Poker words

Every poker word Feltra uses, in plain English. In the app, words with a dotted line can be tapped to see what they mean.

Blinds

Two small bets that two players must put in before the cards are dealt, so there is always something to win. The small blind is 1 chip and the big blind is 2 chips.

Dealer button (the white D)

A marker showing who deals this hand. It moves one seat to the left every hand. The player on the button acts last after the first three shared cards, which is an advantage.

Pot

All the chips bet so far in this hand. The winner takes the pot.

Fold

Give up the hand. You lose what you already put in, but nothing more.

Check

Pass without betting. You can only check when nobody has bet yet in this round.

Call

Put in the same amount as the current bet to stay in the hand.

Bet and raise

A bet is the first chips put in during a round. A raise makes the current bet bigger, so everyone else must pay more to stay in.

All in

Putting in every chip you have. You can’t be forced out of the hand after that, but you can only win as much from each player as you put in.

Flop, turn and river

The shared cards in the middle. The flop is the first three, the turn is the fourth, and the river is the fifth and last. There is a round of betting after each.

Betting round (street)

Each round of betting in a hand. Hold’em and Omaha have four: before the flop, after the flop, after the turn and after the river.

Before the flop (preflop)

The first round of betting, when you only have your own two cards.

Showdown

At the end, the players still in show their cards. The best five-card hand wins.

Kicker (side card)

Your other card when two players have the same pair or three of a kind. The higher side card wins the tie.

The nuts (best possible hand)

The best hand anyone could have with the shared cards showing right now. If you have it, nobody can beat you at this moment.

Chance to win (equity)

How often your hand would win if all the cards were dealt out. The coach works this out against the hands the other players probably have.

Cards that help you (outs)

Cards still in the deck that would turn your hand into a likely winner. Example: with four hearts, the nine other hearts are your outs for a flush.

Rule of 2 and 4

A quick way to turn outs into a chance. With one card to come, multiply your outs by 2. With two cards to come, multiply by 4. Nine outs on the flop is about 36%.

Pot odds (is calling worth it?)

How much you must put in compared with what you can win. If it costs 10 to win a pot of 30, you put in 10 of the final 40, so you need to win at least 1 time in 4 (25%) to break even.

Possible hands (combos)

Every set of cards an opponent could be holding (two cards in Hold’em, four in Omaha). The “What beats me?” button counts them to show how many beat you.

Draw

A hand that isn’t made yet but could be with the right card, like four cards to a flush or a straight.

Suited

Your two cards are the same suit (for example both hearts). It makes a flush a little more likely.

Seats

Where you sit changes how you play. “First to act” must decide before everyone else, so play only strong hands there. Seats near the dealer button act later and can play more hands.

Bluff

Betting with a weak hand to make better hands fold.

Split pot

When two or more players tie with the same best hand, they share the pot equally.

Side pot

When a player is all in, the chips the others keep betting go into a separate pot that the all-in player can’t win.

Heads-up

Just two players left in the hand.

Texas Hold’em

The most popular poker game. You get two cards of your own and share five cards in the middle. Your best five-card hand can use any mix of them.

Omaha (Pot-Limit Omaha)

Like Hold’em, but you get four cards of your own. Your hand must use exactly two of your four cards and exactly three of the five shared cards.

Exactly two

The key Omaha rule: your five-card hand is always two of your own cards plus three shared cards. Four hearts on the table with one heart in your hand is not a flush.

Pot limit (pot-limit)

The biggest bet or raise allowed is the size of the pot (counting the call you would make first). The bet buttons show this as “Whole pot” (the most you can bet).

Limit Hold’em (fixed-limit)

Hold’em where every bet and raise is a set size instead of any amount. You still choose to fold, call or raise; you just don’t choose how much.

Small bet (the small bet)

In Limit Hold’em, the set size of every bet and raise before the flop and on the flop. It equals the big blind: 2 chips at Feltra’s tables.

Big bet (the big bet)

In Limit Hold’em, the set size of every bet and raise on the turn and the river: twice the small bet, so 4 chips.

Cap (the cap)

In Limit Hold’em, the most betting allowed in one round: one bet and three raises. Before the flop the big blind counts as the first bet. When only two players are left, there is no cap.

Omaha Hi-Lo (hi-lo)

Omaha where the pot is split in two: half for the best high hand, half for the best low hand. If nobody has a low hand, the best high hand wins the whole pot.

Low hand (8 or better)

Five cards of different ranks, all 8 or lower (an ace counts as 1). Straights and flushes don’t spoil a low. The lower the highest card, the better: 7-5-4-3-2 beats 8-4-3-2-A. In Omaha it still uses exactly two of your cards.

High hand

In Omaha Hi-Lo, the half of the pot won by the usual poker ranking (what beats what). The best high hand wins that half.

Wheel (A-2-3-4-5)

Ace, two, three, four, five: the best possible low hand, and also a straight for the high half.

Best possible low (nut low)

The best low hand anyone could make with the shared cards showing now.

Win the whole pot (scoop)

In Hi-Lo, winning both halves: the best high hand and the best low hand (or the best high hand when nobody has a low).

Getting a quarter (quartered)

In Hi-Lo, when two players tie for the low half, each gets a quarter of the pot. A tie for the low can cost you chips if you called big bets.

Counterfeited

When a shared card matches one of your low cards, so your low gets worse or disappears. Holding a third low card protects you.