Poker Terminology

 
3-Bet :

 

When the first player raises in the game, it is Raise. If another player then raises again, it is Reraise, and this player's action is 3-Bet.

 

4-Bet :

 

When in the game, if a player makes a 3-Bet, and then another player re-bets, then this player's action is a 4-Bet, and so on.

 
Aggressive :

 

Refers to players who play aggressively

 

Ahead : 

 

It means that the card combination held by the player in the game is leading the opponent (the player has higher winning rate)

 

Ante : 

 

Ante, usually only found in tournament formats, each player also needs to invest an Ante before the game starts, usually ranging from 0.1 – 0.15 big blind

 

Bad Beat : 

 

It means that in a game, a player who is lagging behind (usually in the ALL IN situation), the public card that appears later overtakes the leading player.

 

Bankroll :

 

It represents the total money that the player expects to spend playing poker games, such as 100,000 dollars, but each time he participates in a competition or game, he will only use a part of the money to participate, such as 10,000 dollars, to control risks. This is called Bankroll Management. 

 

Behind : 

 

It means that the card combination the player is holding in the game is lagging behind the opponent (the player has lower winning rate)

 

Big Blind (BB) : 

 

Big blind

 

Big Stack : 

 

Players have a large number of chips in the game, such as more than 50 or more big blinds in the later stages of the game, or 100-200 or more big blinds in the early stages of the game, etc. The actual number depends on the situation of the game.

 

Bluff : 

 

Bluffing is a common technique in Texas hold'em poker. It means that when a player thinks that the combination he holds has no chance of winning, he uses a raise to hope that his opponent will fold and win the hand. Bluff is a technique that many players also use. But if Bluff fails, he will also lose a lot of chips.

 

Blocker : 

 

If during Flop or Turn, the community card has possible flush draw or a straight draw, and the player has one of the required cards in his hand, then that card is a blocker, which can block the opponent's Outs and reduce the opponent's successful probability in drawing a flush or a straight.

 

Bounty : 

 

Bounty, some games are in the form of Bounty Hunter, which means that when a player eliminates another player, he can get an elimination bonus (no matter whether it is ITM or not, he can get the bonus). The bonus of Bounty is drawn from the player's registration fee , usually half of the registration fee, and the other half as the usual ranking prize

 

Bubble : 

 

The last losing player before entering the money (ITM)

 

Busted : 

 

Eliminated from tournament

 

Button : 

 

The button position is the last player to act during the Flop, Turn and River round

 

Buy in : 

 

Tournament buy-in amount

 

C-Bet (Continuous Bet): 

 

Refers to a player who raises first in the Pre-Flop phase, continues to raise first in the Flop phase, and raises first in subsequent phases.

 

Call : 

 

Call 

 

Call Time : 

 

During the game, when a player thinks for a long time but does not take action, other players have the right to call time, that is to limit the time of thinking of that player. After the call time, the player who has not taken action is usually limited to only 30 seconds or 1 minute of consideration time. If no action is taken by the time limit, that player's hand will be treated as fold

 

Check : 

 

Check

 

Check-Raise : 

 

When a player who acts first Checks, and a player Bet follows, the player who acts first makes a Raise action, which is Check Raise

 

Check it down : 

 

It means that the player will choose Check in every subsequent round of the game.

 

Chips leader : 

 

The leader with the most chips

 

Chop : 

 

Two or more players split the pots equally

 

Dealer : 

 

Dealer

 

Coin-flip : 

 

When two players are ALL IN, the winning rate of the two players is very close to 50%/50%, which means winning or losing is like tossing a silver coin.

 

Connector : 

 

The two cards held by the player are connected, such as 8,9

 

Cover : 

 

For example, player A covers player B, which means player A has more chips than player B.

 

Cut off: 

 

The player to the right of the Button position

 

Dominated : 

 

A player's winning rate in a hand is much higher than that of another player

 

Drawing-dead : 

 

The player has no chance of winning on the subsequence draw

 

Expected Value (EV) : 

 

The expected value represents the value of the player's action when betting. Usually a positive number means that the action has a positive expected return, and a negative number means that the expected return of the action is negative. It is used to judge whether the action is worth it.

 

Final table : 

 

The final table of a tournament, usually the last 8 or 9 players

 

Fish : 

 

Fish refers to a player who is usually beaten by other players. It generally refers to a player who does not know how to play or is not very skilled and often loses. This word has the meaning of belittling players. 

 

Flop : 

 

The first three community cards

 

Flop Round 

 

The round of the first three community cards

 

Flush draw : 

 

A player has 4 cards of same suited (2 of his own cards plus the public card), then he expects the fifth suited card to come on the subsequence community cards.

 

Gut-shot : 

 

That is, draw the straight in the middle, for example, 3, 4, 6, 7, then you expect 5 to come

 

Heads up : 

 

Play one-on-one matches

 

High Roller : 

 

high-stakes events, representing events with high entry fees

 

Hyper Turbo: 

 

Super fast race

 

ICM : 

Independent Chip Model (ICM) is a model used to calculate players’ expected winnings in an incomplete games that have entered the ITM stage. Players can refer to this number to judge the current situation.

 

In the money (ITM) : 

 

In the money circle, that is, entering the ranking with bonuses (usually the top 15% of players), players can definitely get bonus rewards.

