Poker glossary

Short definitions of the terms used in tournament poker and in our guides.

Ante

A small forced bet from every player before the hand. In our charts it is 12.5% of a big blind per player.

Bluff

A bet or raise with a hand that is unlikely to win at showdown, made to make better hands fold.

Blockers

Cards in your hand that make it less likely that an opponent holds a certain hand, for example the ace of spades blocks nut flushes.

Board

The community cards in the middle of the table.

Bubble

The stage of a tournament just before the payouts start, when one more elimination puts everyone left in the money.

Bubble factor

How much more you lose in prize equity when you lose chips than you gain when you win the same chips. See the guide.

BB (big blind)

The larger forced bet posted by the player two seats left of the button. It is also the unit stacks are measured in.

BTN (button)

The last player to act after the flop, and the most profitable seat.

Call

To match the current bet.

Chip EV

Expected value measured in chips, with no adjustment for prize money. ICM adjusts for payouts.

CO (cutoff)

The seat right before the button.

Combos

The number of specific card combinations a hand can make: 6 for a pocket pair, 4 for a suited hand and 12 for an offsuit hand.

Continuation bet

A bet on the flop by the player who raised before the flop.

Dead money

Chips in the pot that are not backed by a live player, such as antes and blinds of players who folded.

Defend

To call or raise instead of folding, usually from the big blind against an open.

EV (expected value)

The average result of a decision if it were repeated many times.

Effective stack

The smaller of your stack and the stack of the opponent you are playing against.

Equilibrium

A set of strategies where no player can improve his result by changing only his own strategy. Solvers compute approximations of it.

Equity

The share of the pot you win on average, counting all the cards still to come.

Final table

The last table of a tournament, usually with 8 or 9 players left.

Fold equity

The extra value a bet or raise gets from the chance that opponents fold.

HJ (hijack)

The seat two to the right of the button.

ICM

Independent Chip Model: a way to convert chip stacks into the prize money they are worth. See What is ICM.

Implied odds

The extra money you expect to win on later streets when you hit your hand.

ITM (in the money)

Still in the tournament after the payouts have started.

Jam

Slang for moving all-in.

Limp

To call the big blind instead of raising when you are first to enter the pot.

LJ (lojack)

The seat in 8-max after UTG+1, two to the right of the hijack.

M-ratio

Your stack divided by the cost of one round of blinds and antes. It tells how many rounds you can survive.

Min-raise

The smallest legal raise, which is a raise to twice the big blind when opening.

MTT

Multi-table tournament.

Offsuit

Two cards of different suits, written with an o, for example AKo.

Open

To be the first player to put chips in the pot voluntarily, usually with a raise.

Outs

Unseen cards that improve your hand to a likely winner. See the outs table.

Payout jump

The difference in prize between two neighbouring finishing places.

Pocket pair

Two cards of the same rank, for example 77.

Pot odds

The ratio between the size of the pot and the price of a call. See the cheat sheet.

Push/fold

A short-stack strategy with only two options: go all-in or fold. See the guide.

Range

The set of hands a player can have in a given situation, with the frequency of each.

Required equity

The minimum equity you need for a call to break even.

SB (small blind)

The smaller forced bet, posted by the player to the left of the button.

Satellite

A tournament where the prizes are seats into a bigger tournament, so all winners get the same.

Shove

To move all-in.

SPR (stack-to-pot ratio)

The effective stack divided by the pot on the flop. A low SPR means you are close to committed.

Squeeze

A 3-bet against an opener and one or more callers.

Suited

Two cards of the same suit, written with an s, for example KQs.

3-bet

The third bet in a hand: the big blind is the first, the open is the second, and the re-raise is the third.

UTG (under the gun)

The first player to act before the flop.

Winner-takes-all

A payout where first place gets the whole prize pool, which makes chips and equity proportional.