Aggressive

Playing a lot of hands, with very low minimum standards for what constitutes an acceptable hand to play.

All In

Betting all of your remaining chips.

Attacking The Blinds

From a late position, attempting to win the blinds by playing aggressively, even with a poor hand.

Bad Beat

Losing a hand, after making a decision when your hand was the better one. For example, if you have two pairs after the Turn, and you push all in, it’s a Bad Beat if your opponent calls, then completes his straight on the River.

Big Blind

The larger of the two compulsory bets, made by the players to the left of the dealer. The Big Blind is the player who acts last pre-Flop, and second post-Flop.

Blind Steal

See ‘Attacking The Blinds’

Bluff

Betting when you believe that you have a weaker hand than your opponent, in the hope that he will fold his hand.

Board

The community cards that have been dealt – the Flop, Turn and River.

Bubble

The situation in a tournament at which there are a few more players remaining than prizes.

Call

Match a bet made by another player.

Calling Station

A (bad) player who calls bets with relatively weak hands, hoping to hit a great hand on the Flop. Easy to win chips from, and a trait to be encouraged amongst your opposition (see ‘Tapping On The Aquarium’).

Cash Game

A game where players can come and go as they wish. The player buys chips, and can cash them in at any time.

Check

Make no bet, or no additional bet. For the Big Blind, this is an option pre-Flop if nobody has raised. For other players, it is only an option after the Flop, Turn or River.

Check-Raise

Check, with the intention that when an opponent raises, then you will reraise. The idea is to get chips from a player that you believe you have beaten, where an initial bet would cause him to fold.

Chips

The poker equivalent of money. In a cash-game, they equal the value of your money, and can be cashed in. In a tournament, they are just a way to keep score – players get a set amount of chips, that may bear no resemblance to the amount they paid to enter.

Connectors

Consecutive cards, such as Ten-Jack or Four-Five.

Conservative

A player who raises only with a very strong hand, typically.

Continuation Bet

After making an aggressive move pre-Flop, this is another bet made after the Flop, to indicate continued strength whether the hand is good or not.

Dominated Hand

A hand where one card matches the opponent’s card, and the other is lower than the opponent’s other card. For example, Ace-Four is dominated by Ace-Nine. In this case, the Ace-Four has a very small chance of winning.

Drawing Dead

There are no cards that can be dealt that will give you the best hand.

Drawing Hands

Hands that need to be improved by cards still to be dealt, in order to become good hands. Typically, these are Flush-Draws and Straight-Draws.

Early Position

You are in early position if you are one of the first players to act, with a lot of players to act after you. In this case, as you don’t know what other players are going to do, you need to exercise more caution than when you are in late position, where raises and calls are more likely to be successful.

Expected Value (EV)

This is the average amount that you would expect to win or lose from a random event in the long run. For example, if you flip a coin, and win £1 every time heads comes up, and lost £0.50 when tails comes up, then 50% of the time you’ll win £1, and 50% of the time you’ll lose £0.50, so your EV is (50% * £1) + (50% * -£0.50) = £0.50 - £0.25 = £0.25.
Note that the EV for an action should be compared against the EV of not acting, which may not be zero. For example, your tournament EV may be positive or negative, and the decision to play or fold a hand must be compared against each other. So if you expect to win £15 from the tournament if you fold, but only £12 if you play, then you should fold, even though playing has a positive EV.

Final Table

In a multi-table tournament, eventually there are only enough players left to fill a single, final table. This is where the tournament will be won or lost.

Fish

See Calling Station

Flop

The first three community cards, that are dealt together.

Flush

Five cards of the same suit.

Flush Draw

If you have four cards of the same suit, and there are community cards still to be dealt, then you are on a Flush Draw. You will typically want to see additional cards as cheaply as possible, until you complete the Flush, or you don’t.

Fold

Concede the hand. Throw your cards in.

Free Card

If you don’t have to pay in a round of betting, then the next card dealt is a free card (as you don’t have to pay to see it).

Full House

Three cards of one rank, and two of another. For example, three Aces and two Kings.

