FAQ in poker
Please see the list of the most frequently asked questions and reported problems which amateur poker enthusiasts deal with. These apply to rules, games, rank lists.
Q: What is kicker ?
A: Kicker is the card which determines the victory when players have the same hands. For example:
Player X: AJ
Player Y: A2
Table: A-K-7-8-3
Both have a pair of aces and a king but X has the advantage (kicker) in the form of J.
Q: I had a better kicker than my opponent but the pot was divided anyway! Why?
A: It was probably the case when the kicker did not matter because the the strongest five cards was higher than your kicker. Here is the example of such a deal:
Player X: KJ
Player Y: K9
Table: AQQK2
Both of you have a pair of kings, a pair of queens and an ace – these are five strongest cards. Jack and nine are not taken into account anymore.
O: I joined the tournament „all-in”, my opponent did the same thing, I had stronger cards but he did not lose everything, some chips returned to him. Why?
A: There is a general rule in poker: you can get from one player as much as you contributed to the pot. If you entered one-to-one „all-in” with 555 chips and the opponent checked with 700 chips, he instantly knows that if he loses, the difference (125 chips) will return to him. Certainly he could check with the exact number of 555 chips but sometimes it is more convenient to click „all-in” button.
Q: I would like to take part in a large online tournament, but I don’t know how long it is going to take?
A: You need to prepare a lot of time if you intend to participate in multi-person tournaments with rising blinds. Much depends on the stake – freeroll per a thousand participants may end within 2 hours because players have nothing to lose and get more aggressive and take more risk. In turn tournaments requiring a higher entry contribution for 300-400 persons may require finalists to play for up to 5-6 hours! A certain solution may be special tournaments with a fast blind structure but you need much more luck. Such tournaments are usually marked as TURBO or SPEED.
Q: I had perfect cards and wanted to go all in but I couldn’t! What was wrong?
A: You probably did not notice that you had entered the game with a fixed limit, pot limit. If you like going the whole way, remember to sit at tables marked as NL (No Limit).
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