Four of a kind is a poker hand such as 9♣ 9♠ 9♦ 9♥ J♥, which contains four cards of one rank, and an unmatched card. It is also called "quads". It ranks above a full house and below a straight flush.
Higher ranking quads defeat lower ranking ones. Between two equal sets of quads (possible in wild card and community card games), the kicker determines the winner.
Examples:
- 10♣ 10♦ 10♥ 10♠ 5♦ ("four tens" or "quad tens") defeats 6♦ 6♥ 6♠ 6♣ K♠ ("four sixes")
- 10♣ 10♦ 10♥ 10♠ Q♣ ("four tens, queen kicker") defeats 10♣ 10♦ 10♥ 10♠ 5♦ ("four tens with a five")