Fundamental Theorem Of Poker

If every player turned their cards over at the start of each hand, there would be a best way for each player to play the hand, mathematically speaking. In the long run, anyone deviating away from the optimal strategy would lose, and if everyone made all the right decisions, the eventual result would be a lottery.

So you will win in the long run if you play your cards the way that you would have done if you could see your opponents’ cards, or if they play differently to the way they would if they could see your cards.

Gap Concept

The theory that in order to call a raise, you need a better hand than you needed to raise in the first place, since you opponent will, on average, have a better hand than your minimum requirement in order to make the initial raise.

Green Zone

One of Dan Harrington’s zones, which indicates the extent to which you need to accelerate your gameplay due to the size of the blinds. If you have more than enough chips to pay the blinds and ante’s (where applicable) more than 20 times, you are in the Green Zone.

Gut Shot Straight Draw

The opposite to an open-ended straight draw. In this case, you have four of the cards you need to complete a straight, including the ones at each end. For example, if you have the Six, Seven, Nine and Ten. Occasionally, you can have a double gut-shot straight draw. For example, if you are holding the Seven and Eight, and there is a Four, Five, Ten and Jack on the table. Either a Six or a Nine will complete the straight.

Heads-up

Welcome to the madhouse. There are two players left – you and the other guy – and things are about to go a bit crazy.

Hole Cards

The cards that you have in your hand.

Image

This is how you present yourself to your opposition. Do they think you’re tight or loose? Do they think you bluff a lot, or slow-play frequently? This may bear little resemblance to reality, or how you see yourself (which may also bear little resemblance to reality!)

Implied Pot Odds

Unlike regular pot odds, this takes into account the additional value of bets from later rounds. For example, if the pot has £200 in it, and you need to bet £50 to see the River, then the Pot Odds are 4/1. But if the River card gives you what you want, then you may win an additional £100 in bets. If so, then you are paying £50 to win £300 potentially – the Implied Pot Odds are 6/1.

Kicker

The highest unused card from the hand. For example, if you have three of a kind, the next two highest cards available to you complete your hand (which must consist of five cards). These are used to decide between hands of equal value. For example, if you have Ace-Nine, your opponent has Ace-Six, and the board reads Ace-Queen-Queen-Seven-Three, then your hand is Ace-Ace-Queen-Queen-Nine, and your opponent’s is Ace-Ace-Queen-Queen-Seven. You both have two pairs, Aces and Queens, but you’ve got the higher kicker.

Late Position

The opposite of Early Position. Most players have acted, and there are only a few after you to act. A raise or a call here is more likely to be successful.

Limping

Limping is calling a bet, particularly pre-Flop, in the hopes of seeing cards cheaply. It’s a dangerous tactic, particularly in early position, as it indicates to your opponents that you are weak, and it invites them to raise, and push you off the hand.

Loose Players

The opposite of tight players, loose players play a wide variety of hands, with much lower starting requirements.

M

M is the ratio of your stack to the cost of a complete round of play (the blinds plus any antes). An important guide to how aggressively you need to play.

Monster

A really, really good hand – often the nuts.

Multi-Way Pot

A pot with more than two people still in, particularly after the Flop.

Negative Expectation

A negative expected value. On average, you are expecting to lose money.

No-Limit

The game that this guide is all about. There is no upper-limit on the amount that you can bet.

Nuts

The best hand that you can possibly have, given the community cards. For example, if the board shows:

Then the nuts would be Seven-Ten, since this will give you a straight from Six-Ten. There’s no way to get a Flush, Full House or Four of a Kind, so if you’ve got Seven-Ten, you cannot lose.

Off-Suit

Two cards of different suits.

Open-Ended Straight Draw

A straight draw, where you have four consecutive cards, so a card at the top or bottom will complete the straight.

Orange Zone

One of Dan Harrington’s zones, which indicates the extent to which you need to accelerate your gameplay due to the size of the blinds. If you enough chips to pay the blinds and ante’s (where applicable) between 5 and 10 times, you are in the Orange Zone.

Outs

Outs are cards that will allow you to win, when you are currently behind. For example, if you’ve got

And your opponent has

And the table shows

Then you are behind, but will win win any of the remaining nine Clubs, any of the remaining three Kings, and of the remaining three Jacks, or the other Ten (the Ten of Clubs has already been counted). These are your 16 outs.

