Poker Glossary

The seat immediately to the left of the big blind and the first to act before the flop. Because the whole table acts behind you, it plays the tightest range at the table.

The seats between the early positions and the hijack. You open a little wider than under the gun, but with several players still to act you stay disciplined.

The seat two to the right of the hijack (three off the button), the first of the later seats where opening ranges start to widen.

Two seats to the right of the button. Late enough to start attacking the blinds and open a wider range.

The seat directly to the right of the button, and one of the most profitable. Only the button and blinds act behind you, so you open wide and steal often.

The dealer position, marked by a disc that moves one seat clockwise each hand. You act last on every postflop street, which makes it the single most profitable seat in poker.

The forced bet immediately left of the button, usually half a big blind. You act last preflop but first on every street afterward, so it is the worst seat to play a hand from.

The full forced bet two seats left of the button, and the standard unit for measuring stacks and win rates. Because you already have a bet in, you defend a wide range against steals.

Loose groupings of seats. Early position (under the gun and nearby) acts first and plays tight; late position (cutoff and button) acts last and plays wide.

You are in position when you act after your opponent on every postflop street, and out of position when you act first. Acting last is a lasting advantage because you always have more information.

A balanced strategy that cannot be exploited no matter what an opponent does. Real players use it as a baseline and then deviate to punish specific mistakes.

The average result of a decision if you made it over and over. A +EV play makes money in the long run; a -EV play loses it, however a single hand turns out.

The math that converts your tournament chip stack into a real-money value based on the remaining prizes. Chips you can win are worth less than chips you can lose, which makes marginal spots losers. Try the ICM calculator.

The percentage of hands a player chooses to put money in preflop (blinds don't count). A high VPIP means a loose player; a low one means a tight player.

How often a player raises before the flop. Read next to VPIP: a big gap between the two marks a passive player who calls far more than they raise.

Being the first player to raise when the pot is still unopened. The preflop charts are built around RFI ranges for each seat.

The effective stack divided by the size of the pot on the flop. A low SPR means you are committed with a strong hand; a high SPR means there is a lot of room to maneuver.

Roughly how many orbits you can survive by folding, given the blinds and antes. A shrinking M in a tournament forces you toward push-or-fold play.

A tournament player's profit as a percentage of the total buy-ins they have paid. A positive ROI over a large sample is the mark of a winning player.

Reaching the paid places in a tournament. The hand just before the money starts is the "bubble", where ICM pressure is at its highest.

An MTT is a multi-table tournament that runs across many tables until one winner remains. An SNG (sit-and-go) is a small tournament that starts as soon as its seats fill.

An online overlay that shows real-time stats (like VPIP and PFR) on each opponent, drawn from a database of their past hands.

Big blinds won per 100 hands, the standard measure of cash-game results. A solid online winner might make 5–10 bb/100 over a large sample.

Pocket aces, the best starting hand in Hold'em. Also called American Airlines. It wins against any single hand, but flops an overpair at best, so it is beatable.

Pocket kings, the second-best starting hand. Sometimes called "ace magnets" for the dread of an ace flopping.

Pocket queens, named for the two queens. A premium hand that nonetheless faces two overcards (an ace or a king) on the flop about 43% of the time.

Pocket jacks, named for the shape of the letter J. Notorious for being tricky to play, since an overcard often lands on the flop.

Pocket tens. A strong hand that plays well but, like jacks, is vulnerable to the frequent overcard.

Pocket eights, named because the numeral 8 looks like a snowman. A classic set-mining hand.

Pocket fives. "Presto" comes from old online-poker folklore where the hand flopped a set for good luck.

Pocket twos, the lowest pair, named because a 2 looks like a duck. Almost always played to flop a set or fold.

Ace-king, the strongest non-pair. Also jokingly called "Anna Kournikova" — looks great but rarely wins — because it is only a coin flip against a pocket pair and misses the flop two times in three.

Ace-queen. Strong, but the classic trap hand: it is dominated by ace-king and every pair it "beats" is one it barely beats.

Ten-deuce, named after poker legend Doyle Brunson, who won the WSOP Main Event two years running (1976 and 1977) with this unlikely holding.

