Does the kicker count in two pairs?

For as long as I remember I thought of course there is a kicker but I had run into at least 2 instances on Ultimatebet Sit N Gos where the pot was split for 2 pairs and one player had a higher kicker. Has this happened to anyone else? And what are the rules when it comes to kickers? Don't they always apply down to the 5th and final card whether the hands are ace high trips or 2 pairs?

Also another thing I am unsure about are flush kickers. Lets say the board is all hearts.
KJ832
Player 1 has a 9 of hearts and player 2 has a 4 of hearts. Does this pot get split or go to player 1? Thanks!

Update Feb 2018:

One thing you should always keep in mind is that the board also has to be considered. If the pot was split in the first scenario above that means that the highest card was on the board and played for both players. If either player held a higher card that what showed on the board they would have won the hand.

In the 2nd scenario there is a flush on the board. Any cards of the same suit in the hands of the players will play in the flush - so yes the player with the 9 of hearts would beat the player with the of hearts.

This is a handy guide for hand rankings:

Poker Hand Rankings

If there is a card on the board that is higher than both of your kickers, that card would be used so you would split the pot.

BLieve said:

For as long as I remember I thought of course there is a kicker but I had run into at least 2 instances on Ultimatebet Sit N Gos where the pot was split for 2 pairs and one player had a higher kicker. Has this happened to anyone else? And what are the rules when it comes to kickers? Don't they always apply down to the 5th and final card whether the hands are ace high trips or 2 pairs?

Also another thing I am unsure about are flush kickers. Lets say the board is all hearts.
KJ832
Player 1 has a 9 of hearts and player 2 has a 4 of hearts. Does this pot get split or go to player 1? Thanks!

Click to expand...

Well as far as Question 2, Player 1 would win with a higher flush cause the best 5 card hand wins...

Player 1 would play the KJ983 of hearts using the 9 from his hand

Player 2 would lose cause his/her best 5 card hand would be KJ843 of hearts


Now for question 1, remember that the best 5 card hand wins. Doesn't matter if you play 1, both, or none of your cards.

Say it's AK vs AQ and the flop is A 7 4 Turn is 9 and the River is a 2.

Player 1 with AK would play AAK97 using both the A and K from his hand

Player 2 with AQ would play AAQ97 using both the A and Q from his hand but you can see that he would lose.


A hand where the kicker wouldn't play would be like this:

Player 1 with A 9 and Player 2 has A 7

Flop J J 8 Turn Q River K

Player 1 would play AKQJJ

Player 2 would play AKQJJ

see the kickers wouldn't play cause you play the best 5 cards everytime.

Hope this helped to explain a little bit.

Another kicker question. If player 1 has the top kicker in his hand, but the board also has the same kicker, and player 2 uses the kicker from the board, is it still a split pot?

Player 1 with A Q and Player 2 has A 4

Flop J J 8 Turn A River Q

Player 1 would play AAJJQ (the Q from his hand)

Player 2 would play AAJJQ (the Q from the board)

This would still be considered a split pot. Is that correct?

Agile Beauce said:

Another kicker question. If player 1 has the top kicker in his hand, but the board also has the same kicker, and player 2 uses the kicker from the board, is it still a split pot?

Player 1 with A Q and Player 2 has A 4

Flop J J 8 Turn A River Q

Player 1 would play AAJJQ (the Q from his hand)

Player 2 would play AAJJQ (the Q from the board)

This would still be considered a split pot. Is that correct?

Click to expand...

NO,
Not with the example that you have shown, in the example you have,
Player 1 would have AAQQJ
Player 2 would have AAJJQ
So player 1 would win the pot outright.

Oops sorry my mistake. Let me try again (and I wonder why I loose all the time). That will teach me not to cut and paste a previous example and then change it or to try and post something that takes some thought at 5 AM.

Player 1 with A J and Player 2 has A 4

Flop Q Q 8 Turn A River J

Player 1 would play AAQQJ (the J from his hand/board)

Player 2 would play AAQQJ (the J from the board)

This would still be considered a split pot. Is that correct?

yes, in your last instance, it will be a split pot, as there is a pair of queens on board, counterfeiting his pair of jacks.

thus, both will be playing AAQQJ, J from the board. split pot.

PooffyFooffy said:

If there is a card on the board that is higher than both of your kickers, that card would be used so you would split the pot.

Click to expand...

Ah yes I understand that but I am pretty sure that one player had a better 5 card hand than the other for the instances I am talking about. I will try to find the hand history and post it here.

Wanna play heads up?