When two players appear to have the same hand in poker, deciding who is the winner is not always easy. I’ve played for over 10 years and will show you how to determine whether there is a winner or if there it is a tie.
- A pair is composed of two cards of the same rank. Since winning poker hands are always composed of five cards, the other three cards are so-called 'kickers'. In case two players have the same pair, then the one with the highest kicker wins.
- Two Pair (5s-5c-4c-4h-Jc) One Pair (9s-9c-Ah-8d-2c) High Card (Ah-Qs-7h-5s-3s) If the players have the same ranking hand at showdown, the highest kicker is used as a tie-breaker. For example, if there are two players remaining and each has a Pair of Nines, the player who also has Ace-Eight-Deuce will beat the player who also has King-Queen-Jack.
Two Pair: Two seperate pairs (eg. Two sets of two cards of equal value constitute a hand that has two pairs. As usual the pair with the higher value is used to determine the winner of a tie. Pair: One pair of two equal value cards constitutes a pair. High Card: When the hand you are left with has no pairs, is not a straight or a flush.
What happens if you have the same hand in poker? If two or more players have the same hand the high card determines the winner. For straights or flushes, the highest top card is declared the winner. For one pair and two pair hands, the highest kicker wins. If players have the same 5-card hand, it is a tie and the pot is split equally.
Sometimes the basics are not enough and further explanation is needed. Let’s go through all the possible hands and show how a tiebreaker is handled for each and every possible situation in poker.
Poker Tiebreaker Rules
Having a tie in poker is actually a fairly rare thing. For the purposes of this article we will focus on ties in Texas Hold’em. However, the methodology works for any form of poker.
Who Wins If No One Has a Pair? High Card Tiebreaker Rules
The easy way to determine who wins if no one has even a pair is for everyone to put their hands in order from high to low. Then, simply start at the top and work your way down until the tie is broken. The highest non-tie card wins.
High-Card Tiebreaker Examples:
- AJT85 beats AJT82
- T8542 Beats T7653
- 85432 Beats 76542
- K6542 Beats K6532
What Happens If Two Players Have the Same One-pair Hand?
If two or more players have the same pair, you use the same methodology as you do for high-card hands. The next highest non-tie card determines the winner.
One-Pair Tiebreaker Examples:
- KKT75 beats KK942
- 88652 Beats 88642
- AAK83 Beats AAK82
Who Wins in Poker If Both Players Have 2 Pair? Two-Pair Tiebreaker Rules
Two pair winners are really easy to determine, the player with the higher pair wins. For example, JJ22 beats TT99.
If both players have the same two pair, it is also easy to figure out the winner since there is only one kicker. Whichever kicker is higher wins.
Two-Pair Tiebreaker Examples:
- 7733A beats 55442
- JJTT8 beats JJTT5
- 8822A beats 8822K
Three of a Kind Tiebreaker Rules
The person with the highest three of a kind wins. If two players have the same three of a kind, then the kickers are used to determine the tiebreaker.
Three of a Kind Tiebreaker Examples:Which Hand Is Best in High-Low Poker?
- TTT92 beats 77743
- QQQT2 beats QQQ76
What Happens If Two Players Have a Straight or Flush?
If two or more players have a straight or flush, whoever has the top card wins.
Straight & Flush Tiebreaker Examples:
- 76543 beats 5432A (Ace is a one in this case)
- J♠ 9♠ 5♠ 3♠ 2♠ beats T♠ 8♠ 7♠ 6♠ 4♠
What If Two Players Have a Full House?
To break a tie with a full house, whoever has the highest “trips” parts of their hand wins. The “pair” part of the hand does not matter except as a tiebreaker. If the pairs are the same as well, then the hand is a tie and the pot is split.
Full House Tiebreaker Examples:
- TTT22 beats 777AA
- 555JJ beats 444KK
- QQQ33 beats QQQ22
Four of a Kind, Straight Flushes, and Royal Flushes
Unless the hand is on the board, it is extremely rare for there to be two players with the same ultra-premium hand like four of a kind, a straight flush, or a royal flush. However, it is easy to decide who is the winner.
- Four of a kind – The highest four of a kind hand wins
- Straight flush– Usually when this happens, one player will have the top of the straight flush and the other the bottom. The top wins.
- Royal flush– The only time it is possible for two players to have a royal flush is if it is on the board. Even if it was possible, two royal flushes is always a tie. Contrary to what some people believe, one suit does not beat another suit unless a specific local rule dictates it.
What Happens If Players Have the Same Hand Even After a Tiebreaker?
