace-high flush is the nut flush, and an opponent doesn’t have a straight flush, which would beat our ace-high flush.

One exception – When the bigger cards are not always better

There is one situation where having AKs is not optimal. It only matters when you hit a flush. In such a scenario, I would rather have any other ace-high flush but the AK high flush. That way, I can know that someoneelse might be holding a 2nd nut flush (K high flush) as I don’t hold the K myself. Some players might be folding lower flushes, but almost no one folds 2nd nut K high flush. And nobody can beat me anyway if I hold the A high flush in my hand.

The chance to hit a flush is already low, and it happens even less often that someone has second nut flush. In all the other scenarios, it is better to have AK than AQ or lower, as our kicker is very valuable. This is also the reason that my winrate with AKs is still a lot higher than with AJs. Most of the time, when we hit a flush, our opponent will not have a flush.

But the times when you see two players showing a flush do happen and it is important to distinguish from 3 possible scenarios:

One person has a lower flush, and another person has a higher flush
Both players have a flush of the same rank
One player has a straight flush (with lower cards), and another player has a higher flush, but just a flush.

Higher vs. Lower Flush

The rules of poker are simple. A player that has a higher flush will win the hand. It doesn’t matter if both players have a flush; it only matters who has the highest flush.

The value of the flush goes from lowest possible flush 23457 of the same suit, and not 23456 as this would also give us a straight flush, which is better than a normal flush. The value of flush goes all the way up to AKQJ9 of the same suit, and this is the biggest flush possible without having the strongest hand in poker – royal flush (AKQJT of the same suit).

The highest flush beats not only all the lower flushes that will not be folding to our huge bets, but it also beats all sets (trips), two pairs, and pairs.

If you don’t have the nut flush yourself (highest possible flush, depending on the board), then chances are someone else can have it. Scenarios where you have 2nd nut flush, and someone else holds the nut flush will happen, and you will pay him off. This will reduce your winrate. But all the other times you are up against worse hands you will make a lot of money. Any flush is a great hand to have as it beats so many other worse hands.

Who wins if both players have a flush of the same rank

In the case when both players have the same flush at showdown, and no one else has a better hand than this flush, then the pot would get split between them. First, the rake would get deducted from the pot, and afterward, the pot gets equally split.

Who wins if there is a flush on the table?

Scenario, where both players have the flush of the same rank, is only possible if a flush is present on the table. There is no other option, as that is the only way that both players have all 5 cards of the same rank and same suit.

In my poker career (more than 5 million hands played online), I have seen quite some flushes on the board. A few scenarios are possible:

Nobody has a stronger hand than the flush on the board: When nobody has a higher card of the same suit in the hole cards (in their hand) at showdown, then the pot would get equally split among the players that are still involved in the hand at showdown. Of course, if you fold before the showdown, then you give up on your hand and can’t win the pot (get equal share in this scenario).
Someone has a better hand: If there isn’t a royal flush on the board, then chances are some player can have a bigger flush. Remember, in poker, the player that has the best 5 card combination wins. So on a 5689T all hearts, any player having J of hearts or higher still beats 5689T flush. But if someone has 7 of hearts, then that player will have the better nuts. As 6789T of hearts will give him a straight flush and the better hand combination. If someone would hold QhJh they would have the absolute nuts (QJT98 high straight flush).

Straight flush vs. Ace-high flush

If, by any chance, you come upon a situation where one player has a straight flush, and another player has an ace-high flush, then the rules are simple here also. A straight flush is a better hand and wins against any other non-straight flush and against all lower straight flushes (if both players have a straight flush, then the one with higher straight flush wins).

You will hit a straight flush once roughly every 72,000 hands. When on the other hand, you will hit a flush once every 508 hands. So it makes sense that a straight flush wins.

Why is flush worth more than a straight?
Is a flush or a straight more likely to hit?
A flush beats 3 of a kind. Here is why

Conclusion

Now you know of all the possible scenarios where two players might have the flush. You know correctly who wins and when the pots get split. I am sure there will be no more confusion next time when you see two players have hit a flush.

