| Beginners Basic Outline: Texas Hold 'em is probably the best known and most popular form of poker today.
Each player starts with two hole cards. There are three rounds of community cards. These are dealt face up, for every player to use, with betting after each round.
The best 5-card hand using any combination of the five community cards and two hole cards wins.
Each new hand begins with a small blind, a big blind, and a round of betting. The betting rules vary depending upon whether the game is Limit, Pot Limit or No Limit. 
Once the first round of betting is complete, the dealer then puts out the first three community cards, or "the flop". There is a round of betting. 
The dealer then puts out the fourth community card or "the turn". There is a round of betting. 
The dealer then puts out the fifth community card or "the river". There is a final round of betting. 
After the last round of betting, the software will award the pot to the best hand.
 
All Hold 'em games include a small blind and big blind. These are forced bets, and are determined by the position of the button. These bets are considered live, and every player in the hand must either call the big blind, raise, or fold. The button moves clockwise around the table, giving each player a turn being the button, small blind, and big blind. 
In Limit Hold 'em, each betting round has a fixed bet. In $5/$10, the small blind is $2.50, the big blind is $5, and the first two rounds of betting are in increments of $5. The last two rounds of betting are in increments of $10. There is a maximum of three reraises per betting round.
In Pot Limit, a player can bet any amount from the minimum bet to the size of the pot. In a $5/$10 pot-limit game, the small blind is $5 and the big blind is $10. The first player can call the big blind (in this case, $10), or raise to any amount up to the size of the pot. A raise must either equal or exceed the previous bet or raise. In this case, a pot-sized raise would be $25 ($5 small blind + $10 big blind + $10 call), meaning that, in total, player three can bet up $35. Supposing player three makes a pot-sized raise, the total pot is now $50.
If the next player wants into the hand, they must call $35, which is the size of player three's bet. If they want to raise the maximum, they would bet $120, which equals the size of the pot ($50) plus a $70 raise ($5 call + $35 raise).
In No Limit Texas Hold 'em, a player can bet any amount from the minimum bet to the maximum number of chips they have in front of them. As in pot limit, a $5/$10 No Limit game means blinds of $5 and $10.
In Tournament Hold 'em, the blinds will increase after timed intervals. And while Texas Hold 'em generally does not have antes, in tournaments, the later rounds will include antes based upon the escalating betting limits.
Just beginning or an advanced player? Don't play in the dark! 
Classic Beginners Strategy: First off, AVOID TURBO'S! A turbo is a fast paced game that requires honed skills, reads and a lot of luck. Some people call it "BINGO POKER". It's not a place to learn a good starting game to develop your playing skills with. So don't play them. Second but EQUALLY important is to learn about and USE good bank roll management (BR is an abrev.). See the tab under training for Bank Roll Management page. (NOTE: THIS PAGE about BR ISN'T ONLINE YET BUT WILL BE SOON) A solid poker strategy for beginners is to play "Solid ABC Poker". Play top premium starting hands, bet moderately, don't try "tricks & moves", don't chase after a hand. Premium Hands So what are premium hands? The top 10 starting hands of poker are: 1. AA 2. KK 3. QQ 4. JJ 5. TT 6. 99 7. 88 8. AK suited 9. AQ suited 10. AK off suit In the early stage of the game, just fold everything else. After you have built some chips in front of you then you can consider playing lesser hands. If you end up short stack, then you have to pick your position wisely best as you can and push all in, often with a lesser hand. That will be covered later and in other sections of this website. Position You always hear "play from position". Quite simply it means the position you are playing from in relation to the button. The best position is the button. That is because you get to act last post flop and last before the blinds preflop. Why is that important? Because from that seat you have information from all the other players at the table as to what their move will be before you act. When you hear "it's always best to play from position" it means to play from the "sweet spots" on the table. There is an arc of action, that is, from the "hijack" to the "Big Blind". This "arc" or sweet spot are the two seats before the button running through to the two after the button. Starting with first to act post flop the seats are as follows: SB = Small Blind BB = Big Blind UTG = Under the gun. It is called that because the player is "under the gun" to act first preflop. UTG can normally only act upon the strength of the hole cards having no information from the other players at this point. Early = Also called UTG+1 because they are early to act as well with all the other players to act after them up through to the Big Blind. Middle Late HJ = Hijack seat. So called because of the ability to hijack the button away from the CO and Button depending on the HJ preflop action. CO = Cutoff seat. This is the last seat to act before the button. Again, this position has the ability to cutoff the button from further preflop action and "steal the button" giving the CO the best seat to play from post flop. Button Last to act before the blinds preflop. They have intel from what every other player at that table will do except for the blinds. The blinds are forced in bets and may or may not have good starting cards. The button is a great seat to steal from no matter what cards they hold. Post flop again, they are now last to act after