 

Limp : 

 

During Pre-Flop, player just bet a big blind amount without any raises

 

Loose : 

 

Refers to the type of player who plays loosely

 

Main Pot / Side Pot : 

 

When there are three or more players, and one of the players is ALL IN, and the other two players still have chips, the Main Pot will be included in the total chips of the ALL IN players. For the Side Pot, It will not count the ALL IN players's chips, the two other player's chips are the Side Pot

 

Min-Raise : 

 

Raise with minimum bet

 

Monster hand : 

 

The player has a very strong combination in his hand. This usually occurs during Flop or Turn. For example, the player has AKs in his hand, the flop is K, 5, 2, and the player has Top pair Top clicker and Nut Flush draw

 

Middel Positin (MP) : 

 

The position that the player is in the middle of the action

 

Muck : 

 

During the Showdown, the player directly fold without showing the cards and give up the pot

 

Multi Table Tournament (MTT) : 

 

The game has multiple tables running at the same time

 

Nuts: 

 

The player has the strongest combination, a combination that will not lose

 

Off Suited: 

 

The two cards in the player's hand are of different suits

 

Omaha : 

 

Omaha game

 

On Tilt/Tilt : 

 

It means that the player's mood or mentality is in a poor state, losing normal judgment and making decisions that are inconsistent with usual at any time. This usually happens easily when a player receives a Bad Beat.

 

Online Poker : 

 

Online poker, a poker room that operates online, where players can play games online without face to face

 

Open-end straight draw : 

 

That is, draw straight numbers on both sides, such as 3, 4, 5, 6, then you look for 2 or 7 to come.

 

Outdraw : 

 

It means that when a player is falling behind, but the card that finally appears can enable the player to overtake and win.

 

Outs : 

 

It represents how many cards the player has left to improve his combination and win. For example, player A holds AA, player B holds 6,7, and the Flop is A,5,8. Then, player B only has 4, or 9. will improve its combination and victory, so player B has 8 Outs, because there are four 4s and four 9s.

 

Pocket Pair : 

 

A player holding a pair

 

Post-Flop : 

 

Refers to the stage after Pre-Flop

 

Pot :

 

 That is, the betting pool, which represents the sum of all the chips that have been bet by all players

 

Pot Control : 

 

A player's control over the size of the Pot pool, which increases the risk if the bet size is too large.

 

Pot limit :  

 

Pot limit game

 

Pot Odds :  

 

The pot odds are compared with the player's winning probability and betting size. For example, if the pool is 1,000 dollars and the player has to invest 500 dollars to call the bet, then the player's Pot Odds is 1:2

 

Pre-flop : 

 

The action round before three community cards are dealt

 

Price Pool Guarantee : 

 

The tournament prize pool is guaranteed, that is, the house that arranges the tournament provides the lowest total prize money for the event. If the total registration fee of the participants is lower than the guaranteed amount, the house will provide the guaranteed amount as the total prize

 

Pro : 

 

Professional poker player

 

Push :

 

 Usually means All in

 

Rainbow : 

 

Rainbow cards, representing cards of different suits (such as three cards of different suits in Flop)

 

Raise : 

 

Raise

 

Rebuy : 

 

After losing the game, buy again

 

Regular Player:

 

Regular players usually represent players with a certain level of professionalism, otherwise they would not be regular players

 

River : 

 

Refers to the fifth public card

 

River Round: 

 

Refers to the round where the fifth community card is dealt

 

Run it twice :

 

In cash games, when two or more players are ALL IN, and any community cards have not yet appeared, players can discuss whether to run two times of dealing the remaining community cards. If two players each win once, the pots are divided into two equally. If any player wins twice, that player wins the whole pot

 

Satellite :

 

A satellite tournament means a qualifying tournament for a tournament. Players can participate with a smaller amount. For example, the registration fee for an event is 10,000 dollars, then the satellite tournament is usually 2,000 dollars, or 1,000 dollars etc. If the player wins the satellite tournament, then the player can directly participate in the event without having to pay a registration fee of 10,000 dollars.

 

Runner Runner :

 

When in Flop, the combination of cards in a player's hand needs to draw continuously in Turn and River to make his hand a stronger card. For example, when the cards dealt in Turn and River makes the player a Flush or Straight, it is Runner Runner Flush or Runner Runner Straight

 

Semi-bluff :

 

Semi-bluffing, which means that the combination in the player's hand is not very strong, but when there is a chance to draw a card and it becomes a very strong hand, then the player can raise, hoping that the opponent will fold and win the pot immediately. If the opponent calls, the player will still has chances to win

 

Set :

 

It means that the player holds a pair in his hand, and a third one appears in the public card, forming a trip.

 

Shark :

 

Sharks refer to players with high skills or who win often

 

Short Stack :

 

This means that the player only has a small amount of chips in the game, such as less than 5 big blinds, or 10 big blinds, etc.

 

Slow play :

 

When a player has a very strong hand, he maintains a conservative playing style and avoids aggressively forcing the opponent to fold in the hope of winning more chips from the opponent

 

Small Blind (SB) :

 

Small blind

 

Shove :

 

Usually means All in

 

Showdown :

 

All players show their cards

 

Stack :

 

Represents the number of chips the player has in the game

 

Straddle :

 

The gameplay that will appear in cash games is that before the cards are dealt, players has the right to raise to 2 big blinds, that is call straddle, and the other players can straddle again, which is 4 blinds, and so on, until ALL IN. So The order of dealing cards remains unchanged, but the first player to act will become the player to the left of the Straddle player, making the Straddle player the last player to act at the pre-flop round

 

Suited Card :

 

The two cards held by the player are of same suit

 

Suit Connector :

 

The two cards held by the player are connected and suited, such as 8,9s. Represents 8,9 suited suited.

 

Tight :

 

Refers to the type of player who plays conservatively

 

Top pair Top clicker:

 

The player has the largest pair and the largest clicker

 

Turbo :

 

Refers to quick games with less time per blind level

 

Turn :

 

Refers to the fourth public card

 

Turn Round:

 

Refers to the round where the fourth community card is dealt

 

Under dog :

 

The player has a combination with a lower winning rate than other players

 

Under the gun (UTG) :

 

The player to the left of the big blind

 

 

 

 

 

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