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A
,
for example, is the ace of diamonds.
To give action is to put chips into the pot when someone else should be expected to win the hand. To receive action is to have someone else put money into the pot when you expect to win the hand. In Poker it's better to receive than to give.
Action also means someone's turn to act.
This table is way too tight, let's go to the casino where there's a lot of action.
I was in a great position in the Tournament, So I decided it was worth paying for the add-on.
Typical advertising plays in hold'em might be to show down top pair with a weak kicker (e.g., K3), middle pair, or a gutshot draw that missed. These hands have marginal intrinsic value, but playing them early in a session might pay off later. Of course, it's best to advertise if you actually want to be called down more often, e.g.; at an especially tight table. At a table full of calling stations, it might be unnecessary or even harmful to Advertise.
Advertising can mean anything you do at the poker table to manipulate how other poker players assess you and your play.
Why did you go all-in with your Quads? You could've gotten two or three more bets out of those players.
Dealer Speaks - Sir, you forgot your ante.
B
Everyone at the table couldn't believe he stayed around for that back door straight with no other outs.
Here's an example. Say you're playing hold'em, you hold AdAs, the flop comes Ac7d7h, and someone holding 9h8h, suited with one of the sevens, the player catches two perfect cards for a straight flush, you have suffered a very painful bad beat. The guy holding 77 is in a similar position, only more so.
The phrase "bad beat" is heard often in the phrase "bad beat stories," because many poker players, especially (but not exclusively) occasional or inexperienced players, love to tell stories about how rotten their luck was on any given day. Some people don't mind listening, or even enjoy hearing these "bad beat" stories.
Another phrase you'll hear is "bad beat jackpot." Some online sites and casino's have jackpots for particular types of bad beats.
After that bad beat I laid on him, he went on tilt for about five hours.
Some players also limit their risk on a per-session basis, in effect playing with a session bankroll. Whether a bankroll is for poker in general, for poker this week, or for poker today, depends on how you manage your money.
To bankroll someone is to provide some or all of the money they use to gamble. In effect, you assume part of the risk in return for a percantage of the profit.
Even though I was probably behind, I decided to raise because I had a lot of outs.
Who bet? meaning - (who opened)
I had big slick five times last night, and would you believe I didn't win one pot with it.
I was pretty sure he was on a draw, so I didn't mind betting into him when the river was a blank.
"Big blind" and "small blind" are also used to refer to the players who posted these bets.
I didn't get a playable hand for over two hours, but I lost $125 in blinds.
I figured bottom pair was good enough since we were heads up.
I busted in the second round, when my rockets lost to j9 off suit.
(For some reason, in Maryland the dealer button sits to the left of where it should be, so when you're on the button you post the first blind and act first in subsequent rounds. As far as I know Maryland is the only blatant exception.)
Normally I wouldn't have called with that hand, except that I was on the button.
To buy the button in flop games is to raise before the flop in order to induce the players with better position than yourself to fold. If everyone closer to the button folds, you've bought the button. Obviously this works better the closer to the button you start out.
I wanted to play in the bigger game, but the buy-in was too high.
C
Most of the players at the table were tough, but it was worth playing there because of the two calling stations.
After I made the loose call in early position, much to my dismay the pot was raised, reraised, and capped.
Poker chips are also sometimes called checks. This is mostly European "British" usage.
I checked with the intention of folding on the turn and the river, but no one bet.
While check-raising is legal virtually everywhere serious poker is played, there are apparently a few public cardrooms which prohibit it at the lowest limits. Home poker games, which may be more or less serious, vary more widely.
I noticed he liked to position bet a lot, so whenever I had a good hand I check-raised him.
Wanna chop?
When he made the Cold Call, I knew he had at least trips.
I've had rockets cracked 6 out of the last ten times.
D
A dead hand is a hand that is no longer eligible to win the pot (i.e.; one that has been mucked or otherwise invalidated).
Dead money is money that was put in a pot by a player who has since folded.