all other players at the table remaining in the hand. The button can make their play armed with the knowledge of what others have already done. The above seating arrangements are based on a 9 player table. If it is a 10 player table use both UTG+1 and early seats. Some people call the early seat UTG+2 in the case of 10 seat tables. For 6 seat games they are considered "short" tables. Short tables run with: SB BB UTG (also called early) Middle CO (also called late) Button Positional Plays From The Small Blind You can "fill" your blind by completing the bet up to the blind, you can raise the BB or you can fold. If someone has raised the bet before it gets to you, you have the option to call, re-raise or fold. Playing from the SB you really want a strong starting hand if you are putting chips in the middle more than "limping" in by filling up the blind. There are many plays to make from the SB but this is ABC poker and we'll stick to some basic solid manuevers here. More advanced plays will be covered in other articles on this site. If no one has raised the bet or it's folded to you there are only two solid choices to make. Raise or fold. Always remember, there are two ways to win the pot, one is with cards, the other is with betting. Fold: If you have no premium hand, no pair, no Ace. It is not worth "limping in" hopeing to "catch" something to go with your connector, gapper or suited cards. Just get rid of it now rather than risk a tough decision later post flop. For example, if you have K8 suited and the flop has a K or an 8 in it, you will have to decide if it's good enough to continue risking chips on it. Generally, K8 is weak. You can't get a straight, if he has K with an A through 9 you are beat unless you can hit an 8 on the turn or river. If there are two diamonds in the flop that gives you 4 to a flush. Remember that statistically you will only hit a flush like this 1 of 3 times. So continuing on is a risk. Sometimes the risk is worth the reward if you do not have to risk too many chips. However, the best bet is to fold any weak hand. An Ace with a 6 through 9 is a weak ace. With a two through five you have the potential for a straight. But a "low Ace" is weaker than a "high" ace with a K through T. If others have "limped" in the hand, consider raising. If others have raised, then you want to call with only a top 10 hand depending on the size of the raise to you. The higher the raise, the higher up you want your hand to be calling with. Another rule about poker, you need a stronger hand to call with than you do to bet with. You could raise with Ace Five but you don't want to call with it nor do you normally want to re-raise with it. If the bet to you preflop is 4x or 5x the blind then you want to have QQ or better to be calling that. Even then there is a chance of running into AA, KK or AK which can beat you post flop. You could re-raise with TT or better if you felt you have the best hand. You get this "feeling" by watching what others play, how they bet, what they hold when they bet, making notes AND using a tracking program like Poker-Edge to help you determine what a player may be playing strong or weak. Raise: If others have limped in or folded to you AND if you have a premium hand raise it 3x the bb. This is the "standard" raise. It reveals nothing about the strength or weakness of your hand. It could be a steal bet or it could mean you have a hand. A typical move from the BB will be to counter you with a re-raise. They may have a strong hand, a drawing hand, or nothing and are just testing your resolve that you are not just stealing. Facing a re-raise from the BB if you have AA-TT push back with another raise up to all in if that is your "read" on his move. Other players may or may not have a hand and may or may not call your raise. Some may call while others may re-raise. Again, play your hand based on the strength of your hand at the moment and the action to you combined with your "read" on your opponents. Limp-In: For beginning solid poker, you shouldn't be limping in with any hand. The reason to limp is because you have a marginal hand and want to see a cheap flop, hoping to hit it. That is for more advanced play, slow play, and other moves to be covered later. Some people will slow play their AA or KK by limping in. While it is possible to trap an oppenent with this gambit, it is also possible to let someone stay in a hand cheap and "catch" some garbage that can beat you. If you hold AA or KK you don't want a bunch of callers. You'd be better off with one or two. The higher the number of callers the higher your risk of getting your Aces cracked. Say you have AA, blind is 50 and you are in the SB. So you limp in with the additional 25 chips. The big blind may check their option to raise and see a "free" flop. Let's say they have Jack Eight off suited. (J8o). The flop comes J92 which gives him "top pair" lousy kicker but a potential for two pair, a set of Jacks and even a back door straight if they were to catch runner runner cards on the turn and river. NONE of these cards help improve your Aces in anyway. I have seen it happen all too often slow playing a hand like AA or KK and some odd player running with a pair of twos, J8o and even 95o end up beating the aces by the river. If you raise from the SB, these little junk hands will all be folded by good players. This means you will only have stronger hands to run against in the hand. Generally if you have QQ or KK, even AK or AQs, you aren't going to be folding, you will raise and or call a raise. So will every other good player out there. Going in with AA you will be called only by a good hand and be paid by them for your hand. If they catch a king they might hit a set if they hold KK. But if they run with AK and catch a K, they are likely to pay you off up to their whole stack! If you have KK or QQ it is possible to run into someone