Monday, August 13, 2007

Basic Poker Terminology Holdem

OK, this is really basic stuff mainly, and I'll probably add to this later on, but there are some poker terms I've had to learn, so why not share them here?

Firstly, you have 5 stages of play.
1. Pre Flop (PF) - This is before you see any cards, each player holds 2 cards (hole cards or starting cards)
2. Flop - 3 cards are laid on the table (board cards)
3. Turn - An extra card is laid
4. River - The final card is laid meaning there are now 5 board cards
5. Showdown - If a player is called, or everybody checks at the river, then the hands are shown (or mucked, which means you hide a losing hand) and the winner takes the pot

The actions a player can take:
Fold - quit the current hand, usually when you are required to bet
Check - you don't bet, but you aren't required to
Call - you bet the amount others have bet before you
Raise - You bet more than what others have bet before you
All in - You raise or call with all your remaining chips

Hand Position terms (position is a good thing to learn early on):
Big Blind (BB) - The player two positions to the left of the dealer must contribute one big bet to the pot before a hand starts.
Small Blind (SB) - The player one position to the left of the dealer must contribute a small bet to the pot before a hand starts. In a 2c/5c game 2c is the small

blind, 5c is the big blind
Dealer/Button - The last player to bet. Considered the easiest position to win from, as you see everyone elses bet before decided what to do.
Under the gun (UTG) - The first player to bet, considered a bad position as everyone can see your bets.
Out of position (OOP) - a bad position to bet from like UTG or UTG+1 (next player after UTG)
In Position - A good position to be from like the button or player before the button

A few nicknames for players:
Sharks - good players
Fish - bad players, generally assumed to be food for the sharks
Donkeys - again bad players, sometimes called this after winning a pot after a lot of luck

A few names for hand results:
Rivered - one player had the best hand until the last card was shown
Donkeyed/Bad beat - one player made a stupid bet or call, only to get the one or two cards that could have helped after the flop
Big beat - when you spent a lot of money on a hand and lost it
Tilt - technically not a result, but a player can go "on tilt" when losing a couple of hands, which starts making them play differently, usually worse

And a few money terms:
Bankroll - the amount of money you've set aside to play poker with (usually your amount left online)
Chips/Stack - the amount of money you have left at a table
Pot - the total money that's been bet so far in a hand
Blinds - The starting amount that two players have to contribute. This is a crucial amount in a game or tournament, as it sets a standard for the betting amounts.

You'll hear/read "they bet 4BB" which means they bet 8c in a 1c/2c game (4BB = 4 x 2c)
Ante - A small amount that everybody must pay before a hand starts, usually much smaller than even the small blind
Expected Value (EV) - The long term expectancy of a bet given the current game type, opponent type, cards dealt and board cards. Some people mention EV+, which means a player will win long term making that same bet/call/raise/fold regardless of how the hand turned out this time. EV- means the same bet will lose money in the long term.
Return on Investment (ROI) - The amount of money you've won or lost as a percentage. So if you deposited $25 and now have $50 you have a 100% ROI, if you now have $12.5 it's -50% ROI

Styles of playing:
Tight/Aggressive - doesn't play in many hands, but bets a lot when they do play. This is the most popular style
Loose/Aggressive - plays a lot of hands, but bets a lot when they do play. Popular style
Tight/Weak - Doesn't play a lot of hands, but also doesn't bet much or folds a lot when they do
Loose/Weak - Plays a lot of hands, but also doesn't bet much or folds a lot when they do. Considered a very bad player
Push - Usually a tournament play which means to attack strongly with looser cards when your chips are getting too low in comparison with the blinds/ante
Shove - Shove all in
Tighten up - Start playing less starting cards than you normally would
Loosen up - Start playing more starting cards than you normally would

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