Can there be a tie in poker? In poker, if no winner can be determined with a tiebreaker, then the hand is declared a tie and the tied players split the pot. The most frequent time there is a tie in poker is where the board is paired twice and two or more players each have the same high card.
Examples of tied hands:
- One player has AK and the other has AQ and the board is J2255. Each player has A2255 and for a tie.
- One player has A8 and another has A6. The final board is AQJJ9. Both players have a pair of Aces with kickers of QJJ9. They would split the pot.
- One player has 98 and the other has 92. The final board is AKQT5. Both players have the high card hand AKQT9. The pot is once again split between them.
What If the Best Hand Is on the Board?
If no part of anyone’s hand can break the tie, then the pot is split equally among the players with
How Do We Split up the Pot?
The easiest method to split up a pot in poker is to start with the highest chip color and work your way down. If there is an uneven number of a color, you pull in enough from the next lowest amount to even it up. Then start the process again with the next highest color available.
What If There Is an Uneven Amount in the Pot?
If there is an extra chip left over after the pot has been split, then the first player seated clockwise from the dealer gets it. In heads-up, the player who was the Big Blind gets the extra chip.
Which Hand Is Best in High-Lo Poker?
There are a few variations of poker, namely Omaha Hi-Lo where the low hand wins half of the pot. In this case, whoever can make the lowest possible hand that isn’t a straight
In order to qualify for a low hand, the highest card has to be 8 or lower. 86532 qualifies but 95432 does not.
What Are Common Tie-Breaker Mistakes?
In pub poker or home games, I see people scoop a pot quite frequently when it was supposed to be a tie. The most common time this happens is when someone is dominated and then their kicker is counterfeited at some point during the hand.
Here are some examples:
Poker Hands Two Pair Tie
AQ vs. A2– Board runs out A588K, which means they both are holding two pair Aces and eights with a King kicker. I have witnessed the pot be pushed to the AQ guy and the next hand be about to start before anyone notices.
66 vs. 44– Board runs out KTT7K, which means they both are playing the board with two-pair, Kings over Tens with a
AA vs. AK– Board runs out 97568, with a straight on the board it’s a split pot. Yet you’d be surprised how often the guy with AA will try to drag in the entire pot.
Remind Me, What Is the Hand Ranking Order Again?
Ranked from best hand to worst:
- Royal Flush
- Straight Flush
- Four of a Kind
- Full House
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a Kind
- Two-Pair
- One-Pair
- High Card
Final Thoughts
Now you know how to break any possible tie in poker if two players seem to have the same hand. If you want to learn the basics of poker strategy, you might want to check out my complete poker tutorial. Thanks for reading!
Related Questions
Can you have two hands in poker? You are required to always play your highest hand possible in Texas hold’em or other poker games. However, if you verbally announce a weaker version of your hand then you actually have, the dealer may actually force you to play the weaker hand.
Which is higher straight or flush? According to the hand ranking rules of poker, a flush always beats a straight.
Is JQKA2 a straight? AThis is know as an around-the-corner straight and is only used as a special rule in some home games. In games that follow the exact rules of poker, JQKA2 is not considered a straight and is just an Ace-high high-card hand.
If you are interested to get the best rakeback deals and private promotions on poker sites head on to PokerPro website (PS: there are plenty of options to choose from also for the USA players).
Poker newcomers might get confused by some out of the ordinary things in poker. Or it can be as simple as basic poker rules and how hand ranking is determined.
As a seasoned poker pro player, I can, on the other hand, instantly see who won the hand, not just in Holdem, but also in other poker variants. yes in Omaha also.
Don’t worry; this comes with experience, and we all need to start somewhere. Just move one step at a time, and soon you will know the essential poker rules on the fly.
In this article, I will explain to you in detail what happens if two hands tie in poker and the usage of kickers.
So, what happens if two hands tie in poker? If two or more players have the samehand, then the pot will get split equally between them after the rake isdeducted. Players will have the same hand if their five-card combination is ofthe same values. That is where the confusion might come from.
All five cards must be of the same rank. Only then will the players tie, and pot will get split. If they have the same card rank, but not all other cards are of equal value, then the person with a higher side card will win. In poker jargon, this is also called having a better kicker. A most common scenario of this is when both players have a pair.
An excellent example of this is as follows. You have AK, and an opponent has AQ on the AT345 board. In this case, you win, even though you both have a pair of aces. Your 5 card combination is higher than the opponent’s. You have AAKT5, and your opponent has AAQT5. That is why your pair of aces with a king kicker beats the opponent’s pair of aces with a queen kicker.