playing AA or KK. I have seen KK run against KK and the same for AA and QQ. It happens though it is very rare. On average, AA or KK will only come around once about every 200+ hands. If your hand is a solid hand worth playing, then it's worth betting. If it's not worth betting, then you shouldn't be playing them! SB NOTE: The best thing about the SB is you get to act almost last pre-flop. Every player that is going to enter the hand has already committed chips to the pot. If someone has raised it already and you are fortunate to have AA, KK or QQ you can double or triple their raise which I highly recommend doing. They have already "stated" by their bet they have a hand they are willing to play. You are telling them you are strong and want to bet more. The other players including the BB who has yet to act, may call your raise, re-raise it, or fold. If limped to you, a 4xbb bet is called for to weed out the limpers with weak marginals. If raised to you double or more the bet and reraise them. If they have a premium hand they will generally call your reraise or even push back all in. If you have AA or KK, call the all in. For QQ or less it can be a coin flip if you play it or fold. MOST players will go to showdown all in preflop with QQ. Normally, for solid poker, the rule of thumb is three or four raises means Aces. So if it's raised to you, you raise back, they push all in they have Kings or Aces. If they reraise your reraise and you push back, it means you have Kings or Aces. In the last 10,000 hands I've tracked in my database, my aces have won 88% of the time and my kings have won 93% of the time but my Queens have only won 68% of the time. I use Poker Office to track my hand histories and analyze my data and game play so that I can continue to become a better player. I highly recommend it to anyone serious about their game for analyzing your own stats as well as those of your opponents. So if you have Aces or Kings in the SB and anyone raises you up, RERAISE! From The Big Blind: The BB is played similar to the SB. You are last to act preflop and have final option over what you want to do after everyone else has acted. You can raise if checked around to you, if all checked and the SB limped in you can raise to steall his blind, you can call any other bets, reraise or, in most cases, you can fold to a raise. Playing from the BB you really want a strong starting hand if you are putting chips in the middle more than "limping" in by filling up the blind. Generally, if it's checked to you and you don't have a premium hand, you are just going to check. There are other plays to make from the BB but this is ABC poker and we'll stick to the basic solid manuevers here. More advanced plays will be covered in other articles on this site. Just like in the SB, If no one has raised the bet or it's folded to you and the SB who has limped, there are only two solid choices to make. Raise or Check. Always remember, there are two ways to win the pot, one is with cards, the other is with betting. I say that a lot because it's a fact and one most often overlooked. Comparing my statistics in the past 10,000 hands in Poker Office I have won more betting with nothing than I have just checking in the forced blinds. This doesn't mean just bet all the time with nothing, there are times to bluff, steal and resteal and many MORE times to fold. What I am saying is that if you perceive your opponent is weak, consider betting out or raising and take the pot down with aggression by betting rather than just checking or calling. Unless you have AA, KK or QQ, you are better off just checking in the BB most of the time. If you have any premium hand as oultined above then you can call any bets up to 4x the bb. However, if it has been raised and reraised to you, you will mostly be folding everything except AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT and AK. If there is an all in with a caller already, you may want to fold everything except AA, KK and maybe QQ. If it's raised to you with one or more callers and you hold a premium hand, you have to know where you stand. You get this with information from your programs but also by raising. They have stated they have a hand with their raise. You don't know how strong that hand is normally because most players will raise 3xBB which is a standard bet. Some min raise as in placing a bet that is the minimum for the site and level at which you play. Usually the min raise is equal to the original bet or in the case of a new pot, it is double the bb. So if the BB is 30 a min raise is 60 while a standard raise is 90. Some people use 2.5xbb as a standard while others raised based on their hand strength. Again paying attention to what the players are doing with their cards and bets will "tell" you this. It's best to pick a standard and run with it no matter what your cards or position. It reveals nothing about the strength of your hand going in. You could be bluffing or you could be holding Kings, they have no idea. So, it's raised to you, you hold a premium, raise back a min raise unless you hold the top 5 in which case raise triple their raise to you. If they call your re-raise, be warned, they too should be holding a premium hand. Just before writing this, I had KK, raised to me I raised back 3x BB, he pushed back all in and I called. Villain had JJ, flop hits him with a J and I lose. It happens sometimes. Two hands later I get KK again. Since I'm now short stack, I push all in. I get a caller who turns over AA. I thought I was a gonner but this time I flop a K and the river is a K so I ended up with Quad Kings. It happens playing top hands and solid poker. Long term, playing the best hands will keep you winning more often than not statistically. But there are the quirks to the game as I just showed you what can happen in the "real deal" at the tables. From Under The Gun (UTG) First