A tie goes to the runner in baseball, but a tie in poker results in a split of the pot. Just what constitutes a tie can be confusing. Before you join a Sit-n-Go or play live poker you should brush up on what constitutes a tie, so let's look at some examples.

All poker played on our website (except for Badugi) is considered a 'five-card' game, in that a poker hand is the best five cards you can put together.In Hold'em, for example, you must make your best five-card hand using any combination of community cards (displayed on the board or table) and hole cards (the cards you actually are holding). Three of a kind- higher ranking card takes the pot. Straights- the straight with the highest-ranking card wins; if both straights are the same the pot is split. Flush- The flush with the highest-ranking card wins, if the same you move to the next card till a winner is found or hands are the same. If hands are the same split the pot. In Texas Holdem, you can win the total pot amount after each hand / round. You do this by having the best hand at showdown or by having all the other players fold to you. Sometimes, two players may have the same hand and will split the pot - so neither gets all the money (chips). In a cash game, you get this straight away and can cash out anytime.

Is this a Tie at Texas Hold'em?

Suppose there are two players left in a pot. The five community cards showing on the board are 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, two clubs, two hearts and a diamond. Player 'A' turns over their starting hand and shows a 3 and 4. He had two pair before the river, but now the board is a straight.

Player 'B' turns over their cards and shows a King and a Queen of clubs. They had four clubs and missed the flush on the river. So, who wins?

In Texas Hold'em, the highest combination of five cards wins the pot. So, regardless of the fact that player 'A' had two pair or that player 'B' had higher cards, the best five cards are the straight of 2-3-4-5-6, and since the game includes five community cards available to every player still in the pot, both players will use all five cards on the board to make the same hand, a 6-high straight. Thus, this hand becomes a split pot.

Poker Texas Holdem Split Pot Rules Pdf

Of course one of the players may bluff at the pot, trying to convince the other that they hold a 7 or even a 7-8 and a higher straight. That's just advanced play and not much you can do about it.

Another Tie Example

Suppose three players call pre-flop, which shows 6-6-8. Player 'A' has pocket aces and bets, called by player 'B' who holds Ace-King suited and a four-flush, and player 'C' who flopped four to a straight. The betting is heavy. On the turn, another 6 hits the board. Now player 'A' has sixes full of aces, player be still has a 4-flush, and player 'C' folds.

The river is another 6, leaving a board of 6-6-8-6-6. Now the best hand is quad 6's with an ace, and both players remaining split the pot. Bummer for player 'A' who's full-house dominated on the turn, but turned into a split on the river!

When Kickers Play

In the last example, both players used their Ace-kicker to claim a split of the pot. Other times kickers can be even more confusing. Suppose the final board is all spades: Ace-K-6-5-4

Player 'A' has two spades in their hand, Jack and 6. Player 'B' has a pair of queens, one of which is a spade. In this case, player 'B' wins because their final hand of Ace-K-Q-6-5-4 spades is higher than player 'A's' hand of Ace-K-J-9-8 spades.

If the players had each held just a single spade in their hand, player 'A' the 2 and player 'B' the 3, this would be a split pot, as the final community cards of Ace-K-6-5-4 would be the highest hand. You'll start to understand these concepts quickly as you learn more advanced strategies.

One Last Example

Now suppose there is an all-in wager preflop and two players call. Player 'A' holds pocket Jacks and player 'B' hold's pocket Tens. The board comes Ace-King-Queen. Player 'A' leads and both have a straight draw. The turn is an Ace and the river is another King, for a final board of:

Ace-King-Queen-Ace-King

Looks like player 'B' caught-up! Now it's a tie because the board plays and those pocket jacks and tens aren't going to be used! It's simply two-pair (Aces and Kings) with a queen kicker!

All poker played on our website (except for Badugi) is considered a 'five-card' game, in that a poker hand is the best five cards you can put together. In Hold'em, for example, you must make your best five-card hand using any combination of community cards (displayed on the board or table) and hole cards (the cards you actually are holding). In Badugi, players make the best four-card hand.

Some hands (like three of a kind) still need five cards to qualify as a complete hand. To fill out the hand, the best remaining unpaired cards are played as 'kickers', in which higher ranking kickers beat lower ranking kickers. If both players play the exact same five-card hand, the hand is a tie and the pot is split.

Here are a couple of examples that should illustrate the concept more clearly:

Poker Texas Holdem Split Pot Rules Free

• You: J7
• Him: J6
• Board: J552A
• Your Hand: JJ55A
• His Hand: JJ55A

You each play the jack in your hand and the J55A from the board, which results in you both having two pair, jacks and fives. You each are playing only one hole card (the jack), and four board cards. You each have an ace kicker from the board, and this results in a split pot. Your 7 does not come into play at all, as it cannot help improve your best FIVE-CARD hand (it would be a sixth card).

If, however we had:

• You: J7
• Him: J6
• Board: J5524
• Your Hand: JJ557
• His Hand: JJ556

Here, you each would play your hole card kickers, because they are better than the 4 on the river. Now the 4 on the river does not actually factor into play, and your two pair 'outkicks' your opponent's two pair by virtue of your better card (kicker).

Poker Texas Holdem Split Pot Rules Printable

Whether the pot is split or won outright comes down to whether your hole card actually plays; whether it is better than any other card on the board that could make a better hand than your kicker.

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