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Poker Glossary
- 3-Bet - A 3-Bet is when a player raises a player’s raise preflop. The blinds are considered the first bet, the first raise is the second bet and raising that raise it the 3rd bet or 3-Bet.
- ABC Poker - ABC Poker is used to describe a rather straight forward strategy that focuses on good fundamental play, while limiting advanced or fancy plays.
- Action - Action is used to describe the level of betting going on in the current game.
- All-in - All-in is when a player bets all their money that is on the table in the current hand.
- Aggressive - A playing style of a player that bets and raises frequently, while rarely checking or calling.
- Bad Beat - When a player with very strong cards loses to an opponent who is statistically unlikely to win but hits one or two lucky cards on later streets.
- Bankroll - Bankroll is the money set aside to exclusively play poker.
- Bankroll Management - - Bankroll Management is a practice of properly managing your bankroll to ensure you are playing at a level of stakes where a cold streak or bad run of cards does not severely cripple or wipe out your bankroll.
- Big Blind - The Big Blind is the second player to the left of the dealer. This player is in the second position of the forced bets designed to start the betting action. Big Blind can also be referring to a bet size. The Big Blind bet is the larger of the two forced bets and also is the minimum bet size of the game.
- Blinds - The Blinds are the force bets to the immediate left of the dealer. There are two Blinds. The Small Blind and the Big Blind. Since the dealer rotates each hand, so do the Blinds, there for everyone pays. These two forced bets are designed to get the action going in the game.
- Bluff - A Bluff is when you bet or raise with a hand that you think is not the best hand but you think the bet can induce a fold by your opponent or opponents.
- Board Texture - Board Texture is a term to describe the community cards indicating how helpful the cards are to certain hands. A board where cards help straight draws or flush draws would be considered a wet board texture.
- Call - A call is when a player matches a bet by another player.
- Calling Station - This is a player type that consistently calls bets and rarely raises regardless of the strength of their hand.
- Capped Range - Capped Range refers to a range of hands that your opponent is believed to have which does not include the strongest hands due to some action by the opponent that indicated they are not holding a strong hand.
- Cash Game - Cash games are games that players can buy into and cash out using real money. Players can freely enter and leave, unlike a tournament where there are a set starting fee and a predetermined end time.
- CBet or Continuation Bet - A CBet is when someone is the preflop raiser and then continues their aggression by betting again on the flop. To be considered a CBet, the player must be the last player to raise preflop and first to bet on the flop.
- Check - A Check is when a player chooses not to bet on their turn when no one has bet in the hand before that player.
- Check Raise - A Check Raise is when a player checks on their turn and then raises when another player bets on the same round of betting.
- Cold Deck - A cold deck is a term a player may use to describe not getting very many playable starting hands.
- Cutoff - The Cutoff is the Position used to describe the seat before the Button.
- Dealer Position - Dealer Position also known as the Button is the player who acts last in the hand post-flop. In a home game, this player would have the additional responsibility of dealing the cards.
- Deep Stack - Deep stack is having a large amount of money in chips relative to the table buy-in or tournament average stack.
- Dry Board - Dry Board refers to a flop in which the three cards cannot connect with any hand that would be trying to make a straight or flush draw.
- Donkey - A derogatory name given to a bad player.
- Double Barrel - Double Barrell is a term used to continue raising on the turn after raising the flop.
- Drawing Hand - A Drawing Hand is a hand that needs cards from the deck to help the hand become a potentially winning hand.
- Equity - The percentage chance a hand has of winning a pot in terms of the amount of the pot. It is the amount a player would win on average if a particular hand and specific situation were repeated a large number of times.
- Fish - A Fish is a player that is not very good at poker and usually loses money.
- Flop - The Flop is the first three community cards that are dealt together.
- Flush Draw - A Flush Draw is having a hand that needs cards of the same suit dealt on the turn or river to complete a flush.
- Fold - When a player decides not to match a bet and chooses to give up on the hand.
- Free Card - Free Card is a situation where an opponent checks and you can see another card in the hand without having to put any money in the pot.
- Grinding - Playing many hands over a long period in an attempt to leverage a skill advantage into accumulating profits.
- Gut Shot - Gut Shot or Inside Draw is a straight draw that needs one more card to complete with that card between the highest and lowest rank of the cards used to make the straight.
- Hand Range - Hand Range refers to a grouping of starting hands when referring to an opponent’s likely two card holdings. Ranges are determined by the ranking of starting hands best to worse in percentage form. A 10% range is the top 10% of all possible starting hands.
- Hand Reading - Hand Reading is a technique where you assign a player an opening hand range. Then, as the cards are dealt, you narrow down that players possible range based on the cards dealt and the player’s actions as well as your knowledge of that player.
- Heads Up - Heads Up is when two players are left in the hand or there are only two players at the table.
- HUD - A HUD stands for Heads Up Display, which is a feature included in poker tracking software that runs during the game attaching to the poker client and displays player statistics next to each player updating in real time.
- Image - Image in poker is the view of a player by their opponents. A player’s image is usually tied to their style, such as tight or loose.
- Implied Odds - Implied odds, are the odds you think you may get based on your current pot odds plus any additional money you may win on future streets from your opponent after you hit one of your outs.
- Kicker - A Kicker is the highest next card when two players have the same ranked hand value. This card will determine who wins the hand. For example, if the hand ends with both players having the exact same pair the next highest card in the player’s hands will determine the winner.
- Late Position - Late Position refers to the last two positions known as the Button and Cut Off.
- Limp - Limping is a non-aggressive move where a player facing a minimum bet calls the bet in an attempt to play the hand as cheaply as possible.
