Poker Glossary
Clear poker definitions, fast examples, and linked concepts for everything from beginner terms to poker math and modern strategy.
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0-9
Browse all 8 0-9 terms →10NL
10NL is the online shorthand for $0.05/$0.10 No-Limit Hold'em cash, the top rung of micro stakes. A full 100bb buy-in is $10.
2NL
2NL is the smallest online No-Limit Hold'em cash tier: $0.01/$0.02 blinds and a $2 buy-in at 100 big blinds. The label names a stakes tier by its buy-in.
3-bet
A 3-bet is a re-raise of an opening raise: open, raise, re-raise. It signals strength, sets the pot size you want, and pressures the opener into harder preflop and postflop choi...
3-Bet Pot
A pot built on a preflop raise plus a re-raise: tighter ranges, a bigger pot, and harder postflop decisions than a single-raised pot.
4-bet
A 4-bet is the fourth distinct raise in the pre-flop betting round. The typical sequence: an open raise (first raise), a 3-bet (re-raise), then the 4-bet (another re-raise). Bec...
5-bet
A 5-bet is the fifth raise in a preflop sequence: open, 3-bet, 4-bet, then 5-bet. At 100bb cash it's almost always all-in, but at deeper stacks it can be a sized re-raise. The r...
5NL
5NL is the $0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em online cash level, where a 100bb buy-in is $5. It is the second rung of micro stakes, one step above 2NL.
6-Max
Short-handed No-Limit Hold'em with up to six seats. Pots go heads-up faster, blinds cycle quicker, and ranges open up at every position compared with full-ring.
A
Browse all 8 A terms →Action Order
Before cards are dealt, the two players left of the dealer button post the small blind and big blind. The big blind is usually twice the small blind. These forced bets seed the...
Add-On
An add-on is a one-shot extra-chip purchase that everyone still in the tournament can buy at a fixed break, usually the end of the rebuy period. It is not a rebuy (which replace...
Aggression Factor
Aggression factor (AF) is the ratio of a player's postflop bets and raises to their calls, displayed on a HUD next to VPIP and PFR. It tells you whether someone pressures pots o...
Aggressive Regular
A winning regular who leans on bets, raises, and re-raises rather than calls. Builds pots when ahead, generates fold equity when behind, and rarely flat-calls marginal hands.
All-in
All-in is the rules state of having every remaining chip in the pot for the current hand. Once you're all-in you can't bet, raise, or fold for the rest of the hand — your hand s...
All-in Equity
All-in equity is the share of the final pot a hand expects once both players are committed and no more betting can change the outcome. It's the equity number a calculator return...
Alpha (Poker)
Alpha is the fold rate a zero-equity bluff needs to break even: `alpha = bet / (pot + bet)`. It is the bettor's mirror of minimum defense frequency: the two always sum to 1. Pot...
Ante
An ante is a small compulsory bet every player posts before cards are dealt. Unlike blinds, which only come from specific positions, the ante comes from every seat and goes dire...
B
Browse all 39 B terms →Backdoor Draw
A backdoor draw needs both the turn and river to complete, also called runner-runner. It adds a thin slice of equity but is rarely a reason to put money in by itself.
Backdoor Equity
The chance to make a strong hand by catching the right cards on both the turn and the river. A backdoor flush completes about 4% of the time; backdoor straights run a bit higher...
Bad Beat
A bad beat is when a hand that was a clear favorite at the moment the chips went in loses because of a card or runout that came after. The losing line was correct; the runout ju...
Bankroll management
Bankroll management is the discipline of keeping poker money separate from living expenses and large enough to absorb normal swings. It decides which stakes you can play.
Barrel
Successive bets across streets to apply pressure: flop bet, turn barrel, sometimes river. Each street raises the price for marginal hands to keep paying.
Baseline Strategy
Your default playbook for No-Limit Hold'em: tight early-position ranges, wider late, raise rather than limp, and a postflop plan that follows position and board texture. The sta...
Best Five Rule
In No-Limit Texas Hold'em each player has seven cards available: two private hole cards and five community cards. The Best Five rule says you use the single strongest five-card...
Bet
Putting chips into the pot during a betting round. In No-Limit Hold'em the size is your choice from the table minimum up to your full stack, and the choice is most of the strategy.
Bet Size Family
Bet sizes are the amounts you can wager up to your chip stack in No-Limit Hold'em. With no fixed limit, choosing how much to bet becomes a core strategic decision. Size affects...
Bet Sizing
How big you bet relative to the pot. Larger sizes raise the equity opponents need to call; smaller sizes keep weaker hands in for thin value.
Betting Lead
The role of being the player whose bet or raise is the most recent live action. The lead travels with each new bet or raise and shapes who has to react next.
Big Blind
The Big Blind is a mandatory bet posted by the player two seats to the left of the dealer button before cards are dealt. The dealer button marks the player who acts last on late...
Big Blind (BB)
The forced bet posted two seats left of the dealer button, and the chip-stack unit you measure your stack in. The BB acts last preflop and defends widely.
Big Blinds
The forced bet posted two seats left of the dealer button before any cards are dealt. The big blind is also the unit stacks and pots are measured in: 100 BB is a standard cash b...
Big O
Big O is a five-card Omaha variant, almost always played as pot-limit hi-lo with an eight-or-better qualifier. You receive five hole cards and must use exactly two of them plus...
Blind Defense
Calling or 3-betting from the big blind to keep openers from stealing for free. Better pot odds let you defend wide, especially against late-position raises.
Blind vs Blind (BvB)
Blind vs Blind (BvB) occurs when only the Small Blind (SB) and Big Blind (BB) remain in the hand. Those forced bets create a live pot and incentivize contesting with marginal ha...
Blinds
In No-Limit Texas Hold'em two forced bets, the small blind and big blind, seed the pot. They are posted by the two players immediately left of the dealer button (the marker show...
Block Bet
A block bet is a relatively small lead, usually made out of position (OOP) on the river or a late street. You use it to set the price for showdown and to discourage a larger in-...
Blocker
A blocker is a card you hold that reduces opponent combinations of a strong hand. A range is the set of hands you assign an opponent; a blocker makes some of those hands less li...
Blockers
A blocker is a card you hold that removes combinations from an opponent's possible hands. Card removal means holding a card prevents your opponent from holding that same card, w...
Bluff
A bluff is betting or raising with a weak or inferior hand to induce folds. In No-Limit Texas Hold'em, where players can wager any portion of their stack, bluffs matter far more...
Bluff 3-Bet
A 3-bet is the third bet pre-flop: open raise, re-raise, then a re-raise. A bluff 3-bet is a re-raise made with a non-premium hand to represent strength. It applies pressure and...
Bluff 4-Bet
A bluff 4-bet is the fourth raise in a sequence: open-raise, opponent 3-bets, and you 4-bet with a non-premium hand. You use psychological pressure and fold equity - the chance...
Bluff-Catch
A bluff-catcher is a hand that loses to an opponent's value hands but beats their bluffs. In practice: it's strong enough to call when you expect frequent bluffs, but too weak t...
Bluff-Catcher
A bluff-catcher is a hand too weak to bet for value but strong enough to beat likely bluffs. In No-Limit Texas Hold'em these hands primarily call river bets when an opponent's r...
Bluff-to-Value Ratio
The bluff-to-value ratio measures the number of bluffs versus value bets in a betting range. A value hand is one you expect to be ahead of your opponent's calling range. A bluff...
Bluffing Range
A bluffing range is the slice of a betting or raising range made up of the hands you choose to bet so better hands fold. It is a hand set, not a single action — the bluffs that...
Board
The board is the five community cards dealt face-up in the center of the table. Each player uses those cards with their two private hole cards to form the best five-card poker h...