to act preflop and early to act post flop this is one of the worst seats to play from. The earlier your seat, the stronger the hand you should be looking to play. As you move closer to the button the positional strength offsets hand weakness and you can open up a little more. That is not to say that you can play weak garbage hands later. You always want to have the best going into it that you can. Unless you have AA - TT or AK you are better off just folding when UTG. If you have any of these there are two schools of thought. One is to limp in, the other is to raise. All of these hands are premium hands and worth raising the standard 3xbb. If you are holding JJ, TT or AK and it is reraised or pushed back all in to you, there is the option of folding these lesser hands. You will have to use your "reading skills" to determine if you should fold or call. It's hard to fold JJ and I rarely do in that seat. I have folded TT and AK in that situation and have saved a lot of chips in so doing. The few times I would have won had I called are way fewer than the ones I would have lost had I called. If you have JJ, TT or AK you can Limp-in and see what the other players will do. You can also raise it 2.5xBB and if reraised you know there is strength there and you can fold easier. Limping in you have no information really. Do they have something or are they just stealing a fattened pot? The 2.5xbb pfr (PreFlop Raise) helps conserver chips. If they won't call a 3xbb they won't call a 2.5 and likewise, if they are gonna just call a 3x they will just call a 2.5x. It allows you to gather information at a slightly reduced cost in chips. For AA, KK or QQ, you can limp in by min betting, then if raised it gives you the opportunity to reraise and build the pot. I prefer to just bet my hand and bet out with a premium when UTG and fold everything else. The situation here is that you have a bad position. You have the entire table left to act after you before the flop. If you enter the pot with 77 or 88 and one or more call or raise it up, what are you going to do? You are left with a difficult decision. It is best to avoid difficult decisions by making simple ones early. While anything can happen post flop, it's best not to count on luck to win and use skills playing the right hands from the right position. I would play AK UTG over TT anytime. TT is weak unless you hit. Anyone playing a horrible J2 can beat it if a J hits. KQ, KJ, QJ, JT and other overcard combinations are popular starting hands among a large population of players. If the flop comes down with any one of them, you are probably going to lose the hand. You only have TWO outs to improve while any two overcards has 6 outs to improve. Outs are how many Outstanding cards are left that can help your hand. Since there are 4 suits and 1 of each card per suit, there are only 4 tens total, you have two, that leaves Two outs. Of course if no one improves, you pair of Tens will win. This is why I recommend the higher hands and betting them rather than let opponents in cheap with lesser hands that are hoping to hit. You need someone to enter and build the pot to pay you off so you don't bet high to scare them off and you don't bet low to let anyone in that wants to chase a hand. Hence, the standard 3xbb pfr. Many players will call with a weak hand and hope to hit even with this raise. And some do hit, some get lucky and some have you beat going in just to hit better. That's poker and that is what you have to learn to deal with. Pay attention to the players, their moves, their cards and their positions. This will "tell" you what they are willing to play. You have to develop your reading skills to learn what they play and know if you should be contending the pot with them with your hand. Middle to Late Positions For the most part treat these as UTG except you don't have the positional traits as UTG. Position is important as the later to act in a situation, the more information you are likely to have on your opponents. The closer you are to the button, the more you can open up your starting hands to play based the action to you. In the earlier seats it's best to stick with the top 5 hands only. To heavy betting it may indicate AA-AK or AQ. Hence, it would be prudent to fold all but the top 5 starting hands. While JJ or TT may be a better hand at the moment over say AQ or even KQ which your opponent may be betting on, it is about the best FIVE card hand. You can easily be outdrawn on the board and face a critical decision post flop for ALL your chips. Avoid tough decisions later by making easy decisions to start. If you are in late position you can call or reraise with any of the top 10 to test your opponents hand strength. Should they come back over the top with another raise your decision to fold JJ or less is very easy. For you to play anything less means the flop MUST help you. While chances are, your opponent does not need the flop to beat you. Likewise, you will probably most often HAVE to catch on the turn or river, meaning usually putting MORE chips in the middle to try. All along feeding a pot you have little opportunity of winning based on hand strength alone. But bluffs, semi-bluffs and other advanced plays are just that, advanced plays best left until you advance to that stage in your play. If you hold a JJ and your opponent holds a higher pair or has AK down to KQ, they have SIX outs to catch, you have two. Outs are how many cards left in the deck that can help your hand. He has the 3 remaining Kings & Queens, you have only the remaining 2 Jacks. Anything is possible in poker and post flop play invovles much more than just catching cards and betting on them. That will be covered in other sections of this site in various tips and strategies. A program like Poker-Edge or Tournament Indicator will help you with your "reading" abilities. this is to be continued.....
