Poker terms, in one sentence each.

Ace high

Ace high is a hand with no pair and nothing better, where the ace is simply the highest of your five cards.

All in

A player is all in when they have put their last chip in the pot, which means they cannot bet, raise or fold again in that hand and can only win the part of the pot they matched.

Ante

An ante is a small forced bet that every player contributes before the cards are dealt, on top of the blinds, so that there is more to win in every pot.

Backdoor (runner runner)

A backdoor draw is one that needs both the turn and the river to complete, so on the flop it adds a little value to a hand but not enough to play for on its own.

Bad beat

A bad beat is a hand you lose after getting the money in as the clear favourite, which makes it a story about the cards rather than about a mistake.

Balance

A range is balanced when the strong hands and the bluffs you take a given line with are mixed in a proportion that leaves an opponent no free answer, because folding always and calling always both cost them money.

Bankroll

Your bankroll is the money set aside for poker and nothing else, kept separate from the money you live on.

Barrel

To barrel is to keep betting on the next street after you already bet on the one before, so the aggression continues rather than restarting.

bb/100 (big blinds per hundred hands)

The bb/100 figure is a win rate counted as big blinds won per hundred hands, which is what makes results comparable between stakes and between players who play very different numbers of hands.

Bet sizing

Bet sizing is the choice of how much to bet, which sets the price your opponent is offered and therefore how often they are correct to continue.

Big blind (BB)

The big blind is the larger of the two forced bets, posted by the player two seats left of the button, and it is also the unit that stacks, bets and results are normally counted in.

Blinds (small blind, big blind)

The blinds are the two forced bets posted before any cards are dealt, by the two players to the left of the button, so that every hand starts with something in the pot worth playing for.

Blocker

A blocker is a card in your own hand that reduces the number of strong hands your opponent can hold, because you are holding one of the cards they would need.

Bluff

A bluff is a bet or raise made with a hand that is unlikely to win at a showdown, so all of its profit comes from the chance the opponent folds.

Bluff catcher

A bluff catcher is a hand that beats everything your opponent could be bluffing with and loses to everything they would bet for value, so calling is only right when they are bluffing often enough.

Board (community cards)

The board is the set of shared cards in the middle of the table, up to five of them, which every player may combine with their own two cards.

Board texture

Board texture is how connected and how suited the shared cards are, which decides how many strong hands and draws are possible and therefore how much either player can bet.

Bounty (knockout)

A bounty is a cash prize paid immediately for knocking a particular player out of a tournament, taken from a part of every buy in that goes to bounties rather than to the prize pool.

Brick (blank)

A brick is a card that changes nothing: it completes no draw, pairs nobody in an obvious way, and leaves both ranges as strong or as weak as they were.

Bubble

The bubble is the point in a tournament where one more player has to be eliminated before anybody gets paid, which makes it the moment where busting costs the most.

Button (the dealer button, BTN)

The button is the disc marking which seat is treated as the dealer for that hand, and it moves one place to the left after every hand.

Buy in

The buy in is the amount you put on the table to join a game: in a cash game the chips you sit down with, and in a tournament the fixed entry that buys your starting stack.

C-bet (continuation bet)

A continuation bet, or c-bet, is a bet on the flop made by the player who raised last before the flop.

Call

To call is to match the current bet exactly, which keeps you in the hand without raising the price for anyone else.

Capped range

A range is capped when the way it was played has ruled out the strongest hands, so there is a ceiling on how good it can be.

Cash game (ring game)

A cash game is a game where the chips are money at their face value, so you can join, leave or reload at any time and the blinds never go up.

Check

To check is to pass the action to the next player without betting, which is only allowed when nobody has bet before you in that round.

Check behind

To check behind is to check in last position after your opponent has already checked, which ends the betting round and takes you to the next card for free.

Check-raise

A check-raise is checking when the action reaches you, then raising after a player behind you bets in the same betting round.

Chip leader

The chip leader is the player holding the most chips at a table or in a tournament, which gives them the ability to put anyone else at risk of elimination.

Cold call

A cold call is a call of a raise by a player who has not yet put any money in the pot this round, so the whole amount is paid in one go.

Combos (combinatorics)

A combo is one specific pair of hole cards, and counting combos is how a range stops being a list of hand names and becomes a number you can compare against.

Cooler

A cooler is a hand where two players both make something strong enough that all the money goes in and neither of them did anything wrong.

Counterfeit

A hand is counterfeited when a later community card makes part of it redundant, so the same cards that were a strong holding now play as a weaker one.

Cutoff (CO)

The cutoff is the seat directly to the right of the button, which makes it the second best position at the table because only one player can still take position away from you.