Board Coverage
Board coverage describes how well a preflop range can connect with many different flops, turns, and rivers, not the strength of any single hand. A range with good coverage holds...
Board Texture
How the community cards connect and how many draws live on them. Texture drives bet sizing, c-bet frequency, and pot control. Dry, damp, wet, and high-and-dry are the four shape...
Boat
A Boat, slang for Full House, is five cards: three of one rank and two of another. Example: 8-8-8-5-5. You form a Boat using any combination of your two hole cards and the five...
Break-Even Equity
Break-even equity = call / (current pot + call). The minimum win-rate a call needs to be 0 EV, with bet-size shortcuts and worked pot-odds spots.
Break-Even Fold Percentage
The break-even fold percentage is the minimum rate an opponent must fold for a bet or raise to be immediately profitable. It measures pure fold equity - the chance your opponent...
Brick
A brick is a turn or river card that does not materially improve most hands or complete likely draws. The turn is the fourth community card; the river is the fifth and final com...
Broadway
Broadway is the Ace-high straight A-K-Q-J-10, the highest straight in poker. "Broadway cards" are the five top ranks T, J, Q, K, A that make most strong preflop hands.
Bubble
The bubble is the tournament stage one elimination away from the money — when busting earns nothing and surviving locks in a min-cash. Pay-jump pressure twists correct play: sho...
Bubble Factor
Bubble factor is a multiplier on how much equity you need to break even on a tournament call. Chip-EV says 50% is enough; bubble factor says you might need 60% or 70% because bu...
Button
The Button marks the player with the table's positional advantage and indicates the nominal dealer. This rotation ensures every player eventually posts the Small Blind (SB) and...
C
Browse all 33 C terms →C-Bet
A flop bet by the player who raised pre-flop. It carries the preflop story onto the flop and forces folds from hands that missed, even when your own hand didn't improve.
Call
A "call" matches the current highest bet so you stay in the hand. You do not raise; you put in chips equal to the last bettor. In No-Limit, where players can wager any amount up...
Call Down
A call down is calling bets on the flop, turn and river to reach a showdown, often with a marginal or medium-strength hand. Players call down when they think the opponent's rang...
Call Off
A "call off" occurs when an opponent shoves all their chips and you must call or fold. All-in means a player bets their entire stack; No-Limit allows this at any time. These spo...
Calling Range
A calling range is the set of hands you continue with by calling rather than folding or raising. The shape of that range, what it keeps and what it cuts, depends on position, pr...
Calling Station
A calling station is a highly passive player who calls bets frequently instead of raising or folding. They rarely bluff (a bluff is a bet with a weak hand meant to make opponent...
Calling Station Profile
A calling-station profile is the evidence bundle (notes, HUD numbers, and showdown receipts) that earns an opponent the calling-station label: high VPIP, low aggression, low fol...
Capped Range
A range is the set of hands an opponent could hold given their actions. A capped range contains few or no very strong hands, limiting the opponent's maximum possible strength. T...
Card Code
Compact card notation: rank letter plus suit letter, no space. Ah is the Ace of Hearts, JTs is jack-ten suited, 7c2d is the seven of clubs and the two of diamonds.
Card Removal
Blockers are cards in your hand that remove those cards from the deck, reducing opponents' chances of specific hands. A "range" means the set of hands an opponent could reasonab...
Cash Game
A cash game is poker where the chips on the table represent real money at face value. The blinds stay fixed for as long as the table runs, you can buy in, sit out, and rebuy at...
Check
A check means you decline to bet while remaining in the hand, provided no bet has occurred this betting round. By checking, you pass action to the next player without adding chi...
Check-Back
A check-back occurs when a player with the option to bet instead checks, passing action without adding chips. It most often happens when you are in position - acting after your...
Check-Fold
Check-fold is a conservative post-flop line: you check, then fold if facing a bet. A "check" means you decline to put chips into the pot on your turn. A "fold" means you discard...
Check-Raise
A check-raise is when you check intending to induce an opponent to bet, then raise. In No-Limit Hold'em, unconstrained raise sizes let the check-raise drastically grow the pot a...
Chop Pot
Chopping the pot means dividing it equally among the players whose best five-card hands tie at showdown. It's the verb players use at the table for the same outcome the rules ca...
Clean Outs
An "out" is any unseen card that, if dealt, improves your hand to a likely winner. Example: you hold two hearts and the flop contains two hearts. Each remaining heart is an out...
Closing the Action
"Closing the action" means the betting round ends because no other players remain to act. A betting round is a cycle of checks, bets, calls, raises, or folds. The round ends whe...
Cold Call
A cold call is calling a raise when you haven't voluntarily invested in the pot this betting round, aside from the blinds. It differs from calling additional chips after you hav...
Cold deck
A poker hand where the cards line up so badly the loser had no real way to fold. Used as a slang sister to cooler, often as the verb cold-decked.
Combo
A "combo" (short for combination) is a specific two-card arrangement that makes a hand or draw. It describes which exact starting hands in a player's range produce a given holdi...
Combo Draw
A combo draw is a hand that can make more than one strong combination. Most commonly it combines a flush draw (needing one more suited card) and a straight draw. Combo draws mat...
Commitment Threshold
The commitment threshold marks when chips already in the pot, relative to your remaining stack and pot size, make folding usually incorrect. Once you've invested enough, calling...
Community Cards
The five shared face-up cards in Texas Hold'em: the flop, turn, and river. Every player at the table builds their best five-card hand from those community cards plus their two h...
Complete
Calling from the small blind to make up the chips needed to match the big blind preflop. The small blind already has half a bet posted, so completing only adds the difference.
Condensed Range
A condensed range is a hand range built around medium-strength, showdown-value hands, with the very strongest hands and pure air both removed. It typically shows up when a playe...
Connected Board
A connected board is a flop whose ranks sit close enough together to make straights live. The classic shape is three sequential cards like 9-8-7. Connected textures shrink the p...
Continuation Bet
A continuation bet (C-Bet) is a flop-sized bet by the last preflop aggressor, usually the raiser. Its main goals are to win pots when opponents fold and to pressure marginal han...
Cooler
A cooler is a poker hand where two strong holdings collide and the loser had no real way to fold. The classic example is pocket kings running into pocket aces preflop for stacks...
Coolered
Coolered is the verb form of cooler. It means you lost a strong hand to a stronger one with no real fold available, and the next ten hands matter more than the cooler did.
Counterfeit
Counterfeiting happens when the board duplicates a rank that one or both of your paired ranks have. That duplication reduces your hand's relative strength. In practice, a hand t...
Crying Call
A crying call is a river call you make expecting to lose, because the pot odds say folding too often would cost more than this one bet ever will.
Cutoff
The Cutoff sits immediately to the right of the dealer button and acts just before it. The button marks the nominal dealer and, after the flop, acts last. Because you act late i...
D
Browse all 16 D terms →Dead Money
Dead money is the chips already in the pot from players who are unlikely to keep fighting for it — the blinds and antes posted before any voluntary action, limpers who'll releas...
Delay C-Bet
A continuation bet (C-bet) occurs when the pre-flop raiser bets the flop after raising. A delay C-bet happens when that raiser checks the flop, then bets the turn if conditions...
Delayed C-Bet
A delayed continuation bet occurs when the pre-flop aggressor checks the flop, then bets the turn. A continuation bet (c-bet) is a bet by the player who raised before the flop.
Dirty Outs
Dirty outs are cards that improve your hand but may still leave you second best. Discount them by counting only the outs that actually win at showdown.
Disconnected Board
A disconnected board is a flop whose ranks sit far enough apart that no straight is live and no straight draw has more than a couple of outs. The classic shape is a high card wi...
