Browse » Home » General Poker, Poker Strategy » Poker Jargon

Poker Jargon

January 28, 2008

This is a small glossary explaining the basic poker terms, that will be frequently used in these blogs.

Preflop: The betting round after you are dealt your two hole cards and there are no cards on the board yet.

Flop: The first three board cards in Hold’em.

Turn: The fourth board card that comes out in Hold’em, the card after the flop.

River: The fifth and final card that comes on the board in Hold’em, after the turn.

Suits:

  • h = Hearts
  • c = Clubs
  • d = Diamonds
  • s = Spades

Blinds: The forced bets that take the place of an ante. The person to the left of the dealer must pay the small blind, and the person after him must pay the big blind.

Board Cards: The cards in the middle of the table that are shared by everyone.

Draw: Drawing means hoping to improve your hand with the cards that will come on the board. You are on a draw when you want other cards to come out on the board to complete your hand. If you have 10h 9dand the flop is Qs Jc 2d, you are trying to draw an eight or a king on the turn or river.

Limit Poker: Poker with fixed-size bets. In a $2-4 limit game, all bets and raises are $2 in the first two rounds (preflop and flop), and all bets and raises are $4 in the last two rounds (turn and river).

Short Handed: A poker game with six or less players.

Outs: Cards that can improve your hand. If the flop is 2h Qc Jh and you have 9h 10h, you want a king or an eight to complete your straight. There are four kings and four eights in the deck, so you have eight total outs.

Position: Where you sit at the poker table. The dealer has the best position. The small blind acts first.

Pot Odds: The odds you are getting when you are drawing. For example, say you have Ah 3h and the board is 5h Kh 6d. There are nine more diamonds out there (thirteen minus the two from your hand and the two on the board), so you have a roughly 18% chance of hitting your flush on the next card. Thus, if the pot is $100, and the bet is $10, even though you are losing, you have odds to chase your flush draw. However, let’s say the pot is $100 on the turn (there is one card left) and your opponent bets $300. The pot is $400 and you must put in $300 to see the river. You are getting pot odds of 4:3 which is not enough, because the odds are about 4:1 against hitting your flush.

Implied Odds: The same as pot odds, but taking into account making bets in the future. Thus, you may call a bet at the flop, but have implied odds of making bigger bets on later rounds if you hit your draw. So, if you have Ad Kd and the flop comes Qc 7d 6d, your implied odds are what you have to call at the flop compared to how large the pot will be at the end of the hand.

- Thomas Hardy

Written by Tom · Filed Under General Poker, Poker Strategy |  

1 Comment

to “Poker Jargon”

Trackbacks and Pingbacks

  1. Jargon

Voice Your Opinion