NOTE: THIS WEBSITE IS CONTINUALLY MAINTAINED, UPDATED & ADDED TO. THIS ARTICLE IS AN ONGOING WORK IN PROCESS/ THANK YOU FOR VISITING The SNGspot
| | GLOSSARY: Poker Glossary from:  ace high
(n phrase) A no pair poker hand whose highest card is an ace. Ranks lower than one pair. act
(v) Bet , call , fold, check , or raise in turn. action
1. (n) The need for a player to do something in turn. "When the action gets to you, you must fold, call, or raise." 2. Much betting and raising . "The $2/$4 game has a lot of action." 3. (adj) Describing a game with a lot of betting and raising or a player who bets and raises frequently. "I was in a real action game." "He's an action player." active
(adv) Still in contention for the pot. Usually used as part of the phrase active hand or "active player". active hand
(n phrase) The hand held by an "active player". active player
(n phrase) One who either has equaled all the bets thus far in the betting sequence, or has gone all in, that is, run out of chips with which to call. add-on
(n) 1. A last buy-in optionally permitted in a rebuy tournament, usually with no minimum chip requirement. That is, at the point of the add-on, every player still in the tournament can get another buy-in, generally receiving for the add-on a larger amount of tournament chips than any of the rebuys. The add-on usually comes after a predetermined amount of time, say one hour, and after the rebuy period. 2. The act of adding on, or the point in a tournament at which players can add on. "This is a $20 buy-in tournament, with unlimited rebuys during the first four levels, and one optional add-on at the end of the rebuy period." all-in bet
(n phrase) A bet made by a player in which he puts all his chips in the pot because he is all in. ante
(n) A payment into the pot by each player before cards are dealt for the purpose of stimulating action. Usually forms of seven-card stud have antes. At Full Tilt Poker, the ante is generally approximately one-tenth the size of the lower limit. Sometimes hold'em tournaments have antes during late stages. ante game
(n phrase) A poker game with antes instead of blinds. Forms of seven-card stud are the usual ante games. Compare with blind game.
b&m
(n) See brick-and-mortar cardroom.
bad position
(n phrase) See position.
bbl
(n) A chat term, "be back later."
bet
1. (v) Wager. "I bet." 2. (n) The action required of a person whose turn it is to bet. "Whose bet is it?" 3. A unit wager in a limit game. "It's three bets up to you" means, if you come into the pot, you have to put in three betting units.
betting interval
(n phrase) Betting round.
betting level
(n phrase) See level.
betting limit
(n phrase) See limit.
betting round
(n phrase) The period of time in a given round during which each active player has the option, in turn, of folding, betting, or raising, that is, from the first to the last bet in that round. Also called betting interval.
bicycle
(n phrase) Low straight, See "wheel"
big blind
(n phrase) 1. Prior to cards being distributed, the player to the left of the small blind puts in chips equal to the minimum bet for the game. These chips considered as a group are called the big blind. For example, in a $2/$4 limit game, the big blind would be $2. 2. The seat position of the big blind. "I bet, and the big blind raised."
big slick
(n phrase) In hold'em, A-K as one's first two cards.
big-bet game
(n phrase) A pot-limit or no-limit game.
blind
1. (n) Either of the two preliminary bets made by two players before cards are dealt for the purpose of stimulating action. The two are the big blind and the small blind. 2. The seat position of either blind. "You have to come in on the blind." 3. (v) Put a blind into a pot. "It's your turn to blind."
blind game
(n phrase) Preliminary bets made by two players before cards are dealt for the purpose of stimulating action. There are two blinds (see blind), the big blind and the small blind. Community card games are the usual blind games. Compare with ante game.
board
(n) 1. In seven-card stud, one's upcards (as opposed to downcards or hole cards). 2. In hold'em, the community cards, or sometimes just the flop.
brb
(n) A chat term, "be right back."
brick-and-mortar cardroom
(n phrase) A cardroom having a real physical location, with live players, as opposed to an online cardroom. Also called b&m.
bridge order
(n phrase) Spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. This order comes into play when determining which player must make the bring-in in Razz when two or more players have the same rank of upcard on the first round.
bridge order
(n phrase) Spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. This order comes into play when determining which player must make the bring-in in Razz when two or more players have the same rank of upcard on the first round. Term not used in hold 'em.
bring-in
(n) A forced bet made on third street in seven-card stud at a specified minimum. The player having the lowest upcard after the first three cards have been dealt, and each player has two downcards and one upcard, must either make a bring-in, or complete the bet. At Full Tilt Poker, the bring-in is usually one-fourth the lower limit. If two or more players have the same rank of upcard, who must make the bring-in is determined by suit, in reverse bridge order.