Dominated
A hand is dominated when it shares a high card with an opponent but has an inferior kicker, the side card that breaks ties. That inferior kicker sharply reduces the dominated ha...
Dominated Draw
A dominated draw is a draw that can improve and still finish second-best to a higher version of the same made hand or a stronger draw path. Out count alone hides the problem; dr...
Dominated Hand
A dominated hand occurs when two players share a high card, but one has a worse kicker. The kicker is the unpaired card used to break ties when both pair the same rank.
Double Barrel
A double barrel is betting the flop (a continuation bet, or c-bet) and betting again on the turn after the flop bet is called. A c-bet is a bet by the player who took the lead p...
Double Gutshot
A double gutshot (double belly-buster) is two separate inside-straight gaps in the same hand, totaling 8 outs - the same hit-rate as an open-ended straight draw, but disguised....
Double-Paired Board
A flop or runout where two ranks each appear paired, like 7-7-4-4-Q. Hand strength compresses, so most one-pair holdings get weaker and bluffs lose credibility.
Downswing
A stretch of hands or sessions where actual results fall below your expected win rate. Driven by variance, measured in big blinds or buy-ins, weathered by sound decisions.
Draw
A draw is an incomplete hand that becomes much stronger if a specific community card appears. For example, holding A♠K♠ with two spades on the flop gives you a flush draw. A dra...
Drawing Hand
A drawing hand is incomplete right now. It has no showdown value yet, but a specific card on the turn or river would promote it into a made hand. The contrast is a made hand, wh...
Dry Board
A dry board shows uncoordinated community cards with few flush or straight draw possibilities. The ranks sit widely apart and suits mix, so few opponents hold strong draws. Exam...
Dynamic Board
A dynamic board is a flop where relative hand strength can shift dramatically on later streets. In plain terms: the best hand on the flop often won't remain best by the river. T...
E
Browse all 13 E terms →Early Position
Early position (EP) means the seats immediately after the blinds at a full-ring table: UTG, UTG+1, and UTG+2. Players in EP act early on every post-flop street and therefore mak...
Effective Nuts
The best hand realistically possible in a spot, given the betting line. The theoretical nut may not be the effective nut once preflop and postflop action rules out the combos th...
Effective Stack
The effective stack is the smallest stack among all players involved in a hand. It sets the practical ceiling for how much can be bet, lost, or won between those players on that...
Equity
Equity is the percentage chance your hand will win the pot at a given moment. Saying "I have 50% equity" means your hand will win half the pot on average. Equity maps directly t...
Equity Bucket
An equity bucket is a study and solver grouping that sorts hands in a range by similar equity and strategic role on a specific board. It is not your win percentage, and it is no...
Equity Denial
Equity denial means betting so opponents fold hands with live outs and cannot realize their equity for free. You only deny equity if they actually fold.
Equity Distribution
Equity distribution is how equity is spread across every hand in a range, not the single average number a calculator returns. Two ranges can sit at the same overall equity and s...
Equity Realization
Equity realization is the fraction of your raw equity that actually turns into EV by the end of the hand. Position, sizing, stack depth, and playability decide whether you over-...
Equity Shift
Equity measures your percentage chance to win the pot at showdown. An equity shift is any change in those chances as cards are revealed or as opponents' ranges tighten. Shifts o...
Expected Value
Expected Value (EV) measures the average outcome of a decision over many repetitions. In poker, EV shows whether calling, betting, raising, or folding earns chips long term. +EV...
Expected Value (EV)
Expected value (EV) measures the average money you expect to win or lose from a specific action over the long run. A play that returns more than zero on average is +EV; less tha...
Exploitative Deviation
A deliberate move away from balanced GTO play to attack a specific opponent's repeatable leak. Slides back toward baseline once the leak closes or the read goes stale.
Exploitative Play
Exploitative play means deliberately leaving a balanced baseline to attack a specific opponent's leak. It is the highest-EV move when you have a real read; it is also the move t...
F
Browse all 23 F terms →Final Table
The final table is the last table of a multi-table tournament — the moment many tables collapse into one nine-handed (sometimes eight-handed) table where the steepest pay jumps...
Final Three
The last three players left in a tournament. Ranges widen, the button leads aggression, and ICM pay-jumps reshape every shove, call, and fold decision.
First Barrel
The first barrel is the initial post-flop bet by the player who raised pre-flop. This is called a continuation bet (c-bet). A c-bet lets the pre-flop raiser maintain pressure an...
First In
"First in" is the first voluntary chip contribution to the pot after the forced blinds. The player to the left of the big blind acts first; that seat is called "under the gun" (...
First to Act
"First to act" names the player who makes the opening decision in a betting round. Preflop in No-Limit Texas Hold'em, this player sits immediately to the left of the big blind a...
Five-card draw
The classic draw variant. Each player gets five private cards, swaps any unwanted ones in one draw, then bets and shows down. No flop, turn, or river.
Flat-Call
A flat-call is matching an opponent's raise pre-flop without re-raising. Players use it to control pot size, keep their range disguised, and gather information. Example: the cut...
Float
A float is calling a flop bet with a weak or marginal hand intending to bluff or take the pot later. You float when you expect the bettor to show weakness on the turn, for examp...
Flop
The flop is the dealer's first three community cards dealt face-up. These cards immediately reshape hand equities, the chances each hand will win, and often change pre-flop plan...
Flush
A Flush is five cards of the same suit that are not in sequence. In hand rankings, a Flush beats a Straight but loses to a Full House, Four of a Kind, and any Straight Flush. A...
Flush Draw
A flush draw has 9 outs: about 19% to hit on the turn and 35% by the river. Nut flush draws play aggressively; non-nut draws need pot-odds discipline.
Fold
Discarding your hole cards and giving up the hand. You forfeit anything already in the pot, but you stop the bleed when continuing would be -EV.
Fold Equity
Fold equity equals the portion of a pot you expect to win when opponents fold to your bet or raise. It differs from showdown equity, which measures your chance to win if all pla...
Fold Frequency
Fold frequency is how often a player folds in a specific spot defined by street, position, bet size, board, and line. It is not a global character trait. It's the input bluff ma...
Four of a Kind
Four of a Kind (quads) is a five-card hand: four cards of one rank plus an unrelated kicker. The kicker is the highest other card in your five-card hand and breaks ties at showd...
Four-Flush
A four-flush is four cards of the same suit on the way to a flush. The term covers two situations: four cards of one suit between your hand and the board (a flush draw), or four...
Four-Straight
A four-straight is a board that already shows four cards to a straight. Any one rank in an opponent's hand makes the made straight, the board can chop a lot, and your strong mad...
Freeroll
A freeroll is a poker tournament with no entry fee but a real prize pool. The operator or a sponsor pays for the prizes — cash, tickets, seats, or merchandise — instead of the p...
Freerolling
Freerolling is the spot where two players share the same made hand, but only one has live cards to improve. The static side can tie or lose; the redrawing side can tie or win.
Freezeout
A freezeout is a poker tournament where one buy-in is your whole tournament. There are no rebuys and no re-entries: when your chips are gone, you are out. Most major tournaments...
Frequency
Frequency is the percentage of times a player takes a specific action (fold, call, raise, or all-in) in a given situation. Tracking frequencies shows how predictable a player is...
Full House
A Full House is five cards: three of one rank plus two of another. In Hold'em you combine your two private hole cards (your two personal cards) with the five community cards (th...
Full Ring
Full ring is No-Limit Hold'em played nine- or ten-handed - the opposite of 6-max. More seats mean tighter early ranges, slower blinds, and more multiway pots.
