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Glossary

Every poker term used in the guides and the app, in plain words.

3-bet

The first re-raise before the flop: one player opens, and another raises again. It is called a 3-bet because the big blind counts as the first bet and the open as the second.

4-bet

A raise over a 3-bet before the flop. At low stakes a 4-bet usually means a very strong hand.

5-bet

A raise over a 4-bet before the flop. At these stack sizes it is usually all-in.

Ace high

A hand with no pair or better whose highest card is an ace. A board can be ace-high too, when an ace is its highest card.

Aggressive

Betting and raising a lot rather than checking and calling. Aggressive players put pressure on you; the opposite is passive.

Aggressor

The player who made the last bet or raise, usually the one who raised before the flop. The other player is the caller.

Air

A hand with nothing: no pair and no real draw. In the app, Air is one of the five buckets, and it includes hands with only a gutshot.

All-in

Betting every chip you have left. A player who is all-in can't be made to fold, and the hand plays to the end.

Ante

A small forced bet every player puts in before the cards are dealt, on top of the blinds. Antes make the pot bigger from the start.

Backdoor draw

A draw that needs two more cards, both the turn and the river. A backdoor flush draw is three of a suit on the flop counting your cards. It rarely gets there, but it gives a weak hand a reason to keep going.

Balanced play

Mixing bluffs and value bets in proportions that make you hard to exploit. It protects you against strong players but doesn't win the most from weak ones.

Barrel

To keep betting on the next street after betting the last one, for example a c-bet on the flop followed by a bet on the turn.

Bet size

How big a bet is, usually said as a part of the pot: a half-pot bet adds half of what is in the middle, a pot-sized bet as much as the pot.

Big blind (BB)

The larger forced bet before the cards are dealt, and the seat that posts it, last to act before the flop. Bets and stacks are often measured in big blinds: "10bb" means ten big blinds.

Big pairs

The strongest pocket pairs. In the app's hand groups they are queens or better: QQ, KK and AA.

Blank

A turn or river card that changes almost nothing: no new flush, straight, pair on the board or overcard. After a blank, ranges stay close to what they were.

Blinds

The two forced bets posted before the cards are dealt, the small blind and the big blind, and the two seats that post them. They give everyone something to play for.

Blocker

A card you can see, in your hand or on the board, that makes some of their hands impossible. If you hold an ace, they have fewer combos of hands with an ace.

Bluff

A bet or raise with a weak hand, hoping they fold a better one. Bluffs work against players who fold too much and fail against those who don't.

Bluff-raise

A raise made as a bluff, usually with a draw or with nothing, to make them fold.

Board

The shared cards in the middle of the table that both players use: three on the flop, a fourth on the turn and a fifth on the river.

Board texture

How the board's cards fit together: their suits, whether they are paired or connected, and how high they are. Texture decides which hands the board helps.

Bottom pair

A pair made with the lowest card on the board. On K-8-3, a hand with a 3 has bottom pair.

Break even

Neither win nor lose money over time. A call breaks even when you win exactly as often as the pot odds require.

Broadways

Broadway cards are the tens, jacks, queens, kings and aces. In the app's hand groups, broadways are two of those cards without an ace, like KQ, QT or JT.

Button (BTN)

The dealer seat, marked with a D. It acts last after the flop, which makes it the best seat, so players open the most hands from it.

Buy-in

The chips a player brings to the table. Buying in short means starting with a small stack, like 40 big blinds instead of 100.

C-bet

Short for continuation bet: a bet on the flop by the player who raised before the flop, whether or not the flop helped them.

Call

To match the bet in front of you and stay in the hand, without raising.

Call down

To keep calling bets on every street to the river instead of folding. Calling down light means doing it with a fairly weak hand.

Caller

The player who called the last bet or raise rather than making it, usually the one who called before the flop. The other player is the raiser, or aggressor.

Calling range

Every hand a player calls with in a spot. It usually has few of their strongest hands, because those would have raised.

Calling Station

A player who calls too much and rarely raises or folds. You beat them by betting your good hands, not by bluffing.

Capped range

A range missing its strongest hands. When a player only calls, the hands they would have raised are gone, so their range has a ceiling.

Chart

A preflop chart: a 13×13 grid of every starting hand showing which ones to raise, call or fold in a spot. The app grades your preflop play against one.