To be dealt in is to be given cards during a hand. To be dealt out or dealt around is not to be given cards.
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Draw games are games where at some point during the hand you are allowed to discard some or all of your cards, to be replaced from the deck. Drawing two is thus exchanging two of your cards. "The draw" is the point during the game at which players may do this. By default, when someone asks you if you want to play some draw, they usually mean five card draw.
In other poker games, drawing simply means staying in the game with the hope of improving your hand when more cards come (as opposed to with the intention of seeing if your hand is best). A draw means a way to improve. For example, if you have four suited cards, you have a flush draw. When you stay in a hand with the hope of improving, you are said to be "on a draw." You are also said to be "drawing to" the hand you hope to make. For example, in lowball, if you hold K7642 and draw one, you are drawing to a (ragged) 7 (i.e., a 7 low).
See also open-ended straight draw, inside straight draw, draw out, draw dead, and drawing hand.
I had to stay in the hand, I had a great draw.
When I called his all-in bet, I didn't realize he had made trips, but I was lucky enough to draw out on him with my backdoor flush.
To lose a particular amount of money. At poker, that is, you don't have to literally drop it on the carpet.
The drop is also what the house takes from a hand (see also rake).
I bet again on the turn and three more players dropped.
E
Just about anything with a numerical outcome has an associated expectation. A positive expectation situation is one in which you will, in the long run, expect to make money. A positive expectation bet is a bet that would, if you made it a sufficient number of times in nearly identical circumstances (from your perspective), earn you a profit. Such a bet is said to have positive expectation.
Note that a player's overall expectation is not a rigid constant. You may be a positive expectation player overall, but perhaps not at certain tables, or when you're in a particular mood or other emotional state.
Expectation is closely linked (essentially identical) to "expected value," or EV, a mathematical concept best illustrated by the following example. If you have a 50% chance of winning (and a 50% chance of losing) a $100 pot, your expectation is $50, even though you will definitely not win exactly $50. This example also illustrates variance.
Positive expectation is sometimes abbreviated as +EV, and negative expecation as -EV.
I left the game when I realized that it wasn't just back luck, I was a negative expectation player at the table.
F
I knew he was on the flush draw, so I figured I was still a favorite.
I love playing at that fish pond.
When he flat called me on the flop and on the turn, I put him on the flush draw.
Floor, get some live ones in these empty seats!
To flop a hand is to make that hand on the flop. To "see" the flop is to still be in the hand when the flop comes.
I missed my pre-flop raise, and lost the hand when the big blind made a gutshot on the river.
With top pair and a fourflush, I thought my raise was a good idea.
Freeroll tournaments are poker tournaments with no apparent entry fee or initial buy-in. Such tournaments are typically promotional events at online and Casino cardrooms, They host Freerolls in order to attract more players. Sometimes players must clock a certain number of hours in the cardroom in order to qualify, or they must meet some other requirements. For the best Poker Player Freerolls online go to PokerPlayerFreerolls.com
Binions Horseshoe Casino held no-limit texas hold'em freezeouts to show who was the best player.
I figured even if my trip sevens were no good, there was a decent chance I'd fill up.
G
H
A hand also refers to the cards you hold - in games where you have more than five cards (e.g., seven card stud or Texas hold'em), it's your best five cards.
For your enjoyment, here are the different types of hands you can make in poker, in increasing order of strength: no pair; pair; two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush.
Lastly, sometimes the phrase "a hand" means specifically a good hand or a playable hand.
I've played (been dealt) two thousand hands in a row without making a flush.
We decided to play a heads-up freezeout to settle the argument.
Note that if there is a sole winner of one pot and a tie for the other, the sole winner wins half the pot while the other half is split evenly among the tied hands.
The reason I bet with overcards was because I didn't see how anyone who called my raise could've hit that flop.
I
I raised to isolate him, but ended up getting three callers.