G
Browse all 3 G terms →Give-Up Node
A give-up node is a decision point where you stop aggressive play with part of your range and take a passive action-usually checking or folding-rather than betting or raising. I...
GTO (Game Theory Optimal)
GTO play means choosing actions whose frequencies an opponent cannot exploit, drawn from a Nash-equilibrium approximation across your whole range. In short hands it looks like b...
Gutshot
A gutshot (inside-straight draw) needs one specific rank - the inside card - to complete a straight. Compare your hole cards to the board and ask: is there only one rank that he...
H
Browse all 17 H terms →Hand Class
Classifying starting hands shapes both pre-flop (before community cards) and post-flop (after the flop) decisions. Hand classes tell you which holdings to open, call, 3-bet (re-...
Hand history
A hand history is the saved record of one poker hand: who played, what they did on each street, the cards shown, and the pot. The raw material every honest review starts from.
Hand Label
Shorthand names for starting hands like Pocket Aces (AA), Big Slick (AK), and Pocket Tens (TT). Labels speed table talk, hand reviews, and range discussion.
Hand Rankings
Hand rankings determine who wins each pot by identifying the best five-card hand. In No-Limit Texas Hold'em, you receive two private cards (hole cards) and five shared community...
Hand Rankings (Order)
A showdown happens when remaining players reveal cards to determine the winner. In Texas Hold'em you make the best five-card hand from your two hole cards and the five community...
Hand review
Replaying one hand from a session away from the table, street by street, to compare your in-game decision against the one you would make with time to think.
Hand vs Range Equity
Hand vs range equity is the average win share of one specific hand against the whole set of hands an opponent could be holding. It's the middle level between hand-vs-hand and ra...
Hand-for-Hand
Hand-for-hand is a tournament procedure where every selected table plays exactly one hand, then waits until every other selected table finishes that same hand before the next de...
Heads-Up
Heads-up poker occurs when only two players remain at the table, creating direct, high-variance confrontations. With only one opponent, the math and tactics from full-ring games...
Heads-Up Pot
A heads-up pot has exactly two players contesting it after the flop. Most cash-game pots end up heads-up, so it sets the strategic baseline for c-bets, bluffs, and value betting.
Hero Call
A hero call is a call with a hand that beats most bluffs and loses to most value, made because the line, sizing, blockers, or read tilt villain's range toward bluffs. The label...
Hero Fold
A hero fold is folding a strong-looking hand because the opponent's line is value-heavy, your blockers are bad, the price is wrong, or the range story says you're beat. It's a s...
Hi-Lo
A split-pot poker format where the pot is shared between the best high hand and the best qualifying low. Common in Omaha 8-or-better, Stud 8, and Big O.
High Card
The lowest-ranking poker hand. Five unmatched cards with no pair, straight, or flush. The highest card wins; kickers break ties down the line.
Hijack
The seat two to the right of the button. Late enough to widen opens and steal blinds, but the cutoff, button, and blinds still act after you.
Hole Cards
The two private cards each player is dealt face-down at the start of every hand. They combine with the five community cards to form your best five-card hand.
HUD
A HUD (Heads-Up Display) is an overlay for online poker that shows tracked stats next to each opponent: VPIP, PFR, aggression, fold-to-c-bet, and others. Treat the numbers as si...
I
Browse all 7 I terms →ICM
The Independent Chip Model (ICM) assigns a monetary value to each player's tournament chip stack. It estimates each stack's share of the remaining prize pool, reflecting diminis...
ICM Pressure
ICM pressure is the felt decision environment in tournaments where chip math and dollar math diverge. Medium stacks avoid busting, big stacks can apply pressure with steals and...
Implied Odds
Pot odds plus the chips you realistically expect to win on later streets if your draw hits. Justifies calls that current pot odds alone would not.
In Position
Acting after your opponent on every postflop street. The information edge lets you bet thinner for value, bluff with better data, and control the pot with marginal hands. The bu...
In Position (IP)
"In Position" (IP) means you act after your opponent on a betting street. Acting last lets you see your opponent's bets, checks, or raises before deciding to bet, raise, call, o...
Initiative
Initiative is the betting lead in a hand. It belongs to whoever made the last aggressive action - usually the preflop raiser - and shapes who is expected to bet the flop.
Iso-Raise
An iso-raise (isolation raise) is a preflop raise made after one or more players limp, meaning they just call the big blind. The raiser aims to isolate a single opponent, usuall...
J
Browse all 1 J terms →K
Browse all 2 K terms →Kicker
A kicker is the highest unpaired side card that accompanies your main combination. When two players share the same made hand, the kicker breaks the tie. For example, if both pla...
Kickers
A kicker is the extra card that breaks ties between hands with the same rank. It matters when both players have the same pair, two pair, or three of a kind. A showdown is when p...
L
Browse all 14 L terms →LAG
A LAG (loose-aggressive) player enters more pots than the table average and bets, raises, and re-raises at a higher frequency than a balanced regular. The style trades hand-stre...
Late Position
Late position means the seats that act near the end of each betting round: the Cutoff (seat before the dealer Button) and the Button. Acting after most opponents matters because...
Late Registration
Late registration is the window after a tournament has started where new players can still buy in. The window has two effects: you can skip the slow early levels and arrive clos...
Lead Bet
A lead bet (also called betting out) is making the first bet in a betting round instead of checking. The first bettor holds the betting lead. They control immediate action and f...
Leverage
The pressure your stack puts on opponents in No-Limit. Any chip can be at risk on any bet, so a well-timed wager threatens stacks, prices out draws, and forces folds.
Limp
"Limping" means entering the pot by calling the big blind instead of raising. The big blind is the forced bet posted by the player two seats left of the dealer. Limping is a pas...
Limp-Call
A limp is entering the pot by calling the big blind instead of raising when first to act. Limp-calling is when a player limps and then calls a later raise rather than folding or...
Limp-Raise
A limp-raise is a two-step preflop line: limp first, face a raise behind you, then re-raise instead of folding or calling. It is the rare aggressive twin of the limp-call, used...
Line
A "line" is the sequence of decisions you make in one hand across pre-flop, flop, turn, and river. It includes betting, checking, calling, raising, and folding actions on each s...
Linear Range
A linear range is a continuous block of your strongest starting hands in rank order. You start at the top of the hand rankings and include hands one after another without big ga...
Loose-Aggressive
Loose-aggressive is the long-form name for the style most players know as LAG: a player who enters more pots than the table average and applies pressure with bets and raises rat...
Loose-Passive
A loose-passive style enters more pots than the table average and, once involved, leans on checks and calls instead of bets and raises. The label is broader than calling station...
Low Hand
A low hand is a five-card hand of unpaired cards all ranked eight or below — the qualifier for the low half of the pot in hi-lo split games like Omaha 8-or-better.
Lowjack
The fourth seat to act preflop in a 9-handed game, sitting between Under the Gun and the Hijack. Open tighter than late position; five players still act after.
M
Browse all 16 M terms →Made Hand
A made hand is a hand that already has showdown value without needing future cards to complete. Top pair, two pair, sets, straights, and flushes are all made hands; the contrast...
Main Pot
The chips every active player matched equally, capped at the shortest all-in stack. The all-in player can still win it; excess chips form side pots.
Maniac
A maniac is an extremely loose-aggressive player who enters far too many pots and applies pressure on every street without the hand selection or postflop discipline of a control...
Medium Stack
Medium Stack (20-50 BB) in No-Limit Texas Hold'em
Merged Range
A merged range mixes strong hands and moderately strong hands when betting or raising. It includes hands that can be called for value, not only the absolute nuts. You use hands...