bring-in bet
(n phrase) See bring-in
button
(n) 1. The disk or other marker that indicates the dealer position in a game dealt by a house dealer. Also known as dealer button. 2. The position from which the dealer would distribute cards if the dealer were one of the players. "I opened the pot, and the button raised."
buy in
(v phrase) Purchase chips at the start of a playing session. SNG's & MTT's have a buy in dollar figure and you start with varying chip stacks depending on the game and format. In a cash game your buy in is your cash chips starting amount.
buy-in
(n phrase) 1. The amount of chips with which you start a playing session, that is, how much you buy in for. 2. The amount of chips required to get into a tournament.
call
1. (v) 1. Match a bet (rather than fold or raise). "I call." 2. (n) A calling bet. "When I bet, there was only one call."
called hand
(n phrase) 1. In a brick-and-mortar cardroom, a hand that someone bet and someone else called (or that someone called a bet with), as opposed to a hand that was bet and no one called. The term often comes up when a bet is made on the last round, called, and lost, and the bettor who lost the hand now wants to throw the cards away unshown (perhaps from embarrassment at being caught bluffing) at the showdown. Someone, often someone not involved in the hand, wants to see the losing cards, and cites the (often unwritten but nonetheless usually enforced) rule, "A called hand must be shown". (Some players, particularly those most used to private games, are under the mistaken impression that only the winner of a pot has the right to ask for a called hand to be shown.) The situation can also arise when someone bets, someone calls, and the bettor mucks his cards as acknowledgment that he was bluffing, and the caller undoubtedly had him beat. The winner of the hand often shows his cards, but not always, particularly in a fast-moving game. The hand that won the pot is still, however, a called hand, and must be shown if anyone asks. If a side pot is involved, even though a bet was made and not called (because the only remaining player was only in for the main pot), all hands must be shown at the showdown. 2. In an online cardroom, similarly, a hand that someone bet and someone else called (or that someone called a bet with), as opposed to a hand that was bet and no one called. Here, the situation is similar but more strictly interpreted. That is, any player who received a hand on that deal has a right to see a called hand. If a losing hand is not shown on the showdown, a player can request a hand history. At Full Tilt Poker, if you were dealt in on the previous hand, you can bring up the Last Hand History window to see all hands that were live at the showdown. If you were an observer or seated but not dealt in on the previous hand, when you bring up the Last Hand History window you see only those hands that were exposed at the showdown.
cap
1. (v) Cap the betting. After one player puts in the third bet, another might say, "I cap." 2. (n) The final permitted bet in any round of betting, that is, the fourth bet. "He put in the cap."
cap the betting
(v phrase) In one round, cause the betting to reach the maximum. In any one round of betting, there can be a maximum of one bet and three raises.
capped
1. (adv) Describing the situation in which someone has put in the fourth bet in a round. See cap the betting. "The betting was capped every round." 2. (adj) Describing a pot in which this has taken place. "We had a capped pot."
card
(n) 1. In a brick-and-mortar cardroom, one of 52 (or 53 if the joker is used) flat, rectangular objects, made usually of paper or plastic, with a uniform design on one side (the backs) and a representation of value (rank and suit) on the other; each card is either the joker, or one of the four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs) and 13 ranks (A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, T, J, Q, K). A complete set of cards is called a deck. 2. In an online cardroom, the virtual representation, as a graphic, of one of these objects, often shown in somewhat stylized form.
cardroom
(n) 1. An establishment, usually open to the public, in which cards, usually poker, are played. 2. The online equivalent, that is, an online cardroom. 3. The section of a casino in which poker is played. 4. A room in a club devoted to card playing. For all meanings, sometimes referred to informally as just room.
cards
(n) The playing of a card game, often poker. "I'm going to play cards tonight at Full Tilt Poker."
cards speak
(v phrase) The situation in online cardroom and brick-and-mortar cardroom that the best hand at the showdown wins, not dependent on any declaration. What this means online is that, in a high-low split game, at the showdown the software determines which hand is best for high and which for low-providing a hand qualifies for low-and awards the pot accordingly.
cashier
(n) 1. In a brick-and-mortar cardroom, the employee or facility that handles money transactions, such as cashing checks and buying and selling chips. Sometimes also called the cage. 2. In an online cardroom, the virtual equivalent. Players have accounts that they use to buy and replenish chips at the table and to which they transfer funds when leaving a table. The cashier is the interface for this virtual buying and selling of chips and also the facility through which players transfer funds to and from online repositories of virtual cash. At Full Tilt Poker, the cashier appears in the form of a dialog accessed by clicking on the CASHIER button in the lobby.
chat
1 (n) The informal language that online cardroom players type in the chat box. 2. (v) Enter comments into the chat box.