- Loose - A player who plays a wide range of starting hands and can also be a player that bets and raises often.
- Min Raise - A Min Raise is the smallest possible raise at the given game which is a one big blind raise.
- Muck - Muck is an act of folding by tossing in the players hold cards.
- Multiway Hand - Multiway Hand is a hand where you are playing verse two or more opponents.
- NIT - A NIT is a description of a player type that is Tight Passive and takes it to extremes unwilling to take risks and plays only premium hands in the top range.
- Nuts - The Nuts is having the best hand.
- Open Ended - An Open Ended refers to a straight draw where a player has four of the five cards needed for a straight in consecutive order. That player has two possible cards to complete their draw, one at each end.
- Outs - Outs are cards that when added to a hand makes that hand the best hand.
- Over Cards - Over Cards are cards that are numerically higher than the community cards.
- Over Pair - An Over Pair is having a pair where that pair is higher numerically than any of the current community cards dealt so far.
- Passive - Passive is a term to describe a characteristic of a player. A Passive player will play timidly, calling much more than betting and raising. When they bet or raise its usually with a strong hand.
- Polarized Range - A Polarized Range is a range of hands a player may have that consists of strong hands and bluffs.
- Pot Control - Pot Control is where a player either checks or makes small bets trying to keep the overall size of the pot small. This is typically used by a player who has a good but not great hand and wants to see the next street or the showdown as cheaply as possible.
- Pot Committed - Pot Committed is a situation where the pot is so large in relation to a player's stack, the player mathematically should bet the rest of their money on the table since the payoff of winning the pot far outweighs the players chances of winning regardless of the cards they are holding, folding would not make sense.
- Pot Odds - Pot Odds are the amount of money in the pot versus the amount you need to put in the pot to determine if calling the bet will be profitable. It’s the odds the pot is offering you.
- Preflop - Preflop is the play of the hand prior to the flop being dealt.
- Quads - Quads are four of a kind.
- Rainbow - A rainbow is when the flop is dealt and all three cards have different suits.
- Raise - A Raise is to bet more than the amount bet by another player.
- Rake - Rake is the small percentage the house takes from each hand as a fee for running the game.
- Regs - Reg is a nickname given to regulars at the poker table. More of an online term, Regs are the players that are constantly on the tables and usually indicates they are strong players.
- River - The River is the fifth of the community cards and the last card to be dealt in the hand.
- Rock - A Rock is a description of a player type that is Tight Passive and is unwilling to take risks and plays only premium hands in the top range.
- PFR - PFR stands for Preflop Raise. This is a percentage of how often this player raises preflop.
- PFR/VPIP Ratio - PFR / VPIP Ratio shows how often a Player Raises out of all the Hands they Played.
- Satellite - Satellite refers to a Satellite tournament. These are tournaments where the winners usually win a buy-in free to a larger more prestigious tournament.
- Semi-Bluff - A Semi-buff is a bluffing hand that is not the best hand but has a chance to improve to the best hand on later streets. With a Semi-Bluff you have two ways to win when your opponent folds or making your draw and having the best hand.
- Set - A set is when you have three of a kind and two are the hole cards.
- Set Mining - Set Mining is a preflop technique or strategy where the player plays small to medium pocket pairs trying to hit a set in an effort to win a large pot when it hits.
- Slow Play - Slow Playing is when a player has a good or great hand and intentionally limits their betting or raising in order not to scare other players out of the hand trying to extract the most money from their holdings.
- Small Blind - The Small Blind is the first player to the left of the dealer. This player is in the first position of the forced bets designed to start the betting action and will be the first to act on every round after the initial round of betting.
- Steal - A Steal is usually from one of the late positions but can be from the Small Blind. It’s when the action is folded around to the player and the player raises hoping to win the pot uncontested regardless of the strength of their hand.
- Stack - Stack is a term used to describe the chips a player has available to bet on the table.
- Straight Draw - A Straight Draw is a term used to describe a hand where the player only needs one more card dealt that will complete a straight.
- Suited - Suited is a term that is used to describe a player’s hole cards when both cards are of the same suit.
- Table Image - Table Image is how other players at the table perceive your playing style and abilities.
- Tell - A Tell is an action or betting pattern that gives some indication about the strength of a player’s hand.
- Tilt - Tilt is a term that is often used to describe the angry or frustrated emotional state of a player causing them to play bad or out of control.
- Tight - Tight is a term that describes a player that only plays the best cards and is generally not a wild gambler. Tight can also refer to a range of cards. A Tight range is a set of hold cards that only contain very strong cards.
- Top Pair - Top Pair is when a player has a pair using the highest card on the board.
- Trips - Trips are three of a kind when two matching community cards also match a player’s hold card.
- Turn - The Turn is the fourth of the five community cards.
- Under the Gun - Under the Gun is used to describe the position immediately following the Big Blind which is the first player to act in the hand.
- Variance - Variance is volatility in poker. It is the up and down swings when it comes to winning and losing. Even though poker is a game of skill, there is also a component of luck. As we know in math, things like luck even out over time, but over a shorter sample size, Variance can influence our results, sometimes dramatically in one direction or the other.
- Value Bet - A Value Bet is when you have the best hand and you are trying to get the most money out of your opponent. When value betting there is very little danger of losing the hand.
- VPIP - VPIP stands for Voluntarily Put Money in the Pot. This is a percentage of how many times a player put money into the pot preflop by limping, raising, or calling. The Blinds are not included in this stat because this bet is not voluntary as the player is forced to put money into the pot.
- Wet Board - A Wet Board is when the cards on the flop are connected in a way that could be helpful to straight draws and flush draws.
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