'High Card'..
High card is the lowest hand that can be made in the ranking of hands. It's basically the fall back hand that every player will make, should they fail to make at least a pair. Your high card is the single highest card that you have in your hand. You hold A 5 and the board reads J Q 8 2 3, having not made a pair, you have Ace High, with ace being the highest card you have. If a king was the highest card you held, you would have King High.
Of course, the very nature of poker means you could well take down the pot with Ace high. Firstly, you don't need the best hand to win the pot. Secondly, you're ace might actually be good. There is no minimum for a high card although if all your cards are of less value than the community cards on the board, then your high card would be the highest shared card.
Determining the winner at showdown between two players with high card only comes down to the player with the best kicker card that you have. In the example above you hold A 5 and the board came K Q 8 2 3. Your hand would be Ace High with a King kicker. If you held A - 5 and the board came 10 9 8 2 3 you would have Ace High with a ten kicker. You would be beaten if an opponent also held an Ace High and a higher kicker, for instance AK, AQ or AJ. This is the reason many players don't like to play weak aces.
High Card in the context of games such as Indian Poker and Blind Mans Bluff relates to the highest hole card dealt to players. As players are only dealt one card, the player with the highest card would win the pot.
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