Micro Stakes
Micro stakes are the lowest real-money cash-game limits, almost always online, where blinds run from about $0.01/$0.02 up to roughly $0.05/$0.10. Common shorthands like 2NL, 5NL...
Middle Position
Middle position (MP) sits between early and late seats at the table. You act after early-position players, so you see their actions before deciding. That extra information impro...
Min-Raise
A min-raise is the smallest legal increase over the current bet in a betting round. For example, with a 100-chip big blind, the min-raise is to 200 chips (an increase of 100). T...
Minimum Defense Frequency (MDF)
Minimum defense frequency (MDF) is the share of your range you must continue with — call or raise — to keep an opponent from profitably bluffing any two cards. It is the defende...
Missed Draw
A missed draw occurs when you fail to complete a straight or flush by the river. In No-Limit Hold'em this often follows a call on the flop or turn hoping to hit a later card. Mi...
Mixed Frequency
Mixed frequency is the percentage split a strategy uses when the same hand or range class takes more than one action. If a hand calls 60% of the time and folds 40%, those number...
Mixed Games
Mixed games are poker formats that rotate among several variants on a fixed schedule, like HORSE or 8-game. The same table plays a few hands of one game, then switches.
Mixed Strategy
A mixed strategy means deliberately varying your actions-fold, call, or raise-with specific hands. In poker, a "range" is the set of hands an opponent could hold; mixing stops t...
Monotone Board
A monotone flop shows three community cards of the same suit (e.g., K♥ 7♥ 2♥). It sharply increases the number of made flushes and flush draws on the board. Equity is your hand'...
MTT (multi-table tournament)
An MTT is a multi-table tournament: a single poker event with one buy-in and a fixed start time, played across many tables that get consolidated as the field shrinks. The format...
Multiway Pot
A multiway pot occurs when more than two players contest the same pot. More opponents increase the chance someone connected with the board or holds a strong draw. You must consi...
N
Browse all 9 N terms →Nash Equilibrium
A Nash equilibrium is a set of strategies where no player can improve their expected value by changing their own play unilaterally. In poker, this is what books and solvers usua...
Nash Push/Fold
Nash Push/Fold simplifies short-stack preflop decisions in No-Limit Texas Hold'em by reducing options to two actions. Instead of navigating open-raises, calls, and post-flop pla...
Nit
A "Nit" is an extremely conservative poker player who plays very few hands. They fold most situations unless holding premium hands, like big pocket pairs (A♠A♦) or strong broadw...
NLHE
NLHE is the standard short for No-Limit Texas Hold'em. Each player gets two private hole cards, the dealer puts five community cards on the board across the flop, turn, and rive...
No Pair
A "No Pair" hand - also called "High Card" - occurs when your best five cards make no pair or higher. The hand's strength depends on the highest card among those five.
No-Limit
No-limit is the betting structure where the maximum bet or raise is your entire remaining stack, subject only to the table's minimum-bet and minimum-raise rules. It is the struc...
Nut Advantage
"The nuts" is the best possible hand on a given street, the absolute best flush, straight, or full house on the current board. "Nut advantage" describes which player's range is...
Nut Draw
A nut draw is a draw to the best possible version of a made hand on the current board, most often the ace-high flush draw on a two-tone flop. Clean outs, smaller reverse-implied...
Nut Flush Draw
A nut flush draw is a flush draw that makes the highest possible flush on the current board if the suited card arrives. Almost always an ace-high suited holding on a two-tone or...
O
Browse all 20 O terms →Offsuit
Offsuit means your two hole cards are different suits, written like AKo. The hand can't make a flush together, so most offsuit holdings play a step weaker than their suited cous...
Omaha (Omaha Hold'em)
Omaha is the four-hole-card poker variant family that uses Hold'em's community-card framework with one strict twist: every showdown hand must use exactly two of your four hole c...
One-and-Done
"One-and-done" means committing your entire stack in a single all-in bet, with no more betting that hand. You either win the pot or lose your stack, and in tournaments you may b...
Open-Ended Straight Draw
An OESD is a straight draw with 8 outs — about 17% to hit on the next card and 31.5% by the river. Either end of the four connected cards completes the straight.
Open-Limp
An open-limp is a limp made when you are first into the pot preflop, calling the big blind instead of raising or folding. The limp action itself just means matching the big blin...
Open-Raise
An open-raise is the first voluntary pre-flop raise after the blinds are posted. It builds the pot, seizes initiative, and shapes how many opponents you face.
Opener Profile
The opener is the first player to bet or raise in a betting round, initiating action. That opening move sets the hand's dynamics, gives opponents information, and forces respons...
Opening Range
An opening range is the set of starting hands a player will raise with when they are first into the pot — when nobody before them has voluntarily called or raised. The set is ti...
Orbit
An orbit is one full rotation of the dealer button around the table. Every participating player occupies each table position once during an orbit. The orbit ends when the button...
Orphaned Pot
An orphaned pot occurs when betting forces all opponents to fold and leaves the pot uncontested. It isn't a special rule term - it describes a betting outcome. In practice it me...
Out of Position
Out of position (OOP) means you act before opponents on betting rounds, with less information. Acting first increases the chance of being outplayed because you can't see opponen...
Out of Position (OOP)
A player is out of position (OOP) when they must act before their opponent on a betting round. The player who acts after you is in position (IP). Acting later gives IP extra inf...
Outs
An "out" is any unseen card that will likely make your hand a winner. In No-Limit Texas Hold'em unseen cards are those remaining in the 52-card deck. Outs drive draw decisions b...
Overbet
An overbet is a wager significantly larger than the current pot, for example, betting more than the pot's size. No-limit games allow players to stake any amount of chips at any...
Overcall
An overcall is a call made after a bet has already been called by at least one other player. It is most often a postflop, multiway decision: someone bets, someone else calls, an...
Overcard
A card ranked higher than the card or pair you compare it to — either a hole card above the board or a board card above your pocket pair.
Overcards
Overcards are your hole cards that rank higher than every community card on the board. For example, A-K or Q-J on a 7-4-2 flop are both overcards to the board. Overcards can app...
Overfold
Overfolding means folding more often than strategically optimal across all streets. It occurs when you decline marginal calls or refuse to bluff-catch even when pot odds or hand...
Overlimp
An overlimp is calling the big blind preflop after at least one player has already limped. It is the second (or later) limp into the pot, not the first one. Example: under-the-g...
Overpair
An overpair is a pocket pair higher than every card on the flop, the first three community cards. For example, Q♥Q♦ on a 7♣-6♣-2♦ flop is an overpair to the board. If the flop c...
P
Browse all 30 P terms →Pair
A pair is two cards of the same rank, either in your hole cards or using a community card. Pocket pairs come from both hole cards matching; board pairs use one hole card with th...
Paired Board
A paired board has a pair among the community cards, for example 7-7-2 or 8-8-3. That pair raises the chance someone makes trips or a full house on later streets. As a result, s...
Pay Jump
A pay jump is the dollar difference between two consecutive finish positions in a tournament payout. Some jumps are tiny (a few extra buy-ins between 81st and 80th), and some ar...
Pay Ladder
A pay ladder is the full ordered list of dollar prizes a tournament pays out, from the lowest paid finish all the way up to first place. Where a pay jump is one step on that sta...
PFR
PFR (Preflop Raise Percentage) is the share of hands a player raises before the flop, counting both opens and three-bets. It is the cleanest single read on preflop initiative. P...
Play the Board
When your best five-card hand is the five community cards and neither hole card improves it. If others are also playing the board, the pot splits.
Playability
Playability is how easily a hand can realize its equity across future streets — clear decisions, strong draws, disguised hands, and resilient showdown value all raise it. Two ha...