Dead money

Dead money is chips already in the pot that belong to nobody still contesting it, which makes the pot larger without making it harder to win.

Deep stack

A stack is deep when it is large relative to the blinds, usually taken as more than about 150 big blinds, so there is room for several rounds of betting after the flop.

Delayed continuation bet (delayed c-bet)

A delayed continuation bet is a bet on the turn by the player who raised before the flop after they checked the flop instead of betting it.

Donk bet

A donk bet is a bet made out of position by the player who was not the aggressor on the previous street, so it takes the lead away from whoever had it.

Double barrel

A double barrel is a second bet on the turn after you already bet the flop, continuing the same story rather than starting a new one.

Draw

A draw is a hand that is not worth much yet but becomes strong if one of a known set of cards arrives.

Drawing dead

You are drawing dead when no card still to come can give you the winning hand, so every chip you put in from that point cannot be won back.

Dry board (static board)

A dry board is a flop where few draws are possible, so the hand that is best now is very likely to still be best on the river.

Effective stack

The effective stack is the smaller of the two stacks in a pot, because that is the most either player can actually win or lose in the hand.

Equity

Your equity in a pot is the share of it you would win on average if the remaining cards were dealt out and nobody folded.

Equity realization

Equity realization is the share of a hand raw equity you actually collect once betting is taken into account, because you cannot always see all five cards for free.

EV (expected value)

Expected value, or EV, is the average result of a decision if you could repeat it many times: every outcome multiplied by how often it happens, added together.

Exploitative play

Exploitative play is deliberately moving away from a balanced strategy to attack a specific mistake an opponent keeps making, accepting that you become more readable in exchange.

Final table

The final table is the last table of a tournament, where the remaining players are combined into one seat draw and play down to a winner.

Fish

Fish is table slang for a weak player, usually one who plays far too many hands and calls far more often than the price justifies.

Float

To float is to call a bet with a weak hand, not because you expect it to be best, but to take the pot away on a later street when the opponent gives up.

Flop

The flop is the first three community cards, dealt face up all at once after the first round of betting in Texas Hold'em.

Flush

A flush is five cards of the same suit, which beats a straight and loses to a full house.

Flush draw

A flush draw is four cards of one suit with more cards still to come, so one more card of that suit completes a flush.

Fold

To fold is to give up your hand and any claim on the pot, which costs you nothing further and returns nothing you have already put in.

Fold equity

Fold equity is the part of a bet or raise that earns its money from the chance the opponent folds, rather than from the chance you hold the best hand.

Four bet (4-bet)

A four bet is the third raise in a betting round: someone opens, someone raises that, and the four bet raises again.

Four of a kind (quads)

Four of a kind is all four cards of one rank, a hand that beats everything except a straight flush.

Free card

A free card is the next community card seen without anyone betting, which is worth most to whoever is drawing and costs the player who was already ahead.

Full house (boat)

A full house is three cards of one rank together with a pair of another, ranked first by the three and only then by the pair.

Give up

To give up is to stop betting a hand you have been bluffing with and let the pot go, because another bet costs more than the chance it works is worth.

GTO (game theory optimal)

Game theory optimal play, usually shortened to GTO, means playing a strategy so balanced that no counter strategy can beat it in the long run, rather than one aimed at exploiting a particular opponent.

Gutshot (inside straight draw)

A gutshot is a straight draw missing one card in the middle, so only one rank completes it and only four cards in the deck will do.

Hand history

A hand history is the full record of a hand, listing every card, every action and every amount, which is what makes a decision reviewable after the fact.

Heads up

Heads up means only two players are contesting the pot, or that the whole game is played between two players.

Hero

Hero is the name given to the player whose seat you are looking at in a hand example, so that a hand can be discussed without naming anybody.

High card (no pair)

A high card hand is one with no pair and no other combination, so it is ranked only by its highest card and then by the next four in order.

Hole cards (pocket cards)

Your hole cards are the two cards dealt face down to you alone, which only you may use and which stay hidden until a showdown.

HUD (heads up display)

A HUD is a display that overlays statistics about each opponent onto the table, drawn from the hands you have already played against them.

ICM (Independent Chip Model)

The Independent Chip Model, or ICM, estimates what a tournament stack is worth in prize money by treating each player's share of the chips as their chance of finishing first, then repeating that reasoning for every place that pays.

Implied odds

Implied odds are the pot odds you would be getting if you also count the money you expect to win on later streets when your draw comes in.

In the money (ITM)

To finish in the money is to survive far enough in a tournament to be paid from the prize pool, whatever place you eventually take.

Isolate (isolation raise)

To isolate is to raise with the aim of making everyone else fold, so you end up heads up against one particular player who has already put money in.