One questions I hear all of the time from poker players new to Texas Hold'em is “what is a kicker and when does it count?”. At first, it can be quite a confusing concept to wrap your head around but once you have an understanding of what a kicker is, it's actually quite simple.

Here is the definition:

A kicker is a card in poker that decides the winner if two or more players are tied with the same hand rank. E.g. a player with AK will outkick an opponent's AQ on a AJ932 board. Both players have a pair but AK has the better 5-card hand of AAKJ9 vs AAQJ9 where the K/Q, J, and 9 count as kickers.

One key point to keep in mind is that the best 5-card hand wins in poker. Winners are usually determined from the rank of a hand (e.g. flush vs full house or Ace-high flush versus King-high flush) but when both players hold the same hand rank, a kicker must come into play to separate the winners from the losers by making a 5-card hand.

So you might be wondering who wins in this scenario:

Well think about it for a minute, and then if you can't work it out, have a read of the list below.

Table Of Contents

How To Determine When A Kicker Play

How To Determine When A Kicker Play

Here is a list of the hands in poker and how/if a kicker is played:

High card:

A high card plays when neither player has a pair or better. When both players have a high card, all cards can be counted as a kicker. Take your two hole cards and five community cards, then start with the highest-ranking card and compare to your opponent while ignoring the two weakest cards of the 7 total.

An example of where a high card kicker plays:

Your hand: A♠ 9♣
Your opponent's hand: A♥ 5♠
The community cards: K♥ Q♣ 8♦ 2♠ 3♠
Your best 5 cards: A♠ K♥ Q ♣ 9♣ 8♦
His best 5 cards: A♥ K♥ Q♣ 8♦ 5 ♠

We ignore the 3♠ and the 2♠ on the board since they are lower than the other 5 cards.

And now, let's take this situation where one of your kickers doesn't play:

Your hand: A♣ 7♠
Opponents hand: A♥ 5♥
The community cards: K♦ Q♦ 9 ♣ 8♥ 3♣
Your best 5 cards: A♣ K♦ Q♦ 9 ♣ 8♥
Hist best 5 cards: A♥ K♦ Q♦ 9 ♣ 8♥

I.e. the 5♥ and the 7♠ are both lower than the other 5 cards on the board and therefore the pot is split.

One pair:

With one pair a kicker is used when your second card is better than your opponent and the remaining cards on the board.

Your hand: A♥ K♥
Opponents hand: A♦ Q♣
The community cards: A♣ T♦ 7♠ 5♠ 2 ♦
Your best 5 cards: A♥ A♣ K♥ T♦ 7♠
Hist best 5 cards: A♦ A♣ Q♣ T♦ 7♠

In this case, you have your opponent out kicked with the hand of a pair of Aces with King kicker vs a pair of Aces with a Queen kicker.

Two pair

A single card kicker plays with two pair only when you do not make two pair with both of your hole cards. For example:

Your hand: A♥ K♥
Opponents hand: A♦ Q♣
The community cards: A♣ T♦ 7♠ 5♠ 5♦
Your best 5 cards: A♥ A♣ 5♠ 5♦ K♥
Hist best 5 cards: A♦A♣ 5♠ 5♦ Q♣

The pot will be split if both players have the same two pair using both their hole cards.

Two pair winners are determined by first determining the best highest-ranked pair between you and your opponent, and then if these are the same, you compare the 2nd pair.

Can you now work out the example we gave in the introduction? Here is broken down:

Your hand: A♣ 2♦
Opponents hand: A♦ 7♠
The community cards: A♥ 9♥ 9♣ J♦4♣
Your best 5 cards: A♣ A♥ 9♥ 9♣ J♦
Hist best 5 cards: A♦ A♥ 9♥ 9♣ J♦

Therefore the pot will be split since neither the 7♠ nor the 2♦ are played and both players have the same hand.