Seven-deuce offsuit, statistically the worst starting hand in Hold'em: no straight or flush potential and low cards. Winning with it is a badge of honor, hence "the hammer".

Two pair, aces and eights — supposedly the hand Wild Bill Hickok held when he was shot dead during a game in 1876.

Nine-five, after the Dolly Parton song (and film) "9 to 5". A trash hand, but a memorable name.

King-jack, a homophone of the 1970s TV detective. A decent but easily dominated broadway hand.

The highest possible straight, ten through ace. "Broadway cards" also refers loosely to any two cards ten or higher.

Declining to bet while keeping your hand, passing the action to the next player. Only possible when no one has bet before you on that street.

Matching the current bet to stay in the hand. Calling without having raised is sometimes called "flatting".

Increasing the current bet, forcing everyone else to match the larger amount or fold. The engine of aggression that wins most pots.

Giving up your hand and any claim to the pot. To "muck" is to discard your cards, usually face down, without showing.

Entering the pot preflop by just calling the big blind instead of raising. Usually a weak, passive play that lets opponents in cheaply.

A re-raise. The big blind counts as the first bet and an open-raise as the second, so the next raise is the third — the 3-bet. It is made for value or as a bluff.

A 4-bet re-raises a 3-bet; a 5-bet re-raises that. Beyond the 4-bet, ranges get very strong very fast, and a 5-bet is usually all-in.

A bet on the flop by the player who raised before it, "continuing" the aggression whether or not the flop helped their hand.

Leading into the previous street's aggressor from out of position, instead of checking to them. Named after the "donkey" play it was once assumed to be, though it has legitimate uses.

Checking to induce a bet, then raising when the action comes back. A powerful move for both value and bluffs from out of position.

Calling a bet with a weak hand, intending to take the pot away on a later street when your opponent gives up.

To keep betting on consecutive streets. Betting the flop and turn is "double barreling"; adding the river makes it a "triple barrel".

A bet made hoping to be called by a worse hand. Betting an amount only better hands will call is a mistake; the art is extracting the most from second-best hands.

A bet with a hand that wants opponents to fold. A pure bluff has little chance to improve; a semi-bluff has a draw that can still win if it is called.

A bet larger than the current pot. Used with a polarized range — very strong hands and bluffs — to apply maximum pressure.

A 3-bet made after one player has raised and one or more others have called. The callers are "squeezed": they have already shown weakness and now face a big raise with a caller behind them.

An optional blind bet, usually double the big blind, posted before the cards are dealt. It buys the last action preflop and inflates the stakes for the hand.

A small forced bet contributed by every player (or, in the modern format, a single "big blind ante") to seed the pot and encourage action, common in tournaments.

Betting every chip you have left. "Shove" and "jam" are common slang for moving all-in, especially with a short stack.

Raising to drive out the rest of the field and play a pot heads-up against one weak player, usually a limper you want to be alone with.

A weak, losing player. The saying goes: if you can't spot the fish at the table, you're the fish.

A wealthy, very loose player willing to lose large sums. The most profitable opponent at any table.

A skilled, winning player who preys on the weaker ones at the table.

An extremely tight, risk-averse player who plays only premium hands. Easy to bluff and easy to fold to.

A player who calls far too often and rarely folds or raises. Never bluff one; just bet your good hands for value.

A hyper-aggressive player who raises and bluffs relentlessly. Frustrating in the short term, very profitable to trap in the long term.

Two winning styles: a TAG (tight-aggressive) plays few hands but plays them hard; a LAG (loose-aggressive) plays many hands with constant pressure.

A "reg" is a regular you see often at your stakes; a "grinder" is a player who puts in long, disciplined hours for a steady profit rather than big scores.

Playing badly because you are frustrated or angry, usually after a loss. "Steaming" is the same thing. Recognizing your own tilt is one of the most valuable skills in the game.

Losing a hand you were a big favorite to win, when an opponent hits an unlikely card. The source of most bad-beat stories, and most tilt.

A hand where two very strong holdings collide and someone is destined to lose a big pot — like a set running into a higher set. Unlike a bad beat, nobody misplayed it.

Winning a pot after getting your money in well behind, by catching the card you needed. The flip side of a bad beat.

