One pair is a poker hand such as 4♥ 4♠ K♠ 10♦ 5♠, which contains two cards of the same rank, plus three unmatched cards. It ranks above any no pair hand, but below all other poker hands.
Between two such hands, the hand with the higher ranking pair wins. If two hands have the same rank of pair, the remaining cards in each hand (called kickers or side cards) are compared in the manner as no-pair hands.
Examples:
- 10♣ 10♠ 6♠ 4♥ 2♥ ("pair of tens") defeats 9♥ 9♣ A♥ Q♦ 10♦ ("pair of nines")
- 10♥ 10♦ J♦ 3♥ 2♣ ("tens with jack kicker") defeats 10♣ 10♠ 6♠ 4♥ 2♥
- 2♦ 2♥ 8♠ 5♣ 4♣ ("pair of deuces, eight-five-four") defeats 2♣ 2♠ 8♣ 5♥ 3♥ ("deuces, eight-five-three")
In some games, kickers become very important (typically community card games like Texas hold 'em), while in other games (such as draw poker) they are almost never significant. Nonetheless, they are always used if needed.