J
Feelings about jackpot poker are divided. Some players get upset about all the bad beats they take at the hands of wild players chasing every remote chance at the jackpot, and resent the extra money taken out of every pot. On the other hand, jackpot poker is certainly popular, and it's hard to argue with anything that fills seats.
Poker jackpots are occasionally outlawed or reinstated in various locations. Check your local listings.
Yay, I hit the jackpot.
K
As examples, here are the rules for three kill games I've played in (all in San Diego). In the kill hold'em game, any player who wins two pots in a row is required to kill by posting a blind small bet on the subsequent hand, with the limits doubled for that hand. In a kill high-low split game, any player who scooped a pot larger than a certain size was required to kill the subsequent pot. And in a draw game, any player could kill any pot for an arbitrary amount after looking at their first two cards. These are just examples, the details vary from cardroom to cardroom.
L
Games are often referred to as low-limit, medium-limit, and high-limit. Typical low-limit games are $2-$4, $3-$6, and $5-$10. Medium limits are $10-$20, $20-$40, and $30-$60. High-limits are $50-$100 on up.
More generally, the word limit is used to refer to the maximum bet at a given point, whether it's pot-limit, spread limit, or whatever. See also structure.
I didn't want to give him a chance to draw out on me, so I bet the limit.
Three players limped in ahead of me, so I decided just to call.
For other uses of the word "live" see live blind, live card, and live hand.
A loose call is a borderline inadvisable or even incorrect call.
He was playing so loose, it seemed like he was in every pot.
M
Unfortunately, since I was all-in pre-flop, the main pot was very small.
I didn't make a hand for two hours, but then I went on a major rush.
With all the maniacs at the table, I decided to just wait for the nuts and let the money come to me.
I'll often raise with middle pair and an overcard.
It's often a bad idea to slowplay unless you make a monster.
The house rule is that as soon as the cards touch the muck, they are ineligible to win the pot.
N
O
I'll play KT off suit occasionally, but never in early position.
When everyone checked to me, I figured it was okay to open with middle pair.
I had an open-ended straight draw. Really.
With all that money in the pot and fifteen outs, it seemed like a good idea to call the raise. Except that I was drawing dead on both the flush and the straight.
P
Let's see some paint.
The other day I made pat straights twice in a row.
I was pretty sure he had the flush, but with all that money in the pot I figured it was worth paying him off to be sure.
To make a play, or put a play on (someone), means to present a pattern of behavior inconsistent with your cards, that will mislead your opponent and cause them to make a mistake. Often this means bluffing them out of a pot, but it can also mean getting them to call when you have a strong hand, or more generally anything calculated to guide their behavior.
"There is absolutely no question that Poker Stars players dominated the 2004 World Series of Poker," commented Lee Jones, Poker Stars Poker Room Manager. "Each year we have provided qualifying tournaments, one of our players has become the World Champion of Poker. This year the runner-up, David Williams, was also a Poker Stars qualifier."
Dan Goldman, VP of Marketing for Poker Stars, feels the numbers tell the story: While Poker Stars qualifiers represented only 12% of the players in the World Series of Poker, they collectively took home over 40% of the total prize money awarded. We had 28 players finish in the money for a total of almost $11 million in prize money. Four of the top nine finishers in the event qualified on our site Poker Stars."
Poker Stars is an official member of the WPT, World Poker Tour, Poker Stars has earned a reputation as an innovator in online poker. Poker Stars was the first site to offer player notes, instant game statistics and double and triple shootout tournaments. To date, Poker Stars has run over 1.5 million poker tournaments. Poker Stars has also paid out over $10,000,000 in cash to online poker tournament players.
More generally, to have position on someone is to be in a position to bet after them, either during a particular hand or in general. You have position on anyone sitting immediately to your right, since you will far more often than not be able to act after them.
I didn't think he could've made the straight because he would've had to be playing 65 in early position. Shows what I know.
I knew it was a longshot, but with all that money in the pot and a draw to the nuts, I had no choice but to call.