Check

To pass the action without betting when nobody has bet yet. You stay in the hand for free.

Check-raise

To check, then raise when they bet. It usually shows a strong hand, or a draw played aggressively.

Combo

One exact two-card hand. A pair like 99 has 6 combos, a suited hand like AKs has 4, and an offsuit hand like AKo has 12.

Combo draw

A flush draw and a straight draw at once. It has so many ways to improve that it is often as strong as a made pair.

Complete

When the small blind just calls the big blind's amount, adding the rest of a big blind instead of raising or folding.

Connected

How close together the board's ranks are, which decides how many straights and straight draws are possible. Connected boards like 9-8-6 allow many; disconnected ones like K-8-3 allow few.

Connectors

Two cards next to each other in rank, like 87 or T9. Suited connectors are also the same suit, so they make straights and flushes.

Cutoff (CO)

The seat just before the button. It acts late, so players open many hands from it.

Defend

To call or 3-bet from the blinds against a raise instead of folding.

Double up

To win a pot that doubles your stack, usually by going all-in and winning.

Draw

A hand that isn't strong yet but can become strong with the right card, like four cards to a flush. Draws is one of the app's five buckets.

Dry

A board with few draws: no flush draws and nothing connected, like K-8-3 of three suits. Ranges change slowly on dry boards.

Early and late seats

Early seats act first before the flop, so players open fewer hands there. Late seats, the cutoff and the button, act last and open many more.

Equity

How often your hand wins against their range, counting a tie as half. With 40% equity you win the pot about 4 times in 10.

EV (expected value)

The amount a choice wins or loses on average if you made it many times. A call with positive EV makes money in the long run even when it loses this time.

Exploitative play

Spotting an opponent's habits and changing your play to win the most from them, for example bluffing a player who folds too much.

First in

The first player to put money in voluntarily before the flop, with everyone before them folded.

Float

To call a bet with a weak hand, planning to take the pot later with a bet when they check.

Flop

The first three shared cards, dealt face up together after the first round of betting. It is also the name of the betting round that follows.

Flush

Five cards of the same suit. It beats a straight and loses to a full house.

Flush draw

Four cards of one suit, needing one more to make a flush. A bare flush draw has no pair to go with it.

Fold

To give up your hand and any chips already in the pot rather than call a bet.

Four to a flush

Four cards of one suit on the board. Anyone holding a single card of that suit has a flush.

Four-color deck

A deck with a different color for each suit, so flushes and flush draws are easier to spot.

Free card

A turn or river card seen without paying, because everyone checked. Checking a strong hand gives draws a free card to beat you.

Full house

Three cards of one rank plus two of another, like 9-9-9-6-6. It beats a flush and loses to four of a kind.

Gutshot

A straight draw that needs one exact rank in the middle, like 9-8-6-5 needing a 7. Only four cards complete it.

Hijack (HJ)

The seat two before the button, between the early seats and the cutoff.

Jam

To bet or raise all-in. Shoving over a raise means going all-in on top of it.

Junk

Weak starting hands that rarely make anything good, like K4 offsuit or 93 offsuit.

Kicker

Your other card when two players have the same pair. With A-K on a king-high board, the ace is your kicker; a good kicker wins ties that a weak one loses.

LAG

Loose-aggressive: a player who plays lots of hands and bets and raises often. Their ranges stay wide, so their bets are often weaker than they look.

Lead

To bet first into the player who raised before the flop instead of checking to them.

Leak

A mistake you keep making that costs you money over time. In the app, a leak is a spot where your reads are well below your average.

Limp

To just call the big blind before the flop instead of raising. A limped pot is one where nobody raised before the flop.

Limp-reraise

To limp, then raise again after someone raises the limp. At low stakes it usually means a very strong hand.

Loose

Playing many hands. A loose range is wide; on your preflop grades, too loose means you played a hand your chart folds.

Made hand

A hand that already has a pair or better, as opposed to a draw that still needs help.

Maniac

A player who plays almost any two cards and bets and raises all the time. Their bets mean little; let them bet into your good hands.

Medium pairs

Before the flop, the app's medium pairs are pocket pairs from sevens to jacks. After the flop, the Medium pairs bucket holds top pair with a weak kicker, second pair and third pair.

