A
kicker, also called a
side card, is a card in a
poker hand that does not itself take part in determining the rank of the hand (see
Poker/Hands), but that may be used to break ties between hands of the same rank. For example, the hand
Q-Q-10-5-2 is ranked as a
pair of queens. The
10,
5, and
2 are kickers. This hand would defeat any hand with
/No pair, or with a lower-ranking pair, and lose to any higher-ranking hand. But the kickers can be used to break ties between other hands that also have a pair of queens. For example,
Q-Q-K-3-2 would win (because its
K kicker outranks the
10), but
Q-Q-10-4-3 would lose (because its
4 is outranked by the
5).
The term is also used in draw poker to denote an unmatched card (often an ace) retained by a player during the draw in the hope that either it will be paired on the draw, or else play as a kicker (in the first sense) on the /Showdown.
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