To protect your cards is to place a chip or some other small object (players often have particular artifacts they like to use) on top of them so that they don't accidentally get mucked by the dealer, mixed with another player's discards, or otherwise become dead when you'd like to play them.
When she re-raised the flop, I tentatively put her on two pair.
Q
R
Someone is said to be "racking up" a game if they're winning a lot of money at the table.
I didn't think anyone could've hit the flop when it came all rags.
I figured my rockets were going to win when the flop came queen seven two, rainbow.
Despite all the bad players, the high rake made it hard to turn a profit at the game.
Re-buys are also allowed in some tournaments to players who fall below a certain point - usually only up until a certain point and often limited to a fixed number of re-buys. The time during which one may re-buy, usually lasting from the start through the early stages of the tournament, is called the re-buy period. Tournaments with re-buys are called, generically, re-buy tournaments. See also add-on.
I had to re-buy after the second hand when I had quads shot down.
Tournaments are fun, but I much prefer ring games.
I never play there anymore, it's a real rock garden.
I didn't outdraw you, I was rolled up.
A round of hands consists of one hand dealt by each player at the table (or, when there's a house dealer, one hand with the dealer button at each position). In a round of hold'em you're in each position once, and you expect on average to hold the best hand once (although you will fold it pre-flop and kick yourself for the rest of the evening).
One more round and I'm outta here. (round of hands)
My Rounders Review: I first saw the movie "Rounders" after I had been playing Texas Hold'Em for about a year, I noticed People were throwing out movie quotes from Teddy KGB, the Russian character played by John Malkovich. Quote Example; "Biiig Daddy" I could tell the movie was creating a huge increase of new players to our regular game. Years later you can play Texas Hold'Em at nearly every casino & online poker room.
Matt Damon plays the main character, "Mike McDermott" & Edward Norton plays his best friend "Lester 'Worm' Murphy" who's just released from a prison term that Mike himself might have also had to serve, "If Lester would have given him up!" Feeling obligated for the huge sacrifice his friend made, Mike tries everything he can to keep Worm out of trouble while attempting to hold together a failing relationship with his girlfriend while juggling law school. Mike can't resist the draw of poker and ends up back in the trenches of the Rounders again realizing that life is a grind without his true love of poker.
Matt portrays the main character Mike McDermott brilliantly and Ed Norton was very convincing as Worm, John Malkovich invents his own unique version of a Russian accent while pulling off the role of Teddy KGB "A Truly Unforgettable Performance!"
There is also a cameo in Rounders by the 2 time World Series of Poker Champion Johnny Chan.
Rounders portrays the life of a professional gambler more realistically than I've ever seen before. From hiding large amounts of cash all over his apartment, to the dark smoke filled poker rooms hidden away in basements, to ring games at the Taj Mahal Casino. From amassing small fortunes and getting broke again then back in the same day. The life of a poker player is one of extremes, danger and euphoria. People get drawn into it and like a drug become addicted, a small handful end up conquering poker and carving out a wealthy lifestyle for themselves.
I truly believe this movie can be attributed to the start of a 'new revolution' of poker players, TV shows like the "World Poker Tour" & "Poker Millions" sprang up out of nowhere. Attendance at the World Series of Poker has increased by leaps & bounds to record numbers every year. "Although poker was an already growing sport!"
There is no doubt in my mind, Rounders has been the catalyst to growth and has pulled people into poker like never before!
I Give The film Rounders "Two Thumbs Way Up!"
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I was down about $500 after two hours of bad beats, but then I went on a monster rush and made it all back in three hands.
S
When he failed to make his low, I scooped.
If I don't flop a set with 22, I almost always fold immediately.
Stud is usually played with a small ante and a forced bring-in on third street. In limit games, the bet size typically increases on fifth street.
The phrase "short stack" can also refer to the players at a table (especially in no-limit or pot-limit play, often in a tournament) who have the least money in front of them.
After building up a big chip lead in the tourney, I proceeded to beat up on the short stacks.