To hit a card you need, or more broadly to win a tournament out of nowhere. "He binked the one-outer"; "she binked a Sunday major".

Short-term luck. A stretch of running good is a "heater"; a stretch of running bad is a "downswing". Neither says anything about how well you are playing.

Using unethical but technically-legal moves to gain an edge — like a deliberately ambiguous chip motion. Frowned upon, and different from outright cheating only in degree.

Deliberately taking a long time to call or reveal a winning hand, letting an opponent think they have won. Considered extremely rude etiquette.

Calling a big bet with a weak hand because you have read your opponent for a bluff. Glorious when right, expensive when wrong.

The best possible hand given the cards on the board — a hand that cannot be beaten, only tied. The "second nuts" is the best hand behind it. Holding the nuts, you never have to worry about losing.

Your share of the pot if the hand were played to the river many times. 35% equity in a $100 pot is worth $35 on average. Run any matchup on the odds calculator.

The extra value a bet gains from the chance your opponent folds. It is what makes a semi-bluff profitable even when your draw is behind: you can win by hitting or by making them fold.

The price a call is offering, expressed as the break-even percentage: call amount divided by (pot + bet + call). If the pot lays you better odds than your equity needs, calling is profitable.

The extra chips you expect to win on later streets if your draw comes in. They justify calling with hands like small pairs and suited connectors. Reverse implied odds are the opposite: the chips you lose when you hit but still finish second-best.

The cards left in the deck that turn your hand into a winner. Count them and use the rule of 2 and 4 to estimate your chance of hitting. The outs calculator does it exactly.

The side card that breaks a tie when two players hold the same pair. A-K and A-Q both pair the ace, but A-K wins on the king kicker.

Both are three of a kind. A set is made with a pocket pair plus one matching board card (well hidden); trips is one hole card plus a pair on the board (more obvious). "Set mining" is calling preflop hoping to flop a set.

A pocket pair higher than any card on the board — for example, holding Q-Q on a 9-6-2 flop. A strong made hand on most boards.

An inside straight draw needing one specific rank in the middle, so just 4 outs (about 8.5% to hit on the next card). Also called a "belly buster".

A straight draw open at both ends, giving 8 outs — twice a gutshot. Holding 9-8 on a 7-6-2 board, any ten or five completes it.

A draw that needs both the turn and the river to complete, like a backdoor flush. Individually unlikely (about 4%), but the extra equity adds up across a range.

A card you hold that removes combinations from your opponent's likely range. Holding an ace "blocks" many of the strong ace-x hands they could have, which is why A-5 suited makes a good bluff.

The full set of hands a player could hold in a given spot. A polarized range is nutted hands and bluffs; a merged (linear) range is value hands of descending strength with no pure air.

The natural swings between your results and your true expectation. Poker has enough variance that a skilled player can lose over thousands of hands, which is why bankroll management matters.

The money you have set aside strictly for poker, kept separate from living expenses. Good bankroll management means playing stakes small enough that normal variance can't bust you.

The smaller of two stacks in a pot, since that is the most either player can actually win or lose. It is what determines how deep the hand really plays.

An all-in that is roughly 50/50, classically a pocket pair against two overcards like 8-8 versus A-K. Tournaments are often decided by who wins the big flips.

Being in a spot where no remaining card can give you the winning hand. You can still bet, but you can no longer improve to a winner.

The five-high straight, A-2-3-4-5, where the ace plays low. Also called the "bicycle". The lowest straight, but a straight all the same.

Splitting the pot when hands tie, or splitting the remaining prize money in a deal. At a final table, players often chop based on their ICM equity rather than raw chip counts.

Chips in the pot from players who have folded, or, loosely, weak players whose buy-ins the strong players expect to win. Free value worth fighting for.

The reveal at the end of a hand, after the river betting, where remaining players show their cards and the best hand wins. Many pots never reach it.

How connected and coordinated the community cards are. A "dry" board (like K-7-2 rainbow) favors the preflop raiser; a "wet" board (like 9-8-7 two-tone) hits calling ranges and creates many draws.

A spot where you cannot lose but might win — typically two players share the same made hand, but one has a draw to a better one. Also a tournament with no entry fee.