Poker glossary: B
39 poker terms starting with B. Each entry has a clear definition, a worked example, and links to related concepts.
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...