Hand Elements

There are two elements in a poker hand that are sometimes overlooked by newbie’s to the game. These are kickers and overcards. Their relevance and understanding them is vital.

Kickers – these are the left-over cards after the hand is declared. They determine who wins if two or more players have the same hand. They are only relevant though in hands that don’t require five cards like two pairs, one pair and high card situations.

So if player A had a king hearts and a queen of diamonds and player B had King of clubs and jack of diamonds. The community cards drawn were King Diamonds, King spades, 4 diamonds, 10 clubs and 7 spades.

Both players have a set (three kings) Player A has a queen kicker and Player B has a Jack kicker. So player A wins.

(If the left over community cards were higher than the players kickers then it is a split pot and out weighs the players kickers)

Kickers are chiefly relevant when you are attempting to win the hand with a pair as at a full ten seat table  it is not unusual for two players to be holding the same pair. The higher your kicker, the higher the chance of winning.

An overcard is where your cards are higher than any of the community cards. I.e. if your cards are an ace and a king and the flop is ten, six and two. Your cards are two over cards than the flop.

As a general rule in this situation, advice to beginners is that it is less profitable to continue and should fold as at best your going to hit is likely to be just a pair. Even if it’s top pair is not going to win enough hands to justify the expense. The times you hit and loose will out weigh the times you hit and win. More advance players will know when the conditions are right to profitably play overcards and win.

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