Tournament and Play Terminology

Break

This has a couple meanings, 1.) to break in a tournament is the time given when play is suspended and players can leave the table. 2.) When a poker session is ended.

Bubble

In poker tournament play this is when only one more player needs to go out before the remaining players can receive prize money for placing.

Button

This is a disc or other object which represents the dealer position at a table in poker, whether a player is dealing or there is a professional dealer. They are the last to bet in a round, also called the buck

Buy In

To pay a certain amount to be eligible to play in a poker game or tournament. Typically a portion goes to the house and the rest is used to play with and goes toward the grand prize.

Call the Clock

This is when a player must make a decision within a certain given amount to time to keep players from taking too long and delaying the game. If they exceed the time limit their hand can be fouled or disqualified.

Chop

To split the pot, or in a blind betting structure a chop occurs when no one calls or raises in the first round of betting and the players who put in the blind bets agree to take back their blinds.

Crack

The term used when a player beats a big hand that was almost certain to win.

Double Draw

A draw game of poker which has two rounds of betting and drawing.

Double Up

To win a big pot, most of the time going all in, and essentially double your chip stack.

Expectation

The amount a player estimates they will win on a certain play or within a specific duration of time playing at a table.

Family Pot

A pot is considered a family pot when all or nearly all players call in the first round of betting.

Fold Equity

This is the added value from getting opponents to fold before having to go into a showdown.

Foul Hand

A hand that is a dead hand and found to be ineligible for play. There can be a number of reason for why a hand would be ruled fouled, including have the wrong number of cards or having your cards mix with the muck.

Freeroll

A Freeroll poker tournament is one where players don't have to pay an entry free. Often players get their seats at these tournaments using frequent player points or winning other tournaments though there are some that are open to any player at any time.

Freezeout

This is a tournament in which players cannot rebuy their way back into the tournament once they are out of chips, they are simply out of the tournament which continues until only one player remains. This is the most common type of tournament played.

Heads Up

When only two players contend for a pot they are heads up.

House

Also referred to as the bank, the house is the establishment that is running the game or tournament.

Implied Odds

Implied odds are pot odds that aren't actual at the moment but are possible based on estimates of future bets and the possibility of winning a hand.

No Limit Games

These are the big bet game where the betting structure has no limit to the amount that can be bet or raised other than the amount of chips a player holds.

Outrun

Outrun in poker means to beat another player's hand.

Pot Limit

This is a type of betting structure in which the bet or raise maximum a player can make is the amount that is currently in the pot.

Pot Odds

Very closely connected with price, the pot odds are the amount that can be won in the pot in comparison with the amount put in to play. It also can refer to a player's odds of drawing the card they need to make a hand.

Price

Price refers to the odds of winning the pot when calling and drawing to stay in the game.

Protect

This is the act of keeping your hand or a chip on your cards so that they aren't mistakenly added to the muck or seen by another player.

Rake

Also known as juice, the rake is the portion of a pot that goes to the house as their payment and typically runs around 5-10% of each hand's pot.

Rebuy

It's the option given to players who have lost all their chips to buy back in to the tournament for another shot. Many tournaments do not give this option, and of those that do the vast majority allow a player to use this option only once. It can also refer to a player purchasing more chips within an allotted time of a tournament if their chip stack is low.

Ring Game

These are also called live action games because they are games played with real money as opposed to tournaments which use chips.

Rush

In simple terms this is a winning streak in which a player wins several large pots in a short period of time.

Satellite Tournament

A Satellite Poker Tournament is a tournament in which the prize is a seat in another, usually much larger, tournament.

Shoot Out

In tournament play with multiple tables, a shootout is when the winners of each table go on to play each other.

Short Stack

This is a common term in poker which refers to a player with little or the least amount of chips compared to the stakes of the game being played and/or the other players' stack of chips.

Showdown

When there's more than one player left after all the betting rounds are done the remaining players have a showdown. This is the end of the game when the players show their cards and a winner is determined.

Small Blind

In a blind betting structure the small blind is the smaller of two involuntary bets made before any cards are dealt by the player in the small blind position. This position is the seat directly to the left of the player dealing or behind the dealer button. The small blind is typically half of the amount of the big blind bet which is usually equal to a first round bet.

Splash the Pot

The action of tossing chips into the pot instead of stacking them. Splashing the pot is frowned upon in poker because it's hard to determine exactly how much was put in the pot.

Split Pot

As the name indicates this is the term for when two players have equal hands and split the winnings of the pot.

Spread Limit

This is one of the limit structured betting options where there is a predetermined range that the players must stay within when betting and applies to every betting round or can fluctuate between rounds. There is a minimum and maximum amount for spread limit betting.

Structured

This is in relation to the betting structure of a poker game. The structure determines how much will be bet in and within each round of betting. Common betting structures are no-limit, pot limit, fixed limit and spread limit.

Stud

Form of poker in which players do not draw cards but play only with the cards they are originally dealt. Cards are dealt both face up and face down and stud poker has multiple betting rounds.

Table Stakes

Table stakes is used to describe how much can be gained or lost in a single hand, or the size of the pot versus what you're putting into it. It also refers to the poker rule that you can only play a hand with the money you have on the table, a player can't pull money from his pockets to play with

Time

When a player requests additional time to make a decision.

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