glossary

Action: Your turn to act, or the betting activity in a hand. A "lot of action" also means a lively, high-betting game. → Betting Actions

Aggression: Betting or raising, as opposed to checking or calling; action that can win a pot without a showdown. _· Strategy taught in the Campaign_

All-in: Betting every chip you have in front of you. You can't be forced out of a pot you're all-in for; extra betting forms a side pot. → Side Pots

Ante: A small forced bet posted before a hand, common in later tournament levels. → Tournaments

Bad beat: Losing a hand you were a heavy favourite to win.

Big blind (BB): The larger forced blind, posted two seats left of the button; also the unit stacks are measured in (e.g., 100bb). → Positions

Blind: A forced bet posted before cards are dealt (small blind and big blind). → Positions

Board / Community cards: The face-up shared cards (flop, turn, river) that all players may use. → Betting Rounds

Burn card: The top card the dealer discards face down before the flop, turn, and river. → Betting Rounds

Button (BTN): The disc marking the nominal dealer; this player acts last after the flop and holds the best position. → Positions

Buy-in: The chips you bring to a cash table, or the fee to enter a tournament. → Cash Games

Call: Matching the current bet to stay in the hand. → Betting Actions

Cap: In limit games, the maximum number of raises on a round ("capped" = no more raises). Not used in No-Limit.

Cash game / Ring game: A game played for chips that equal cash, with no fixed end. → Cash Games

Check: Passing the action without betting, when no bet faces you. → Betting Actions

Check-raise: Checking first, then raising after an opponent bets. Legal and common. → Betting Actions

Chop: Splitting a pot (e.g., a tie), or the blinds agreeing to take their bets back when everyone folds. → Split Pots

Community cards: See Board. → Betting Rounds

Cutoff (CO): The seat directly to the right of the button. → Positions

Dead hand: A hand that can no longer win the pot (folded, fouled, or wrong number of cards). → Betting Actions

Equity: Your share of the pot based on your chance of winning it. _· Strategy taught in the Campaign_

Flop: The first three community cards, dealt together. → Betting Rounds

Flush: Five cards of the same suit. → Hand Rankings

Fold: Discarding your hand and giving up all claim to the pot. → Betting Actions

Forced bet: A required bet (blind or ante) that starts the action. → Positions

Four of a kind (Quads): Four cards of the same rank. → Hand Rankings

Full house (Boat): Three of a kind plus a pair. → Hand Rankings

Full ring (9-max): A nine-handed table; adds UTG+1, UTG+2, and the lojack to the 6-max positions. → Positions

Heads-up: A pot or game with only two players. → Tournaments

High card: A hand with no pair or better, ranked by its highest cards. → Hand Rankings

Hijack (HJ): The seat two to the right of the button (in 6-max, the seat right after under the gun). → Positions

Hole cards: Your private face-down cards, two in Hold'em. → Betting Rounds

Kicker: A side card used to break ties between otherwise-equal hands. → Hand Rankings

Lojack (LJ): In full-ring play, the seat just before the hijack; the first of the later positions. → Positions

Muck: The pile of folded cards; also, to fold or to decline to show at showdown. → Showdown

No-Limit (NL): A structure letting you bet any amount up to all your chips. → Betting Rules

Nuts: The best possible hand on a given board. _· Strategy taught in the Campaign_

Off-suit: Two cards of different suits.

Outs: Cards that would improve you to a likely winner. _· Strategy taught in the Campaign_

Pair: Two cards of the same rank. → Hand Rankings

Pot: The total chips being contested in a hand. → What Poker Is

Pot-Limit (PL): A structure where the maximum bet is the current pot size (used in Pot-Limit Omaha). → Betting Rules

Pot odds: The ratio of the pot size to the cost of a call. _· Strategy taught in the Campaign_

Position: Where you act relative to the button; acting later means more information. → Positions _· Strategy taught in the Campaign_

Preflop: The first betting round, before any community cards. → Betting Rounds

Protect your hand: Keeping a marker on your cards so they aren't accidentally mucked. → Etiquette

Raise: Increasing the current bet. A re-raise raises a raise. → Betting Actions

Rake: A fee the house takes from pots or entries. PokerWize takes no rake.