Elimination in a tournament when you tie
There is a scenario in a tournament. It is 1 player left to bust before players are in the prize pool, which in poker jargon is known as the bubble. It is 11 players left, with 10 people getting paid.
2 short stacks, both have the same 5 card combination hand at showdown. Bigger stack has the better hand and knocks both of them out.
Then the first person that went allin, and lost, would finish as the bubble on 11th spot. The person who went all-in after him would be knocked out and finish the tournament on the 10th spot and get paid.
What is a kicker in poker
Two Pair Poker Hand
Kicker, or as some call it, a side card, is a card in poker that doesn’t determine the rank of the card. It is still used in getting the best 5 card combination and is used to determine the winner of the hand. If players have the same rank and same kickers, then the pot would be split.
For example: on the board is AK897. One player holds AT, and other player holds A5. So both players have a pair of aces, but they have different kickers.
Player one has AAKT9 (best 5 card combination he can have), and player two has the best combination of AAK98. Player one kickers are K, T, and 9; player 2 kickers are K, 9, and 8. Therefore the player one would win because he has better kickers – his 5 card combination is better.
When does a kicker count?
Firstly, if you are confused about kickers and when they count and when they don’t, then remember the following. For every single hand in poker, a combination of the best rank of 5 cards count. You need to use 5 cards all the time. So at all times, 5 cards count towards your card value.
You can either use 2, one or none of the cards you were dealt. or community cards you can either use all 5, 4 or only 3. But total number of cards you need to use is five.
If you have a pair, then you used 2 cards already, now you need to use 3 more cards to get your 5 ard ranking. Look at the example above with AK and AQ; kickers count there because each player has a pair plus they need to use 3 best possible cards more.
In the same way, do 2 pairs have a kicker, so does the 4 of a kind hand. Even your sets have two kickers. Straights, full houses, flushes, and royal flush have no kickers. For them, you already used 5 card hand combination. Note that the person with higher straight or a flush or bigger full house will still win, as he has a better hand ranking than the lower counterpart.
If you want to read more about kickers, then here is a link to Wikipedia.
When poker pot is split
When a poker pot is split, it gets divided equally to the number of players that participated in the showdown. If only 2 players would be involved in the hand from the beginning, then due to rake, each of them would get slightly less than they invested in the pot.
That is why you must start playing on a poker room that has the best rakeback deals. If you wonder what rakeback is and which poker sites have the best deals, then read this detailed article I wrote about rakeback.
Nuts on the board
When I am playing online, I sometimes see people betting huge amounts where the board itself is nuts.
Two Pairs In Poker
Examples of nuts on board:
- The royal flush on board
- Nut straight on board
- 4 of a kind and an ace on board
In these scenarios, it makes no sense to bet huge. In fact it makes sense to not bet at all if a nuts is present on the board. Only if a person doesn’t pay attention to the board, they might fold.
Maybe it had happened to me once that someone would fold their hand when the nuts were present on board. In 5 million hands. It makes no sense to bet because you only cost yourself money by making the pot bigger.
Poker Two Pair Beats What
More significant is the pot, the bigger will be the rake. The pot will still get split up equally among all the players that went to showdown because everyone will have the same hand. Just your share now will be slightly smaller because the poker room will take more rake for themselves. And the percentage of the pot is equally distributed after reducing it for the rake amount.
It can happen that pot cannot get divided exactly equally among players due to rounding. Then the first player to the left of the button that was involved in showdown might get one small blind more than others. Or in online cash games, one player might get one cent more than others as you cannot divide 1 cent.
Related Questions:
If two players have a straight, who wins? If two players had a straight at showdown, the one with a higher straight combination would win. For example, the first player has KQ and a K high straight of J9T24 board, and the second player has Q8 and therefore only Q high straight. So the first player would win because his straight combination is higher. If both players would have the same straight combination, then the pot would get split equally between them.
Can there be a tie in poker? Of course, there can be a tie in poker. We need to distinguish between the different meanings of a tie in poker.
- One is having the same 5 hand card combinations in cash games.
- Another one could happen when players decide to split the remaining prize pool in the tournament.
- Technically a tie could also be in a satellite, where players that qualify would receive the same reward, which is a ticket to the tournament. None of the players would receive more.
- I remember one scene in a live poker tournament. Two players were eliminated from a tournament at the same time on the bubble. It happened on two different tables. So the floorperson decided it is a tie between them, and each of them would receive half of the prize pool that was for one player.
What happens if two players have the same high card? If two players have the same high card, then the one that holds the second-highest card wins. In poker, the person who has the strongest 5 hand card combination wins. So two players could have 4 cards the same, but 5th wouldn’t be. Then the person who has a higher 5th card would win.