Player Read
Player reads estimate what an opponent likely holds and what they'll do next. A read combines observable behavior, betting history, and table position to reduce uncertainty. Tha...
Plus Notation
The plus sign in range shorthand meaning 'this hand and every higher one.' TT+ covers TT through AA; AQ+ covers AQ and AK. Compact preflop range notation.
Poker solver
A poker solver is a Nash-equilibrium calculator that takes ranges, stack depth, and bet sizes as inputs and outputs a mixed-frequency strategy for both players. It's a study too...
Polarized Range
A polarized range in No-Limit Hold'em includes your very strongest hands and your weakest bluffs. It intentionally avoids medium-strength holdings that neither value bet profita...
Population Exploit
A population exploit intentionally departs from Game Theory Optimal (GTO) strategy to profit from common mistakes across the player pool. GTO aims to be unexploitable. When most...
Population Line
The population line summarizes the aggregate tendencies of the average player pool, not reads on a single opponent. It describes how a typical player at a given stake acts - for...
Population Tendency
A statistical habit shared by most players in a pool, like overfolding to 3-bets. Persistent and exploitable, even when individual reads are thin.
Position
Position describes a player's seating order relative to the dealer button and determines who acts when. The dealer button marks action: players to its left act earlier, players...
Pot
The pot is the total chips or money collected from all bets during one hand. It includes contributions from every betting round: preflop (after hole cards), flop (three communit...
Pot Control
Pot control means managing the pot size to match your hand's relative strength. In practice, you avoid big bets or raises with hands that have decent showdown value. Showdown va...
Pot Odds
The ratio of the current pot to the cost of a call, converted into the equity your hand needs to break even. Drives every calling decision against a bet.
Pot-Limit
Pot-limit is a poker betting structure where the largest legal bet or raise is capped at the size of the current pot, including the call you'd have to make first if you're raisi...
Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) is the four-card Omaha variant played with pot-limit betting. You receive four hole cards instead of two, and you must use exactly two of them plus exactly...
Preflop
The preflop round is the betting before any community cards are dealt in No-Limit Texas Hold'em. Players see only their two hole cards, note position, and choose to fold, call,...
Preflop Raiser
A preflop raiser makes the first increased bet during the preflop betting round, before community cards. This action sets the hand's immediate tone and forces opponents to call,...
Premium Hand
The strongest starting hands: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, and AK. They beat most random holdings preflop, so you raise, build the pot, and try to thin the field.
Probe Bet
A probe bet is a turn bet by a player out of position (OOP). It occurs after the pre-flop aggressor (in position, IP) checks back the flop. The original raiser checked the flop,...
Protected Pot
A protected pot is a multiway pot whose dynamics are shifted by a third (or later) player still in the hand. That live extra opponent does not need to do anything aggressive to...
Protected Range
A protected range keeps enough strong hands in a given line - especially your checks - so opponents cannot overbet it cheaply on later streets.
Protection Bet
A protection bet is a wager when your hand is ahead but vulnerable to being outdrawn. A draw is an opponent's hand that can improve to a stronger holding, like a flush or straig...
Punt
A punt is one self-inflicted bet, raise, or call that throws away a stack you should have kept. The line had a fold available, the player ignored it, and the chips left the seat.
Pure Bluff
A pure bluff is a bet or raise with a weak or non-existent hand meant to make opponents fold. It cannot realistically win at showdown unless everyone folds before the showdown....
Push-Fold
Push-fold is the short-stack tournament mode where every preflop decision compresses into one binary fork: shove all-in or fold. Min-raises and small opens stop earning enough a...
Q
Browse all 2 Q terms →Quads
Quads, or Four of a Kind, are four cards of the same rank plus a fifth unrelated card called the kicker. The kicker is the extra card that breaks ties when players share the fou...
Quartered
Quartered means you collect only one quarter of the pot at showdown. It almost always happens in split-pot games like Omaha Hi-Lo and Big O: the pot splits in half between the b...
R
Browse all 36 R terms →Rainbow Board
A rainbow board is a flop where all three community cards are different suits, like K♠ 7♥ 2♦. With three suits showing, no flush is possible on the flop and no flush draw is liv...
Raise
A raise increases the current bet in No-Limit Texas Hold'em, giving players wide sizing freedom. Raising asserts control, applies pressure, and changes hand dynamics by growing...
Raise First In
Raise First In (RFI) means being the first player to voluntarily raise the pot preflop. Players commonly call that an open raise. In No-Limit Texas Hold'em, where bet sizes are...
Raise-or-Fold
Raise-or-fold is a straightforward preflop philosophy: instead of routinely calling, you usually raise or fold. Flat-calling means calling an open without re-raising; limp means...
Rake
Rake is the fee the cardroom or online platform takes from a cash-game pot for running the game. It is usually charged as a small percentage of the pot with a cap, and sometimes...
Rake awareness
The habit of treating the house fee as part of every cash-game decision. Rake-aware play tightens preflop ranges, drops marginal calls, and prefers lower-rake games.
Rake-adjusted EV
Expected value of a poker decision after the cardroom rake comes off the top of the pot. Net EV is the number that pays the bills; gross EV is the number that fools you.
Randomization
Randomization means deliberately adding chance to decisions so opponents cannot predict you. In poker, it usually means mixing among viable plays to avoid patterns. For example,...
Range
The full set of hole cards an opponent could plausibly hold given their actions, position, and table dynamics. Think in groups of hands, not single guesses.
Range Advantage
Range advantage compares the overall strength distribution of one player's possible hands to an opponent's, not your single holding. A range is every hand a player could reasona...
Range Bet
A range bet is a small flop bet (often 25–33% pot) made with most or all of your range, used by the preflop raiser when the board favors their whole range.
Range Check
A "range check" is the set of hands you choose to check instead of betting. Your range is the set of possible hands you might hold. Good checking range construction mixes strong...
Range Construction
Range construction is the process of deciding which hands belong in each action bucket: bet, raise, call, check, or fold for a given spot. The range is the finished set; constru...
Range Protection
Range protection is the practice of mixing strong hands into every line so opponents cannot overbet your weak-looking checks and calls on later streets.
Range vs Range
Range vs range is the habit of comparing two players' entire hand distributions on a specific board, not your one hand against their one hand. Solvers and modern poker thinking...
Rank
Rank - Poker Hand Rankings in No-Limit Texas Hold'em
Raw Equity
Raw equity is your hand's bare showdown-equity percentage against an opponent's hand or range, calculated as if the cards just run out. It ignores position, future betting, fold...
Razz
Seven-card stud played for the lowest hand. The best low is A-2-3-4-5; straights and flushes do not count, and the ace plays low.
Realized Equity
Realized equity is the share of the pot a hand actually converts into expected value once position, future betting, folds, and the runout play out. It is the result that equity...
Rebuy
A rebuy is the option to post the buy-in again during an early window of a tournament if your stack falls below the starting amount or you bust. The window typically runs throug...
Redraw
A redraw is the extra improvement equity a made hand carries to a stronger hand on later streets. It is why a flopped set on a flushy board still wants action.
Regular
A regular ("reg") is a serious, studied player you'll see at the same stakes most days. Balanced ranges, disciplined bankroll, and the leaks of a recreational player largely clo...
Removal Effect
The removal effect, or card removal, means your hole cards and board cards reduce opponent hand combinations. A blocker is any card in your hand that removes combinations from t...
Reopen the Betting
"Reopen the betting" happens when a player who already acted gets a new opportunity to act because another player made a full legal raise. If a full raise occurs after you acted...
Represent
Representing a hand means betting in a way that claims a specific holding. The line tells the story; the opponent folds when the story is consistent and pays you when it isn't.
