Pay attention to your side card

In a game of poker where there are community cards that all players must use to make their hand, it is normal for two of the players to have equal hands except for the side card. Secondary cards are often referred to as “kicker”. The kicker is what draws the line between winning and losing a pot. There is a good reason behind the fact that the AK is an important hand. It’s mainly because of the kicker, or the strength of the kicker. Let’s say, for example, that you flop a set with AK, it’s sure to be the highest possible pair with the best possible kicker. If it was an A-2 you were throwing, the kicker would have been either the best or the worst. This is even if the side card had been an ace.

To better understand the concept, let’s look at an example. You’ve already been dealt and the opponent has an A-5. In the same case, the flop is A-4-4, both would have made two pair each. Let’s say things ended there, your kicker would be the lead in a win/lose situation. If you win, it would be the strength of your kicker. You should know that AA-4-4-Q is a better hand compared to AA-4-4-5. The only way the opponent would win is if he could get a five on the turn. If the opponent succeeded, he would beat you. Although it is not as easy as it seems for the opponent, he has to be able to get one of the five in the deck. There are only three left. No other card would make the opponent the winner. Some of the cards would make the game of poker a tie and force them both to split the winnings. An example where we can see this is if there was a trapped king, it would make both players tie. Both hands would be the same, like this one here; AA-4-4-K. This would be a preferred situation in some cases, where both parties hope to gain something.

Although no one likes it, the weak side cards are not the best with an ace in hand. There is a reason behind this, and it is this; opponents love aces and will be very willing to play any ace that is dealt, this is not the case for any other random cards.