Only one hand made it to showdown in the entire hour.
I tried to slowplay my quad nines and walked right into a straight flush.
I snapped off his pair of eights with my small two pair.
We don't spread high only stud.
A stack can also refer to a particular number of chips. Most chip racks take stacks of 20 chips. Many players like to keep their chips in stacks of particular numbers of chips. I favor 10-chip stacks, but most players seem to opt for 20 to 30.
I was doing well earlier, but my stacks have been dwindling.
In connection with tournaments, structure can also mean anything having to do with the amount of money in tournament chips players can get, the rebuy and add-on rules, and the way in which the blinds increase.
I was stuck about $400 after that hand, but I just couldn't quit.
I almost never play 98 unless it's suited.
T
When the case 9 hit the table, I checked.
To the best of my knowledge, Maryland is the only place where most of the games are not table stakes, although the Maryland rules seem to change fairly often.
I picked up reliable tells on two players at the table, so my evening was very profitable.
He was playing so tight, when he finally played a hand we all folded pre-flop.
When he started raising every hand, I thought he was on tilt, but it turned out he just had an incredible run of good cards.
"Time" is also what you're supposed to say whenever you need more than about a second to decide what to do.
I toked the dealer an extra couple bucks because it was my first straight flush in over a year.
Even though the board was suited, I bet out when I flopped top pair.
Tournament details vary widely, but a typical arrangement might include an initial buy-in, a re-buy period during which a player who runs out of tournament chips may buy more, and an opportunity to add on to one's stack after the re-buys have ended. Other details about the structure can vary widely.
See also shootout and freezeout.
U
I'll play those cards occasionally, but never under the gun.
In stud games, your face-up, exposed cards are also just called your up cards.
V
Here's a simple non-poker example. A slot machine that pays you $1 every time you put two quarters into it (or vice versa) has no variance whatsoever. Your expected win (or loss) is $.50 per spin, and you get exactly that every spin. On the other hand, a slot machine that takes the same two quarters (or $1) and usually just eats them but one time in ten thousand spits back $10,000 (or 5,000) will have identical expectation. If you play enough games, you will tend to average the same $.50 per spin profit (or loss). But because you need so many more spins to get a representative sample of the possible outcomes, your variance is very large.
Variance is such a strong contributor to poker results that it often obscures the importance of good play. The best player at the table may start with the best cards and still have far less than a 50 percent chance of winning the hand. A skilled professional can lose money over days or weeks, without necessarily doing anything wrong. And while bad play may have negative expectation, it is often rewarded in the short term - players who draw for incredible longshots do sometimes get lucky, despite their poor judgement. Variance is what makes losing players think they have a chance in the long run, and what gives them a real chance in the short run.
Situations in poker may be higher or lower in variance. For example, in a situation where you know it will cost you a few bets to draw for a real longshot, but the pot is large enough to justify the calls, your expectation may be positive while your variance will be much higher than you'd like. This sort of situation is typical of high-variance bets - high potential payoff with a small probability of winning. As well, different qualities of the other players at the table can contribute to your overall variance at a given table. If many of the players are maniacs, willing to cap the betting and see the flop with any two cards, your variance may be high at that table. On the other hand, exceptionally weak and passive players, who may fold a high proportion of the time when they are raised, will reduce your variance. Obviously the variance you experience in your play will be affected not just by the nature of the game, but also by your style of play and by the styles of those you play with.
Although in the context of poker it's often used loosely, "variance" is a statistical term with a precise definition. Given accurate estimates of your variance and expectation (along with some assumptions about the distribution of your outcomes), it is easy to calculate confidence intervals, or ranges, within which your results are most likely to fall over different periods of time. If all this is news to you, pick up a book. Learning a little about statistics wouldn't kill you, especially if you want to play serious poker.
W X Y Z
"Wired" can also describe someone who's under the influence of a drug or had a few gallons of coffee trying to stay alert through an all-night poker game.
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