In poker, a kicker is the second card a player holds when his other card pairs up with another card on the board. This card comes into play when another player winds up with the same pair as the first player, and the ranks of the kicker cards are compared to see who wins: higher kicker takes the pot. Kickers can come in handy even when world champions play, as was the case in this hand during the Poker After Dark Champions Week show.
Huck Seed, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson, Berry Johnston, Jamie Gold, and Johnny Chan were all seeking the $120k first place prize, but also bragging rights. Phil limped in with:
... as did Chris with:
... Chan was happy to check his option with:
... and three players went to the flop. The flop hit:
... and Phil was in a big trouble. Chris was first to act, and he checked, hoping someone else would open up the action. Chan checked, as did Phil, so Chris would have to wait for the turn. When the turn hit:
... Chris did not want to wait any longer, so he put in $500. Chan folded, and Phil came along and raised it to $1,500. Chris was happy, figuring he had the best hand. He did not move all in yet, though, just raising it up to $4,000.
Phil now paused, wondering what he was heading into, but he made the call. When the river hit:
... and Chris bet out $5,000, Phil had to make the call, and could not believe his luck when he rolled over trips to be beat out by Chris' bigger kicker.
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