Kicker

A kicker is a card in your hand that does not form part of the pair or other combination, but is still counted when two otherwise equal hands are compared.

Late registration

Late registration is the period after a tournament has started during which players may still buy in, arriving with a stack that is short relative to the blinds.

Leak

A leak is a mistake you make repeatedly rather than once, which is what makes it expensive even when each instance costs very little.

Limp (open limp)

To limp is to enter the pot before the flop by calling the big blind rather than raising.

Main pot

The main pot is the part of the pot every remaining player has matched in full, which is the only part an all in player can win.

Middle position (MP)

Middle position is the group of seats between the earliest players and the cutoff, where several players have already folded but several still act after you.

Min raise

A min raise is a raise of the smallest amount the rules allow, which is exactly the size of the previous bet or raise on top of it.

Minimum defence frequency (MDF)

The minimum defence frequency is the share of your range you have to continue with against a bet so that a bluff with any two cards would not make money by itself.

MTT (multi table tournament)

A multi table tournament is an event where every entrant starts with the same chips, the blinds rise on a clock, and players are eliminated until one person holds everything.

Muck

The muck is the pile of discarded cards, and to muck a hand is to throw it in without showing it.

Multiway

A pot is multiway when three or more players are still in it, which makes every marginal hand weaker than the same hand against one opponent.

Nuts (the nut hand)

The nuts is the best hand possible on a given board, the one no other two cards can beat.

Offsuit (unsuited)

Two hole cards are offsuit when they are of different suits, which rules out making a flush with both of them.

One pair

One pair is two cards of the same rank with three unmatched cards alongside them, ranked first by the pair and then by those three in order.

Open ended straight draw (OESD)

An open ended straight draw is four cards in a row where a card at either end completes the straight, which gives it eight outs.

Open raise (RFI)

An open raise is the first voluntary raise of a hand, made when everyone before you has folded and nobody has yet put money in beyond the blinds.

Out of position (OOP)

You are out of position when you have to act before your opponent on every betting round after the flop, which means committing money without knowing what they will do.

Outs

An out is a card still in the deck that would give you the best hand, and counting them is how you turn a draw into a number.

Overbet

An overbet is a bet larger than the pot, which asks the opponent for a worse price than any normal size and therefore needs a range that can support it.

Overpair

An overpair is a pocket pair higher than every card on the board.

Paired board

A paired board is one where two of the community cards share a rank, which makes full houses and four of a kind possible and changes what every other hand is worth.

PFR (preflop raise percentage)

PFR is the share of hands a player raises with before the flop, written as a percentage of the hands they were dealt.

Pocket pair

A pocket pair is two hole cards of the same rank, which means you already hold a pair before any community card is dealt.

Polarized

A range is polarized when it consists of very strong hands and bluffs with almost nothing in between, which is the shape that justifies a large bet.

Position

Position is where you sit relative to the button, and it decides whether you act before or after your opponent in every betting round after the flop.

Pot committed

You are pot committed when so much of your stack is already in that folding to the next bet would be wrong even with a hand you are not happy about.

Pot odds

Pot odds are the price you are offered on a call: what you have to put in compared with what the pot would be worth to you, converted into the share of the time you need to win for the call to break even.

Preflop

Preflop is the first betting round, played after the hole cards are dealt and before any community card appears.

Probe bet

A probe bet is a bet made out of position on the turn or river after the previous aggressor declined to bet the street before.

Push or fold (shove or fold)

Push or fold is the way a very short stack is played, where the only two actions worth taking before the flop are moving all in and folding.

Raise

To raise is to increase the current bet, which forces everyone still in the hand to match the new amount or give up their claim on the pot.

Rake

Rake is the fee the house takes for running the game: a share of each pot in cash games, or a part of the buy in in tournaments.

Range

A range is the whole set of hands a player could hold in a given situation, rather than a guess at the one hand they actually have.

Rebuy

A rebuy is a second buy in taken during a tournament that allows it, either after busting or when your stack falls below a set level.

Reverse implied odds

Reverse implied odds are the money you expect to lose on later streets when you improve to a hand that is still second best, which is the mirror image of implied odds.

River

The river is the fifth and final community card, after which no more cards come and one last round of betting decides the hand.

ROI (return on investment)

ROI is tournament profit expressed as a percentage of the money staked, so an ROI of 20% means every buy in returned an average of 1.2 times what it cost.

Royal flush

A royal flush is ten through ace all of the same suit, the highest straight flush there is and therefore the best hand in poker.

Rule of two and four

The rule of two and four is a shortcut for a drawing hand: multiply your outs by two for the chance of hitting on the next card, and by four for the chance of hitting by the river.

