How Do We Play Poker

Posted By admin On 12/04/22

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Robert Woolley

“The guy who invented gambling was bright, but the guy who invented the chip was a genius.”

That pithy sentence is usually attributed to Julius “Big Jules” Weintraub, a big gambler who essentially invented the “Vegas junket” for East Coast residents, though I have not been able to identify a reliable primary source for this quotation. Whoever said it was right — you can play poker with cash, but chips make the game far easier to manage.

Because chips are such a ubiquitous feature of poker, it’s easy to accept their presence without much thought. But I think there’s a lot that’s worth knowing about poker chips before you sit down at a table full of them.

You must be selective in the poker hands you play. In most scenarios you can play any pair, your aces down to A-J or even A-10, connecting cards like 10-J, J-Q, Q-K, and then a wider selection for suited connectors, for example, 9-10 of diamonds. Connectors open straight possibilities, while suited connectors add flush chances, too. 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. In general, late position play is probably the most important part of playing Zoom poker. Players tend to try and take advantage of the blinds on offer with the mindset that they.

Chips and money (a complicated relationship)

When cash plays. Most casinos allow at least some forms of cash to be used in poker games. The most common rule is that $100 bills, but no other currency, can be in play.

The first thing to understand is that chips are real money, just in a different form. This truth is simultaneously obvious and elusive. Weintraub’s observation gets at how easy it is to forget it, and treat chips as mere abstractions.

In The Biggest Game in Town — one of the most articulate and influential books ever written about poker — Al Alvarez mused, “The chip is like a conjurer’s sleight of hand that turns an egg into a billiard ball, a necessity of life into a plaything, reality into illusion. Players who freeze up at the sight of a fifty-dollar bill, thinking it could buy them a week’s food at the supermarket, will toss two green [$25] chips into the pot without even hesitating if the odds are right.”

Successful poker players rely on their weaker opponents losing touch with the equivalence of poker-world chips and real-world money. As for their own relationship with that truth, however, strong players both remember and disregard it. That is, you must keep in mind that playing badly and as a result losing $100 in chips is the same as setting a $100 bill on fire. But at the same time, you can’t let the fear of losing your hard-earned money prevent you from investing your chips in the way that will be the most profitable.

But enough abstraction. Let’s deal with the tangible aspects of poker chips, as they are used in casinos. All of the following points apply equally to both tournaments and cash games, with two exceptions, which I will note when we get to them.

Color code

The dominant color of most poker chips is related to their denominations in a nearly universal way: $5 chips are red, $25 green, and $100 black. (If you’re playing with chips above this, you’re not likely to be new enough to poker to be reading this article!) The exception is the $1 chip, which casinos order in a wide variety of color schemes, with either white or blue being the most common. Meanwhile tournament chips also do not usually follow this or any other consistent color pattern.

Stacking chips

It is both courteous and strategically advantageous to keep your chips in neat stacks of 5, 10, or 20 chips each. This makes it easy for both you and other players to count or at least closely estimate how much you have on the table — a vital consideration in no-limit and pot-limit games.

You need to know at all times which opponents can “stack” you (i.e., take all of your chips if you lose a big confrontation), or, conversely, how much you could potentially win from them. Players whose chips are in an unorganized heap, or in uneven stacks, or in which denominations are mixed together haphazardly, make this unnecessarily difficult.

Hiding chips

For similar reasons, it is both against the rules and deeply unethical to hide one’s largest-denomination chips from the view of other players. If you play poker long enough, sooner or later you will encounter a dishonest player who carefully hides several black chips under or behind stacks of red chips. His goal is to get you to underestimate how much money he has in play. If, for example, you have $500 but see only $200 in front of the guy in seat four, you might be more inclined to call his all-in bet than you would be if you could see the six $100 chips he has stashed behind his stacks of red.

If you see somebody trying to hide his big chips this way, you not only may, but should point it out to the dealer. If you’d prefer not to risk being seen as a “snitch,” you can step away from the table and tell a floor person about the problem. Poker rooms have little tolerance for such “angle shooting,” because it upsets less-experienced players when they get deceived this way, and the casino does not want to lose them as customers.

Removing chips

Once you put chips into play at the table, you cannot remove any of them until you remove all of them to cash out. That is, you can’t pocket some of your winnings to ensure that you won’t lose them, no matter how tempting it seems to do so. (I’ll explain this in more detail in a future article when I address the whole subject of “table stakes.”)

Similarly, you cannot just give some of your chips to another player at the table, such as your spouse or best friend. If he or she needs more chips, they must be purchased from the casino. (You can give cash out of your pocket to another player, however.)

When cash plays

Most casinos allow at least some forms of cash to be used in poker games. The most common rule is that $100 bills, but no other currency, can be in play. However, a few casinos allow other denominations of cash to be used in poker games, while a few don’t allow any cash on the table at all. The only way to know the house rule on this point is to ask. When cash is in play, these bills are subject to the same rules about being kept easily visible to other players and not being removed from the table until you are leaving.

I think it will be obvious to you that cash never substitutes for or supplements chips in poker tournaments. In fact, poker tournament chips are usually explicitly marked “NO CASH VALUE” so that nobody mistakes them for ones exchangeable for cash.

Personally, I prefer using just chips, so if I win a pot that has bills in it, I will ask the dealer or chip runner to trade me chips for them. My reason for this idiosyncrasy — and I admit that that’s all it is — is simply that when I look at chip stacks, either my own or other players’, my brain tends not to register the bills the same way it does the chips. As a result, I’ve occasionally made large errors in estimating what amounts are in play. Apparently, other people don’t have this problem. Do as seems best to you.

A possibly profitable tip: Many players, when in possession of a mixture of both chips and bills, will be much more reluctant to put the cash into the pot than the chips. This is precisely because of the psychological effect mentioned at the beginning of the article, in which chips lose their equivalence to “real” money. For that reason, a player who is betting with his cash instead of or in addition to his chips is less likely to be bluffing than one who is betting with chips only, all else being equal.

Of course, like everything about poker “tells,” this is not a universal phenomenon. But it’s sufficiently common to make it worth paying attention to see if it’s true about the specific players at your table, then using that knowledge to your advantage.

There a lot more to say — and to learn — about chips. In Part 2, I’ll explain the rules about making bets and raises with chips.

Robert Woolley lives in Asheville, NC. He spent several years in Las Vegas and chronicled his life in poker on the “Poker Grump” blog.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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