Reshove
A reshove is moving all-in after another player bets, raises, or shoves. It appears most often preflop in tournaments. The play mixes fold equity - the chance opponents fold and...
Reverse Implied Odds
Reverse implied odds occur when you improve your hand but still lose more chips. The problem isn't failing to improve; it's improving to a hand that's actually second-best. This...
RFI
Raise First In (RFI) means opening the betting round with a raise when no one else has entered the pot. Don't limp or wait for other action; opening raise forces opponents to ca...
Ring Game
A ring game is an ongoing cash poker table with fixed blinds and chips that hold real money value. You buy in for a chosen amount, sit down whenever a seat opens, and leave when...
River
The river is the fifth and final community card dealt face-up in Hold'em. It triggers the last betting round before showdown, when remaining players reveal hands. No more cards...
River Class
The river is the fifth and final community card dealt face-up in No-Limit Texas Hold'em. After it appears, the final betting round happens and hands often go to showdown, where...
Rock
A rock is a very tight, risk-averse player who enters very few pots and usually shows up with strong holdings when they do continue. The label is a table read built from repeate...
Royal Flush
The five-card combination A-K-Q-J-10, all of one suit. The highest-ranking hand in standard poker. It cannot be beaten at showdown; identical royal flushes in different suits chop.
Rule of 2 and 4
Use the Rule of 2 and 4 to estimate draw equity from outs on the flop and turn. Includes a cheat sheet plus worked examples.
Runner-Runner
Runner-runner means both the turn and river had to cooperate to make your hand or change the result. It's a two-card path, not a draw label. Worked examples for runner-runner fl...
Runout
A runout is the sequence of community cards revealed in Hold'em: flop, turn, and river. These five cards form the board everyone uses with their two hole cards to make the best...
S
Browse all 44 S terms →Satellite
A satellite is a tournament whose prize is entry into a bigger event, not a scaled cash payout. The standard form awards multiple equal-value seats, so finishing first and finis...
Scare Card
A scare card is a community card on the turn or river that materially alters the board. It can add straights, flushes, or an obvious higher pair and change how strong hands appe...
Scoop
A scoop is winning the entire pot in a hi-lo split game by taking both the best high and the best qualifying low. Doubles your share compared to a normal split.
Second-Nut Flush Draw
A second-nut flush draw is a draw to the second-highest possible flush on the current board. Usually a king-high suited holding when the ace of that suit is still unaccounted fo...
Semi-Bluff
A semi-bluff is a bet or raise with a hand that is not currently best but can improve later. Unlike a pure bluff, where you have little chance to win if called, a semi-bluff giv...
Session review
The post-session study habit of marking the hands you were unsure about, re-deciding them away from the table, and writing down what to change next session.
Set
A set is three-of-a-kind made by holding a pocket pair and seeing one matching rank on the board. Example: you hold 7♠7♦ and the flop is K♦7♣2♠; you have a set of sevens.
Set-Mining
A speculative preflop call with a small pocket pair, hoping to flop three-of-a-kind. Profitable only when stack depth gives roughly 10:1 implied odds.
Short Stack
A "short stack" is a player with few big blinds relative to the blinds or table average. Big blind refers to the larger forced bet posted each hand. Short stacks have limited be...
Short-Handed
Short-handed means fewer players at the table (6-max or fewer). With fewer opponents, the chance someone holds a premium hand falls, so you must play more aggressively. Blinds-f...
Shove
Shove (All-In) - When and How to Push Your Stack
Shove/Fold
Short-stack preflop strategy: either move all-in or fold, no raises and no calls. Used in tournaments around 15bb and below, where post-flop play stops being profitable.
Showdown
The showdown is the final phase of a hand, occurring after all betting rounds finish. In Hold'em the last betting round is the river, the fifth community card. If two or more pl...
Showdown Value
Showdown value describes a hand's potential to win at the final reveal without bluffing. Recognizing showdown value helps you decide whether to call late bets or fold. In No-Lim...
Side Pot
A side pot is a separate chip pool created when at least one player goes all-in and others keep betting. (An all-in means a player bets their entire stack.) Chips the all-in pla...
Side-Pot Eligibility
Side-pot eligibility is the rule that each player can win only the pots they put chips into. After someone goes all-in, the chips split into a main pot every contributor matched...
Single-Raised Pot (SRP)
One preflop raise, one call, no 3-bet. The most common postflop heads-up spot in cash games. Ranges stay wide, postflop math is bigger than preflop math, and position is doing m...
Size Sequence
A planned sequence of bet sizes controls expected value by shaping fold equity and bluff ratio. If your sizes jump around, opponents map size to strength and exploit you. A repe...
Sizing Tell
A sizing tell is information inferred from a player's bet-size pattern when the size they pick correlates with strength, weakness, protection, or uncertainty. It is not the stra...
Slow play
Slow play is checking or calling with a hand strong enough to bet for value, hoping the opponent puts money in for you. It works in narrow spots and costs you in most of the res...
Small Blind
The small blind (SB) is the forced bet posted by the player left of the dealer button. Players post it before cards are dealt. The small blind is typically around half the size...
Small Blind (SB)
The Small Blind (SB) sits immediately to the left of the dealer button. The SB posts a mandatory bet before cards are dealt, usually about half the Big Blind. For example, in a...
Small Stakes
Small stakes is a band of cash games that sits above the very smallest micro-stakes games but below mid-stakes. The exact dollar cutoffs vary by site, room, and live versus onli...
Smooth Call
A smooth call is calling with a strong or playable hand when raising is also available, choosing the call to disguise strength, keep weaker hands in, or let an aggressive oppone...
Spew
Putting chips in without enough EV behind the line. Bets, raises, or calls that ignore position, range, or fold equity, and burn money even when no one drew out on you.
Split Pot
A split pot in No-Limit Texas Hold'em occurs when two or more players show identical best five-card hands at showdown. Each player makes their best five-card hand from any combi...
SPR
SPR (Stack-to-Pot Ratio) equals the effective stack size divided by the current pot size. Effective stack means the smallest remaining stack among players in the hand. SPR shows...
Squeeze
A 3-bet after one player has opened and at least one other has called. Both have to fold for the play to print, so size larger than a standard 3-bet to deny them profitable calls.
Stab
A stab is a bet on the flop or turn after pre-flop action has been passive or betting checked. The goal is to "stab at the pot" and win it uncontested by exploiting checked weak...
Stack Depth
Your chip count in big blinds, measured against the smaller (effective) stack. The bb count picks the band: deep multi-street, medium mixed, short shove-or-fold.
Standard Deck
52 cards across 4 suits and 13 ranks, no jokers. Suits are equal in value; outs and equity math both rest on knowing what is dealt and what remains unseen.
Static Board
A static board is a flop texture unlikely to change hand strength on later streets. You see unconnected, unsuited flops with little straight or flush potential, for example A♣-8...
Steal
A steal is a preflop raise aimed mostly at winning the blinds and antes uncontested. Players often use less-than-premium hands, aiming to take the pot without seeing the flop. T...
Sticky Caller
An opponent who calls bets too freely and rarely folds under pressure. They pay off with second-best hands, so value-bet wider, bluff less, and let position do the work.
Story
A story in poker is the picture your betting line paints across streets: the hand you are representing. Bluff catches and hero calls hinge on whether the story adds up.
Straddle
A voluntary blind raise posted before cards are dealt, almost always twice the big blind from Under the Gun. Functions as a third blind, doubles the effective stakes, and the pl...
Straight
A Straight is five cards in sequential rank, for example 6-7-8-9-10, suits ignored. Suits don't matter, so 6♠7♦8♣9♥10♠ counts as a Straight. It beats single pairs and two pair,...