Middle pair

A pair made with a board card that is neither the highest nor the lowest. On J-8-4, a hand with an 8 has middle pair.

Min-raise

The smallest raise allowed: double the bet you face. Before the flop that is 2 big blinds.

Missed draw

A draw that didn't come in by the river, leaving a hand with nothing. Missed draws are what most river bluffs are made of.

Monotone

A flop with all three cards of one suit. Flushes are already possible, and any one card of that suit gives a flush draw.

Monster

A very strong hand, like a set or better.

Nit

A very tight player who plays few hands and only puts money in with a strong one. When a nit bets or raises, believe them.

Nut flush draw

A flush draw that would make the best possible flush, usually because you hold the ace of that suit.

Nuts

The best possible hand on this board. "Nut" before a hand, as in nut flush, means the best of that kind.

Offsuit

Two cards of different suits, written with an o, like AKo. Each offsuit hand has 12 combos.

One-gappers

Two cards with one rank missing between them, like 97 or J9. In the app's hand groups they are suited.

Open

To make the first raise before the flop when everyone before you has folded. An open from the button is called a button open.

Open-ender

A straight draw with four cards in a row, like 9-8-7-6, that any card at either end completes. Eight cards make the straight, twice as many as a gutshot.

Opening range

Every hand a player opens with from a given seat. It is usually tight from early seats and wider from late ones.

Over-bet

A bet bigger than the pot. Players over-bet with very strong hands or as a big bluff.

Overcard

A card higher than every card on the board. An overcard on the turn can beat pairs that were best on the flop; holding two overcards means your cards are both higher than the board.

Overlimp

To limp after someone else has already limped.

Overpair

A pocket pair higher than every card on the board, like QQ on J-7-2.

Pair

Two cards of the same rank, like two nines. It beats a hand with no pair and loses to two pair.

Paired board

A board with two cards of the same rank, like T-T-4. Double-paired means two ranks appear twice each.

Passive

Checking and calling more than betting and raising. Passive players rarely bluff, so their bets usually mean a real hand.

Pay off

To call a bet when you're probably beaten, giving them their value.

Peel

To call one bet to see the next card, without planning to call much more.

PFR

Preflop raise: how often a player raises before the flop. Together with VPIP it tells you how tight and how aggressive a player is.

Player type

A common style of play, like the nit, the calling station or the maniac. Knowing a player's type tells you where their range starts.

Pocket pair

Two cards of the same rank in your hand, like 77, before any board cards pair them.

Position

Your place in the order of play. In position means you act after them on each street after the flop, which is an advantage; out of position means you act first.

Post

To put a forced bet, a blind or an ante, into the pot before the cards are dealt.

Postflop

Everything that happens from the flop onward: the flop, turn and river.

Pot

All the chips bet so far in a hand, which the winner takes. Bet sizes are often described as parts of the pot, like half pot.

Pot control

Checking or calling with a medium hand instead of betting or raising, to keep the pot small. It is how players avoid putting a lot of money in with one pair.

Pot odds

The price a bet offers you: what you have to call compared with the pot you could win. It tells you how often you need to win for a call to break even.

Pot type

What happened before the flop: a limped pot (nobody raised), a single-raised pot (one raise and a call), or a 3-bet pot.

Preflop

The first round of betting, after each player gets two cards and before any board cards are dealt.

Premium hand

One of the very best starting hands, like AA, KK, QQ or AK.

Quads

Four cards of the same rank, like four sevens. Only a straight flush beats it.

Rainbow

A flop with three different suits, so there are no flush draws yet.

Raise

To bet more than the bet in front of you, so they must put in more to stay in the hand.

Raiser

The player who made the last raise, usually the one who raised before the flop. After the flop they are often the aggressor.

Range

Every hand a player could be holding, given what they have done so far. Each action narrows it to the hands that would play that way.

Re-raise

To raise again after someone has raised.

Reg

Short for regular: someone who plays often and usually wins. A TAG reg is a solid, careful one; a LAG reg plays more hands and more aggressively.

Required equity

How often you need to win for a call to break even: what you have to call divided by the total pot after you call. Against a pot-sized bet you need 33%.

River

The fifth and last shared card, and the final round of betting. After the river there are no more cards to come.

Scare card

A turn or river card that could have made a strong hand: an overcard, a third card of one suit, a card that completes a straight, or one that pairs the board.