Satellite

A satellite is a tournament whose prizes are seats in a larger event rather than cash, so every player who qualifies wins exactly the same thing.

Second pair

Second pair is a pair made with the second highest card on the board, which usually means a hand worth one bet rather than three.

Semi-bluff

A semi-bluff is a bet or raise with a hand that is probably not the best right now but can still improve, so it can win either by making the opponent fold or by hitting later.

Set

A set is three of a kind made with a pocket pair in your hand and one matching card on the board.

Short stack

A stack is short when it is small relative to the blinds, usually under about 30 big blinds, which removes most of the room for play after the flop.

Shove

To shove is to move all in, putting your entire stack in the pot in one action.

Showdown

A showdown is the point after the final round of betting where the remaining players turn their cards face up and the best five card hand takes the pot.

Showdown value

A hand has showdown value when it can win by simply being shown at the end, without needing anybody to fold.

Side pot

A side pot is the separate pot made from bets that an all in player could not match, and only the players who put money into it can win it.

Sit and go (SNG)

A sit and go is a tournament with no scheduled start time that begins as soon as a fixed number of players have registered.

Slow play (trapping)

To slow play is to check or call with a strong hand instead of betting it, hoping the opponent keeps betting or catches up enough to pay you off.

Small blind (SB)

The small blind is the smaller of the two forced bets, posted by the player immediately to the left of the button, and it is the worst seat at the table.

Solver

A solver is a program that computes a strategy for a spot by having two ranges play it against each other until neither side can improve by changing anything.

Squeeze

A squeeze is a reraise made after one player has raised and at least one other has called, which puts the callers between two aggressive actions.

Stack

Your stack is the chips you have in play, which is the maximum you can win or lose in any single hand.

Stack to pot ratio (SPR)

Stack to pot ratio, or SPR, is the smaller of the two remaining stacks divided by the size of the pot at the start of a betting round, and it tells you how much room is left to play.

Steal (blind steal)

A steal is a raise from one of the last seats made mainly to win the blinds uncontested rather than because the hand is strong.

Straddle

A straddle is an optional extra blind, posted in the dark before the cards are dealt and normally twice the big blind, which buys the straddler the last word before the flop.

Straight

A straight is five cards in consecutive rank, of any suits, which beats three of a kind and loses to a flush.

Straight flush

A straight flush is five consecutive cards all of the same suit, the best hand class there is.

Suited

Two hole cards are suited when they share a suit, which lets them make a flush together and raises the value of almost every starting hand.

Suited connectors

Suited connectors are two cards of the same suit that sit next to each other in rank, which lets them make both straights and flushes from the same hand.

Table image

Your table image is how the other players believe you play, which decides how they respond to your bets regardless of how you actually play.

TAG (tight aggressive)

A TAG is a player who enters few pots and plays the ones they enter aggressively, which is the most common shape of a winning style.

Tell

A tell is something in the way a player acts, rather than in the cards, that gives away information about the hand they hold.

Three-bet (3-bet, re-raise)

A three-bet is the second raise in a betting round, counted by treating the big blind as the first bet, the opening raise as the second and the re-raise on top of it as the third.

Tilt

Tilt is playing worse than you know how to because of how you feel, usually after a loss, a bad beat or a long stretch where nothing works.

Top pair

Top pair is a pair made by matching one of your hole cards with the highest card on the board.

Trips

Trips is three of a kind made with one card from your hand and a pair already on the board, which means the same three cards are available to everyone at the table.

Turn (fourth street)

The turn is the fourth community card, dealt face up once the betting on the flop is complete.

Two pair

Two pair is two cards of one rank and two of another, ranked first by the higher pair, then by the lower one, and only then by the fifth card.

Under the gun (UTG)

Under the gun is the seat immediately to the left of the big blind, which acts first before the flop and therefore has the most players still to come.

Value bet

A value bet is a bet made with a hand you expect to be best, sized so that a worse hand can still convince itself to call.

Variance

Variance is the spread of short term results around the long run average, which is why a run of winning or losing sessions says very little on its own about how well someone plays.

Villain

Villain is the name given to the opponent in a hand example, so that a hand can be discussed without naming anybody.

VPIP (voluntarily put money in pot)

VPIP is the share of hands in which a player puts money in the pot of their own accord, which counts calls and raises but not the blinds they were forced to post.

Win rate

A win rate is the average amount a player wins per unit of play, counted in big blinds per hundred hands in cash games and as a return on investment in tournaments.

WTSD (went to showdown)

WTSD is the share of hands a player carries through to a showdown once they have seen a flop, written as a percentage.