Straight Draw
A straight draw happens when your seven-card possibilities include four sequential ranks. You need one more card to make a five-card straight. This usually appears after the flo...
Straight Flush
A Straight Flush is five consecutive cards of the same suit. Example: 6♠ 7♠ 8♠ 9♠ T♠. It combines two hand types - a straight (sequence of ranks) and a flush (all one suit).
Street
A "street" names each stage when community cards are dealt and another betting round occurs. In No-Limit Texas Hold'em you combine two private cards (hole cards) with community...
Stud (Seven-Card Stud)
Seven-card stud is the no-community-cards poker variant. Each player gets three down cards plus four exposed cards across five betting rounds, with antes and a bring-in.
Suckout
A suckout is a poker hand where the player who was behind catches the card they needed to win, often after chips went in with the favorite ahead. It is the underdog catching the...
Suit
A suit is one of four categories in a standard 52-card deck: hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades. Each suit contains 13 ranks, from ace through king. In Hold'em suits have no rankin...
Suited
A suited hand is two hole cards of the same suit. That suit link increases your chance to make a flush and improves post-flop equity. Suited cards also combine with connected bo...
T
Browse all 23 T terms →Table Image
Table image is the way opponents perceive your style based on what they have seen you do: hands shown at showdown, bet sizes, the speed of your actions, and how often you've rec...
Table selection
Choosing which cash-game table and seat to sit at based on opponent quality. Picking softer opponents is often a bigger edge than out-playing tougher ones.
TAG
TAG (tight-aggressive) is a player profile that enters fewer hands than average but raises or bets when they do enter. Tight selection plus active aggression is the textbook 6-m...
Tell
A tell is a physical, behavioral, timing, or betting cue that may reveal information about an opponent's hand strength, confidence, or decision process. Tells are noisy. Treat a...
Thin Call
A river call against a small bet where your hand only barely beats the opponent's value range. The price clears, but the edge is small and the call rarely scoops a big pot.
Thin Value
A river value bet where your hand only barely beats the opponent's calling range. Sized small (often 20-40% pot) to invite calls from weaker showdown hands.
Thin Value Trap
A thin value bet is a wager with a marginal or moderate-strength hand meant to be called by worse hands. ("Thin" means your hand is only slightly ahead of many likely callers.)...
Three of a Kind
Three of a Kind (called "Trips" or a "Set") is a five-card hand: three cards of the same rank plus two unrelated side cards. It beats one pair and two pair in Hold'em standard h...
Three-Bet Range
A three-bet range is the set of hands you re-raise with after another player has opened. It's a hand set, not an action, and the shape depends on the opener's seat, your seat, s...
Three-Way Pot
A three-way pot has three players still in the hand. Bluffs leak more often than heads-up, top pair loses value, and pocket pairs gain when three players see the flop.
Tie
A tie, or split pot, occurs when two or more players have exactly equal five-card hands. When that happens, dealers divide the pot equally among the winners. Recognizing ties at...
Tight-Aggressive
Tight-aggressive is a poker player style that enters a selective range of hands and tends to raise or bet instead of limping or calling. The shorthand is TAG, which most coachin...
Tight-First
"Tight-first" means you play fewer hands and focus on strong starting cards. Fold marginal or speculative holdings-hands that depend on specific flops, like small suited connect...
Tilt
A temporary, emotion-driven deviation from your normal poker strategy, usually triggered by a bad beat or a long card-dead stretch. Tilt is a state, not a player type.
Timing Tell
A timing tell is information you infer from how quickly or slowly an opponent acts. Snap-checks, snap-calls, long tanks, quick bets, and delayed raises can all hint at hand stre...
Top Pair
Top pair occurs when one of your hole cards matches the highest community card, forming a pair. Example: you hold A♦ K♣ and the flop is A♠ 7♦ 2♣ - you have top pair (pair of Ace...
Trap
A trap is a postflop or preflop line that hides a strong hand and invites the opponent to put chips in with worse. It is the plan-level cousin of slow play: pick a villain you e...
Triple Barrel
A triple barrel is the third bet in a flop-turn-river sequence, fired by the player who took the betting lead before the flop. The first barrel is the c-bet, the second is the d...
Trips
Trips (three-of-a-kind) are any hand with three cards of the same rank. In Hold'em, trips usually occur when one hole card pairs with two matching community cards. Example: you...
Turn
The turn is the fourth community card and the street where ranges narrow and the pot grows, so mistakes cost more. Decisions that looked correct on the flop can become costly on...
Turn Class
Categorizing the turn card by what it does to ranges: blank, draw-completing, scare, or overcard. Each class has a default sizing and intent, and reading the card right is what...
Two Pair
Two cards of one rank, two of another, plus a kicker. Beats one pair, loses to trips. Higher pair ranks win first, the kicker breaks the tie when ranks match.
Two-Tone Board
A two-tone board is a flop with two cards of one suit and a third card of another suit (e.g., J♠ 8♠ 6♥). It's the most common unpaired flop texture and the one that puts a flush...
U
Browse all 4 U terms →Unblocker
An unblocker is a card in your hand that does not reduce the likelihood your opponent holds a target hand. Put simply: if your cards don't "block" the holdings you want the oppo...
Uncapped Range
A "range" is the set of hands a player could hold in a situation. An uncapped range means prior actions do not rule out the very strongest hands. Premiums are top pairs and bett...
Under-Bluffed Line
An under-bluffed line is a betting sequence weighted toward value hands, with few natural bluffs. Value hands have real showdown equity; bluffs rely on folding better hands with...
UTG
UTG (Under the Gun) sits immediately left of the big blind. UTG acts first in the preflop betting round, deciding to fold, call, or raise without seeing others' choices. Acting...
V
Browse all 8 V terms →Value 3-Bet
A re-raise made with a strong hand to grow the pot when you are likely ahead. Targets calls from worse pairs and broadways, not folds.
Value 4-Bet
A 4-bet is the fourth bet in a preflop sequence: an open-raise, a 3-bet, then a 4-bet. A value 4-bet aims to be called by worse hands rather than primarily to fold opponents. Ex...
Value Bet
A bet aimed at being called by worse hands. Pick the weakest hand that calls (the value target), then size to invite them in.
Value Range
A value range is the slice of a betting or raising range built from hands that want worse hands to call. It is the set of hands you bet or raise for value, not the single action...
Value-Own
When you bet for value on the river but only get called by hands that beat you. The bet was supposed to extract chips from worse; instead it pays the better hand.
Variance
The gap between your long-run expected value and your short-run results. Why a 60% favorite still loses some flips, and why one losing session is a poor judge of skill.
Villain
The Villain is the opponent the Hero (the player in focus) analyzes in a hand. The Villain can be a real seat at the table or a hypothetical opponent used to explore decisions....
VPIP
VPIP (Voluntarily Put Money In Pot) is the percentage of hands a player chooses to enter preflop by limping, calling, or raising. It excludes forced blinds and free walks. VPIP...
W
Browse all 4 W terms →Weak-Tight
Weak-tight is a player-read shorthand for a tight, low-pressure style: the opponent enters few hands, then gives up too easily once a pot starts heating up. Bets, raises, or any...
Wet Board
A wet board is a flop with coordinated ranks and/or multiple cards of the same suit. In Hold'em, the flop is the first three community cards dealt to the board. Wet flops create...
Wheel
The wheel is the lowest straight: A-2-3-4-5, with the Ace acting low. It ranks as any straight, but opponents often overlook low straights while chasing highs or big pairs. The...
WTSD
WTSD (Went To Showdown) is the percentage of hands a player takes to showdown after they have seen the flop. It signals how often someone folds turns and rivers versus how often...