Definitions

(in alphabetical order)

Bet: Putting in money to the pot voluntarily, so that others will have to put in more chips if they want to continue with their hand. After your bet your opponents can either fold, call, or raise. The minimal bet size is the big blind.

Blocking bet: you make a blocking bet when you have something on the river and you are not sure if it is the winning hand. Therefore you make a small bet and hope you get called by the aggressor. This is effective because if you checked the aggressor would most likely bet again a larger amount and you would face a tough decision. With a blocking bet you basically state that you have something but not much and you would like to see the showdown cheaply.

Bluff: Betting or raising with the sole purpose of making the opponent fold their cards when probably you have the worst hand.

Bubble: it is the place on the tournament that is close to the paid places but do not receive money. For example when there are ten places paid the bubble is the 11^th player. The “bubble strategy” applies not only when there are 11 players left but more likely 13-14 players as the game will already be tighter than before.

Call: Putting in just enough chips to have the same amount of chips in the pot as the original bettor.

Continuation bet: Following your preflop raise you decide to bet again on the flop.

Flop: The second turn of betting, when the first three out of the five community cards are on the board.

Fold: Throwing away your cards instead of calling or raising you opponent’s bet, this way giving up the fight for the pot.

Full Ring (FR): A poker game with more than 6 players sitting at a 9-10 players max table.

Gutshot and open ended straight draw: gutshot straight draw is also called an inside straight draw. For example if the flop is♦A♣T♥8 and you have 97 then you have an open ended straight draw because you would make a straight with a 6 or with a J. On a ♦A♣T♠3 flop a gutshot draw would be a JQ where you can only make a straight with K, other gut shot is KJ making a straight with a Q and the remaining gutshots on the flop are: KQ, 52, 54 and 24.

Heads Up (HU): A poker game with two players sitting at the table.

Min-raise: The minimal raise is normally the big blind, but if there was a bet or raise before, it’s the size of the previous bet or raise.

Order of play: Poker is being played around a table, with an oval or round shape. Every round one player is selected to be the Dealer. Cards are being dealt clockwise, the player sitting to the left of the dealer receiving the first card. Every round the player who was Small Blind before becomes the dealer.

Position: The positions relative to the Dealer are:

Preflop: The first turn of betting, when the players have two cards but there are no community cards on the board yet.

Raise: After the bet of another player you can decide to put in evenmore money in the pot. The minimal raise size is the size of the be before.

Rake methods:

• Dealt rake method: in this method the rake is equally divided between all players who have contributed to the hand. If someone played the hand until the end and another one folded the blind, it does not matter. The rake is still distributed the same way. In this case if you were dealt cards you also get rake contribution. This method is more of an advantage for tight players and disadvantage for loose-agressive players. For example if the rake is $3 and there are 10 players at the table they will get all the rakeback of 30 cents.
• Contributed rake method: the rake is distributed equally between players who have put some money into the pot. So if you only folded your cards then you will not earn any rake. If you put at least the BB in or saw the flop then you are already among the players who will get rakeback for the current hand. This method is not so good for the tight players and is better for the loose-aggressive style. For example if there are 10 players at the table and the rake is $3 but four players put money in the hand then they will get the rakeback of 75 cents.
• Weighted-contributed rake method: this is the most exact rake calculating method. This is a bit like the Contributed rake method as only those players get rakeback who have entered the pot. However in the Weighted-contributed rake method the rake in the hand is distributed based on the proportion the players have contributed to the pot. Giving an example is more complicated. Assume that there are 10 players at the table but only four of them contribute to the pot. The pot is $60 and the rakeback is $3. Player A puts $2, Player B $8, Player C $20 and Player D $30 in the pot. Then the $3 rakeback will be distributed based on the percentage of the contribution of the different players to the $60 pot. Player A gets the rakeback of 2/60= 10 cents, Player B 8/60= 40 cent, Player C 20*60= $1 and Player D 30/60= $1.5. This method is a paradise for the loose-agressive and a catastrophe for tight players.
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Reraise: After the raise of another player you can decide to put in even more money in the pot. The minimal raise size is the size of the raise before.

River: The final turn of betting, when all the community cards are on the board.

Semi bluff: Betting or raising with the purpose of making the opponent fold their cards, when you don’t have a strong hand yet, but have chances to improve.

Short Handed (SH): A poker game with 3-6 players sitting at the table.

Slow play: Playing a good hand in a very passive way, expecting the opponent to raise the pot. Out of position most of the time involves a check-raise either on turn or river. In position it’s typical to call the raises down to the river, and make a significant raise there.

Suited cards: two cards are suited if they both have the same suit, for example two hearts/clubs/spades or diamonds.

Turn: The third turn of betting, when four out of the five community cards are on the board.

Value bet: Making a bet at the river when you think you are ahead and the opponent is likely to call.

VPIP: Voluntarily Put $ In the Pot. A term that can be seen many times in reference with poker software like Poker Tracker or Holdem Manager, this number expresses the player’s willingness to put money into the pot at the first betting round when it is not required. E.g. A player raising from UTG fits in this category, while the BB checking an unraised blind does not.

3bet: Preflop someone raises, and you reraise.

4bet: Preflop you raise, someone reraises, and you reraise again.

(if you are interested in any other definitions,
please do not hesitate to ask us or you can also read more on Pokerjunkie’s Glossary)