Three of a kind:

A kicker with three of a kind is determined in the same way as one pair. If you have AK on an AA752 board, vs AQ you will have the best 5 cards with AAAK7 vs AAAQ7.

Your hand: A♥ K♥
Opponents hand: A♦ Q♣
The community cards: A♣ A♠ 7♠ 5♥2♦
Your best 5 cards: A♥A♣ A♠ K♥ 7♠
Hist best 5 cards: A♦ A♣ A♠ Q♣ 7♠

You have the best five cards in this scenario because the K♥ plays after the three Aces.

Note the difference between an ordinary 3 of a kind and a set – a set is when you make three you of a kind using the two hole cards whereas an ordinary three of a kind is when you have three of the same card using only one of your hole cards.

Take this example of having 99 on an A9642 board, you have three of a kind (or set) on this board but it's impossible for anyone else to also have 99.

So there are no kickers when you have a set, because it's impossible for your opponent to have three cards of the same rank, but a kicker can count for an ordinary three of a kind where only one card is used from your hole cards.

Straight:

There is no kicker with a straight because a straight is made using 5 cards.

Flush:

Similar to a straight, there can be no kickers with flushes as these hands require the 5 cards to be used.

Full house:

There are no kickers with a full house. Hands are ranked in a similar way to two pair.

Firstly, the best three of a kind is the winner, if both players have the same three of a kind, the best pair wins. If both players have the same three of a kind and pair, the hand will always be split.

Four of a kind:

A kicker does not play with a four of a kind (quads) unless the four of a kind is on the board.

Your hand: A♥ 5♠
Opponents hand: K♦ J♦
The community cards: Q♥ Q♦Q♠ Q♣ 4♦
Your best 5 cards: Q♥ Q♦Q♠ Q♣ A♥
His best 5 cards: Q♥ Q♦Q♠ Q♣ K♦

You will win this hand as your Ace kicker players after the four Queens.

Straight flush/Royal Flush:

Similar to a straight and flush, kickers do not play as a straight or royal flush require 5 cards.

Here is a summary of when kickers do and don't count in poker:

Hand Type	Does a kicker count?
Ace high	✔️ Yes
One pair	✔️ Yes
Two pair	✔️ Yes
Three of a Kind	✔️ Yes
Straight	❌ No
Flush	❌ No
Full House	❌ No
Four of a kind	✔️ Yes
Straight Flush	❌ No
Royal Flush	❌ No

When A Kicker Doesn't Play

We already mentioned when a kicker doesn't play e.g. in a straight, flush or full house. However, a kicker also won't decide the winner when you and your opponent has the same hand e.g. A5 vs A5.

A kicker also doesn't decide the best hand when there are better kickers already on the board.

For example, if you have A4 and your opponent has A3 on an AK762 board, the best 5 cards for both opponents is AAK76 and the kicker won't be included in the hand. Therefore, the pot will be split between the two players despite us having a better hole card than our opponent.

Kickers can also be counterfeited. If you have a hand of A5 on a AQT2 board, any card higher than a 5 on the river will mean that your kicker has been counterfeited and won't play. E.g. if the river was a 7 the best 5 cards would be AAQT7.

When Is A Kicker Important?

A kicker most often comes into play when you have a high card or single pair.

However, the best hand you can get with a kicker is AK, because if your opponent has an Ace or King in their hand, you will have them outkicked and you will be a big favourite to win the hand (roughly 75% favourite).

AK always makes top pair top kicker which is the best one pair hand you can make.

Since players most often play high-rank hands, kickers are most important when you have a high card. This is why it is not advisable to play weak ace hands (e.g. A2 or A3) very often (see poker position).

A2 will make top pair bottom kicker on an ace-high board (e.g. AQ753) and is a significantly weaker hand than top pair top kicker.

If you do happen to have top pair bottom kicker on an ace-high board, it is quite likely that you could be facing another ace with a better kicker (or better) if a lot of money goes into the pot.

Being outkicked is one the common poker mistakes I recommend watching out for, so make sure you carefully consider your kicker the next time you are on the table!

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