chat box
(n phrase) Part of the playing area at a table in an online cardroom, a field into which dealer text and player comments go.
chat term
(n phrase) Specialized shorthand that players use when they type comments into the chat box. These are often congratulatory or offer comments about play.
check
1. (v) Make no bet, but still hold your cards. You can check, and then call a later bet, fold when the action gets back to you, or raise. You can check in most games in any round after the first. Technically, to check is to make a bet of nothing. 2. (n) Making no bet. "There was a check from the first player, followed by a bet from the next player."
check-raise
1. (v) Check, often with a good hand, and then, when someone bets and it returns to you, raise. 2. (n) The act of so doing.
checked around
(v phrase) The situation in which no one bets in a particular round. In seven-card stud, it is possible in every round except third street for no betting to occur. In hold'em and Omaha, it is possible in every round except the first for no betting to occur. In those games, if no one opens on the first round, the big blind gets the pot, but this is not the same as being checked around because, technically, the blinds are bets.
chip
1. (n) In a brick-and-mortar cardroom, a disk-shaped marker, usually about the size of a silver dollar, used to represent various monetary betting units. Chips are the score-keeping units of poker. Also called check, counter, poker chip, token. 2. In an online cardroom, the virtual equivalent of the preceding.
chip dumping
(v phrase) Chip dumping is a collusion tactic were one player deliberately funnels chips to another player through under-handed maneuvers. (SNGspot note: This is not a common occurence at low stakes levels and still quite rare at the middle and higher stakes. If you ever have the suspicion of collusion during a game make notes of the player names, game number and why you feel it is happening then conact the support department of the site on which you are playing. This is taken very seriously and all reputable sites will thoroughly investigate any report of collusion or other cheating to maintain the integrity of their online games.)
chips
(n) The total money you have in play (represented by the chips in your possession while seated at a table).
club poker
(n) Poker played in a public cardroom (as opposed to a private game), usually with posted rules or a printed rule book.
come in on the big blind
(v phrase) See wait for the big blind.
community cards
(n) In hold'em and Omaha, the upcards dealt to the center of the table that are part of each player's hand. Also called the board.
complete
(v) See complete the bet. "Is it my turn? I'm complete."
complete the bet
(v phrase) In seven-card stud and some other limit ring games, increase the bring-in bet to the lower limit. For example, in a $2/$4 limit game, if you open for the 50-cent bring-in, another player can complete the bet to $2.
counterfeited
(adv) 1. In a high-low split game, having one of one's low cards duplicated on the board, thus considerably weakening one's hand, because it is now much easier for another player to tie or beat the hand. For example, in Omaha, you hold A-2-7-9, and the board is 3-4-8. At this point you have the nut low (8-4-3-2-A). The turn produces a 2. You now hold a 7 low (7-4-3-2-A), but you have potentially been counterfeited because someone holding A-5-X-X has a wheel. 2. In high (either straight high or the high half of high-low), having a probable winner turned into a probable loser by the appearance of another card on the board. For example, you have two low spades in hold'em, and three medium spades appear on the flop. Your hand is very likely the best. If another spade appears on the turn or river, anyone holding one spade higher than your two will beat you. Or, you hold 4s 5s, and the flop is 6s 7d 8c. You have a good hand at this point, because, while possible, it is not likely that another player holds 9-10. If a 5 or 10 falls, anyone with a 9 beats you. If a 9, anyone with a 10 beats you. In all of these cases, you have been counterfeited.
cya
(n) A chat term, "see ya."
deal
1. (v) Distribute the cards to the players. 2. (n) Pot, definition 2. "I lost with pocket aces on the last deal."
deal position
(n phrase) The position at the table from which the cards would be dealt if there were no house dealer.
dealer
(n) 1. In a brick-and-mortar cardroom or a home game without a house person to run the game and deal the cards, the dealer is the person who physically distributes the cards. 2. In a game with a house person to run the game, the dealer is both the house person and the position from which the cards would be dealt if there were no house dealer. Although this sounds confusing, you can tell by context which is meant. To further avoid confusion, the term button (definition 2) is usually used for the deal position. 3. In an online cardroom, the software distributes the cards, so button is the preferred term. You will, however, sometimes hear the term dealer used somewhat anthropomorphically to refer to the software in its role as distributor of cards.
dealer button
(n phrase) See button.
dealt in
(n phrase) Having received cards from the dealer. "When you first sit down at a seven-card stud table, you get dealt in immediately."
deck
1. (n) The 52 cards (53 if the joker is used) from which poker (and other card games) is played, consisting of four suits (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades), each with 13 ranks (A or ace, 2 or deuce, 3 or trey, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, T or 10, J or jack, Q or queen, K or king). See card. 2. The undealt portion of the cards. After players receive their hole cards in hold'em, for example, the cards that remain in the dealer's control are still referred to as the deck. "I had pocket aces and I was pretty sure John had an ace, but one more was still in the deck."