Second pair

A pair made with the second-highest card on the board. On K-9-4, a hand with a 9 has second pair.

Semi-bluff

A bet or raise with a draw. It can win right away if they fold, and still win later if the draw comes in.

Set

Three of a kind made with a pocket pair and one matching board card, like 88 on an 8-high flop. It is very strong and hard to see coming.

Short stacker

A player who buys in with a small stack, like 40 big blinds, and looks to get all-in with good hands.

Shot clock

A time limit for each decision. In the app, when it runs out your current read or action is submitted.

Showdown

The end of a hand when the remaining players turn over their cards to see who wins.

Single-raised pot

A pot where one player raised before the flop and the other called, with no 3-bet.

Slow-play

Checking or just calling with a strong hand to hide its strength. Against a player who won't bet for you, it wins less.

Small blind (SB)

The smaller forced bet, usually half the big blind, and the seat that posts it, just before the big blind. It acts first after the flop.

Small pairs

The lowest pocket pairs. In the app's hand groups they are sixes down to twos.

Solver

A computer program that works out a balanced strategy for a poker spot.

Split pot

When two players have hands of exactly the same strength at showdown, they share the pot.

Spot

A situation in a hand: who acted, from which seats, and what you face. A close spot is one where both choices are about as good.

Stab

A bet made when the other player checks, trying to win a pot nobody seems to want.

Stack

The chips a player has in front of them. Stack depth is how many big blinds the stacks hold, which limits how much can be won in one hand.

Stakes

The size of the blinds, which sets how much money is in play. Low stakes are small games where most players have clear, steady habits.

Starting hand

The two cards you are dealt. There are 169 different starting hands, shown on the 13×13 grid.

Steal

To raise from a late seat with a wide range, mostly to win the blinds when everyone folds.

Straight

Five cards in a row, like 9-8-7-6-5, of any suits. It beats three of a kind and loses to a flush.

Straight draw

Four cards toward a straight, needing one more. An open-ender can complete at either end; a gutshot needs one exact rank.

Straight flush

Five cards in a row, all of one suit: the best hand in poker. A royal flush is the ace-high straight flush.

Street

One round of betting: preflop, flop, turn or river.

Suited

Two cards of the same suit, written with an s, like AKs. Suited hands can make flushes; each has 4 combos.

TAG

Tight-aggressive: a solid player who plays a sensible range of hands and bets and raises with them. The app's standard preflop chart is a TAG's.

Third pair

A pair made with the third-highest card on the board. On K-9-4, a hand with a 4 has third pair.

Tight

Playing few hands. A tight range is narrow; a read that is too tight leaves out hands they really have, and preflop, too tight means you folded a hand your chart plays.

Top pair

A pair made with the highest card on the board. On K-9-4, a hand with a king has top pair; its strength depends on the kicker.

Trips

Three of a kind made with one card in your hand and a pair on the board, like a 9 on 9-9-4. Three of a kind from a pocket pair is called a set.

Turn

The fourth shared card, dealt after the flop betting, and the round of betting that follows it.

Two pair

Two different pairs, like kings and nines. It beats one pair and loses to three of a kind.

Two-tone

A board with exactly two cards of one suit, so flush draws are possible.

Under the gun (UTG)

The first seat to act before the flop, right after the big blind. Players open the fewest hands from it.

Value

A hand strong enough to bet and expect worse hands to call. In the app, Value is the bucket for top pair with a good kicker, overpairs and anything better.

Value bet

A bet made hoping to be called by worse hands. Betting thinner means value betting with a hand that is only a little ahead.

Variance

The luck in short-run results: the gap between what should happen on average and what happens over a few hands.

Villain

Poker talk for your opponent in a hand. In the app, the villain is the player whose range you read.

VPIP

Voluntarily put money in pot: how often a player calls, limps or raises before the flop. A high VPIP means they play many hands.

Weak pairs

Pairs unlikely to be best. In the app, the Weak pairs bucket holds bottom pair and pocket pairs below every board card.

Wet

A board with many draws, with flush draws possible and connected cards, like J-T-8 with two hearts. Medium wet sits between wet and dry.

Wheel aces

Suited aces with a small card, A5s down to A2s. The wheel is the lowest straight, A-2-3-4-5, which these hands can make.