Overcards

If your opponent has a pair, and you have in your hand cards that are higher than the pair, then these are overcards – if the board pairs one of these, you’ll be ahead.

Passive

The opposite of an aggressive player. A passive player does not freely commit a lot of chips to a lot of pots.

Pay Station

As opposed to a calling station, a pay station overbets pots. That is to say, they bet far too much when they have hit their hand. They win no extra chips from their excessive bets when they are ahead, but lose more when they run into a monster.

Playing Style

There isn’t one, single way to play poker. There are different playing styles – find yours.

Pocket Pair

A pair in your hand before the Flop

Position

The first person to act is said to be in first position. The last player to act is in last position. It’s nothing to do with the number of chips that you have.

Pot

You see that big pile of chips in the middle? That’s the pot.

Pot Odds

Odds are the return on your stake if you win. If there’s £100 in the pot, and it’ll cost you £50 to play, then the pot-odds are 2/1.

Probe Bet

A bet to determine what your opponent has. If you are first to act, and you check, then your opponent can check, and you learn nothing about their hand. Betting forces them to tell you something about what they have.

Q

The ratio of your stack to the average stack. It’s good to keep track of this, so that you know how you are doing in real terms (since your chips effectively devalue over time).

Raise

Make a larger bet than previous players have.

Reading The Flop

Looking at the Flop to identify what sort of hands have become possible for your opponents. How many cards of the same suit? Is the board paired? Are there connected cards?

Red Zone

One of Dan Harrington’s zones, which indicates the extent to which you need to accelerate your gameplay due to the size of the blinds. If you don’t have enough chips to pay the blinds and ante’s (where applicable) 5 times, you are in the Red Zone, and are in deep trouble.

Reraise

After somebody else has raised, raising the bet again. A play only to be made if you’ve got a really good hand, are certain that they are bluffing, or are crazy.

River

The fifth and final community card.

Sandwich Effect

This occurs when somebody raises ahead of you, and there are other players, who could re-raise still to act. You should only call here if you have a very strong hand, as you may be forced to fold by a reraised otherwise.

Semi-Bluff

You don’t have the hand you are pretending to, but even if you are called, you still have cards that will win you the hand.

Short Stack

If you, or somebody else, is running out of chips, you are short-stacked. If you have fewer chips than anyone else, you are the short stack.

Slow Play

Flat-calling other people’s bets when you have a very good hand, in the hope that they will raise, when they would have folded if you had made a bet.

Small Blind

The smaller of the two compulsory bets, made by the players to the left of the dealer. The Small Blind is the player who acts second-to-last pre-Flop, and first post-Flop.

Steal

A bluff pre-flop, to try to take the blinds (only to be attempted from late position).

Straight

Five consecutive cards, such as Eight-Nine-Ten-Jack-Queen

Straight Draw

If you have four cards that can be made into a straight with the addition of a fifth, and there are community cards still to be dealt, then you are on a Straight Draw. You will typically want to see additional cards as cheaply as possible, until you complete the Straight, or you don’t.

Straight Flush

Five consecutive cards of the same suit. As rare as hen’s teeth.

Suited Cards

Two hole cards of the same suit.

Suited Connectors

Two hole cards of the same suit, and consecutive rank.

Tapping On The Aquarium

A reference to a Phil Gordon anecdote. Don’t tell a fish that they are a fish – you want them to be a fish (it makes it easier to get their chips).

Tilt

Losing the plot after a bad hand or two. Liable to start trying to win their chips back by making aggressive plays at inappropriate times (the opposite of sulking!)

Tournament

A game consisting of one or more players, who continue playing until there is only one left. The prizes are awarded, depending on your finishing position.

Turn

The fourth community card.

Value Bet

A bet based on exactly what you have.

Yellow Zone

One of Dan Harrington’s zones, which indicates the extent to which you need to accelerate your gameplay due to the size of the blinds. If you have enough chips to pay the blinds and ante’s (where applicable) between 10 and 20 times, you are in the Yellow Zone.