declaration
(n) A home game variant in which players indicate at the showdown, in a high-low split game, whether they're going high or low-or both ways.
double limit
(n phrase) Structured limit game with bets at one limit in early rounds, and bets at twice that limit in subsequent rounds. For example, in a $2/$4 hold'em game, all bets in the first two rounds are $2, and multiples of $2 when players raise; all bets in the last two rounds are $4, and multiples of $4 when players raise. The term double limit is often restricted to draw games, while structured limit is used for stud and hold'em-type games.
downcard
(n) A card dealt face down. See hole card.
draw
1. (n) A particular hand you are trying to make, as, a flush draw, which is four cards to a flush. This usage is common in stud and hold'em-type games. 2. Specifically an unmade hand. "I raised him because I knew he was on a draw." That is, I knew that at the moment, his hand did not beat mine, but that he was trying to make a straight or flush (which, presumably, would win if he did make it). 3. High draw poker. 4. The receiving of draw cards in draw poker. 5. (v) In draw poker, replace cards.
draw poker
(n phrase) 1. A form of poker in which players are dealt five cards face down, bet or fold based on those cards, those remaining (the active players) replace one or more cards (draw) or elect not to replace any (stand pat), and then participate in a second round of betting, after which the best of the remaining active hands wins all the money in the pot (or, in the case of a split-pot game, two hands each win half), which money is usually in the form of chips; the forms of draw poker in cardrooms are high draw poker, lowball, triple-draw lowball, high-low split, and, rarely, deuces wild. Triple-draw lowball is also found at some online cardrooms. In home or private games, many other variations exist. Also called five-card draw. 2. High draw poker, often called just draw.
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E-Dog
(n) Online nickname of Erick Lindgren.
early position
(n phrase) In a poker game, the first few positions to the left of the dealer, or to the left of the obligatory blinds. Compare with late position. Some claim early position, in a game with eight or more players, is the first three positions.
early rounds
(n phrase) The first two betting rounds in a limit game.
eight-or-better / 8-or-better
(n phrase) 1. The requirement in high-low split games that the low half of the pot be awarded only to a hand that is 8-high or lower. This is known as a qualifier. 2. A game having this requirement.
fifth street
(n phrase)1. In seven-card stud, the third round of betting, commencing at the point at which each player has received the third upcard. 2. In hold'em, the fifth community card.
fiftytwo card deck (52-card deck)
(n phrase) See deck.
five-card draw
(n phrase) See draw poker.
fixed limit
(n phrase) See limit game.
fixed-limit game
(n phrase) See limit game.
flop
1. (n) In hold'em-style games, the three community cards turned face up after the first round of betting. 2. (v) To have those community cards affect a particular player. For example, if you start with a pair in the hole, and the flop includes one of your card, you are said to have flopped a set.
flop game
(n phrase) A hold'em-style game, that is, hold'em, Omaha, or Omaha high-low.
flush
1. (n) Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence. The hand ranks above a straight and below a full house. A flush is often specified by its top one or two cards. For example, As Ks 9s 4s 2s is called an ace-king flush. Five cards of the same suit in sequence constitutes a hand known as a straight flush.
flush draw
(n phrase) See draw.
fold
1. (v) Withdraw from further participation in the current pot. 2. (n) The act of folding.
forced bet
(n phrase) A mandatory bet on the first round of play in a stud game. See bring-in.
four of a kind
(n phrase) A poker hand, four of the same rank, as four aces or four deuces. Beats a full house and loses to a straight flush. Also called quads.
four-color cards
(n phrase) See four-color deck.
four-color deck
(n phrase) A deck in which each suit is given a different color, as opposed to the traditional decks in which hearts and diamonds are red and spades and clubs black. In the four-color deck used at Full Tilt Poker, spades are black, hearts are red, diamonds are blue, and clubs are green.
fourth street
(n phrase) 1. In seven-card stud, the second round of betting, commencing at the point at which each player has received the second upcard. 2. In hold'em, the fourth community card.
freeze-out tournament
(n phrase) A tournament with no rebuys, that is, one in which players can buy in only once.
FTP
(n phrase) Full Tilt Poker.
full house
(n phrase) A poker hand, consisting of three of one rank plus two of another. Beats a flush and loses to four of a kind. Often identified by the three of a kind. For example, three kings and two threes is a full house, often known as kings full, and sometimes more specifically as kings full of threes.
full stack
(n phrase) A stack containing 20 chips.
full tilt boogie
(n phrase) Janis Joplin's backup band on "Me And Bobby McGee."
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