Range: The set of hands a player could hold in a spot. _· Strategy taught in the Campaign_

River: The fifth and final community card. → Betting Rounds

Run it twice: Dealing the remaining board twice when players are all-in, to reduce variance. → Cash Games

Set: Three of a kind made with a pocket pair plus one board card. → Hand Rankings

Showdown: Revealing hands to decide the winner after the final bet. → Showdown

Side pot: A separate pot for players still betting after another player is all-in. → Side Pots

Slow roll: Delaying showing a winning hand at showdown; a serious etiquette breach. → Etiquette

Small blind (SB): The smaller forced blind, posted one seat left of the button. → Positions

Split pot: A pot divided between tied hands. → Split Pots

Straddle: An optional extra blind, usually 2× the big blind, posted before cards. → Cash Games

Straight: Five cards in consecutive rank. → Hand Rankings

Straight flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suit. → Hand Rankings

Street: A betting round, or the card that opens it (flop, turn, river). → Betting Rounds

Table stakes: You may wager only the chips in front of you at the start of a hand. → Betting Rules

Three of a kind (Trips): Three cards of the same rank. → Hand Rankings

Tilt: Letting emotion degrade your decisions. _· Strategy taught in the Campaign_

Turn: The fourth community card. → Betting Rounds

Two pair: Two different pairs. → Hand Rankings

Under the gun (UTG): The first seat to act preflop, left of the big blind. → Positions

UTG+1 / UTG+2: The seats just after under the gun in full-ring (9-max) play. → Positions

Value bet: Betting in order to be called by worse hands. _· Strategy taught in the Campaign_

Wheel: The lowest straight, A-2-3-4-5. → Hand Rankings

3-bet / 4-bet: The third / fourth bet in a preflop sequence (a re-raise / re-re-raise). → Betting Actions _· Strategy taught in the Campaign_

Continuation bet (c-bet): A bet on the flop by the player who raised preflop. _· Strategy taught in the Campaign_

Connectors: Two hole cards of adjacent rank, e.g., 8-9.

Cooler: A hand where a very strong holding loses to an even stronger one (hard to fold, hard to avoid).

Gutshot: A straight draw needing one specific interior rank (an "inside" draw).

Open-ended straight draw: Four to a straight that can complete on either end.

Overcard: A card higher than the rest of the board, or a hole card above the board.

Playing the board: Using all five community cards as your hand; the best you can do is tie. → Hand Rankings

Pocket pair: Two hole cards of the same rank.

Rainbow: A flop of three different suits.

Suited connectors: Adjacent hole cards of the same suit, e.g., 8♥9♥.

Top pair: Pairing the highest board card with one of your hole cards. → Hand Rankings

Add-on: An optional one-time chip purchase, usually at the end of the rebuy period. → Tournaments

Big blind ante (BBA): A single ante posted by the big blind for the whole table (TDA 2024: big-blind-first). → Tournaments

Bounty (KO): A cash reward for eliminating a designated player. → Tournaments

Bubble: The last unpaid finishing spot; the "bubble boy" busts one place short of the money. → Tournaments

Chip race / Colour up: Removing small chips by dealing cards to award the odd chips. → Tournaments

Dead button: Keeping blinds fair by letting the button sit at an empty seat as players bust. → Tournaments

Freezeout: A tournament with no rebuys or add-ons; once you're out, you're out.

ICM (Independent Chip Model): A method for converting tournament chip counts into real-money equity. _· Strategy taught in the Campaign_

In the money (ITM): Reaching a paid finishing position. → Tournaments

Late registration: A window during which players may still enter after play has begun. → Tournaments

Level: A timed period played at a fixed blind (and ante) size. → Tournaments

Payout structure: How the prize pool is divided among the finishers. → Tournaments

Rebuy: Buying more chips after busting or dropping low, within the rebuy period. → Tournaments

Redraw: Randomly re-seating players as the field consolidates (e.g., to two tables, then one). → Tournaments

Sit & Go (SnG): A tournament that begins when its seats fill rather than at a scheduled time. → Sit & Go

Starting stack: The chips each entrant begins the tournament with. → Tournaments