Poker glossary and guides
16 poker terms explained with worked numbers rather than definitions alone. Equity is your share of the pot; pot odds are the price a call is offered. A flush draw has 35.0% equity on the flop and needs 25.0% to call a half-pot bet.
Maths
- CombosThe number of specific two-card holdings a hand name covers, six for a pair, four suited, twelve offsuit.
- EquityYour share of the pot if the hand were dealt to showdown right now, expressed as a percentage.
- Expected valueThe average result of a decision if you could repeat it forever, the number every other concept is trying to maximise.
- Implied oddsThe extra money you expect to win on later streets when you hit your draw, beyond what is in the pot now.
- OutsCards still in the deck that would turn a losing hand into a winning one.
- Pot oddsThe price a call is offering you, expressed as the minimum equity that makes it break even.
- Rule of two and fourMultiply outs by four with two cards to come, or by two with one, to estimate equity.
- VarianceThe swing between short-run results and long-run expectation, why correct play still loses hands.
Strategy
- 3-betThe second raise in a betting round, a re-raise over someone else's opening raise.
- BlockersCards in your hand that reduce the number of strong hands your opponent can hold.
- Opening rangeThe set of hands you raise with when the action folds to you before the flop.
- PositionWhere you sit relative to the dealer button, which decides whether you act before or after your opponents.
- RangeThe full set of hands a player could hold in a given situation, rather than one specific guess.
- Stack depthHow many big blinds you have in front of you, which changes which hands are worth playing.
Tools and references
- Next stepPut a definition to workEquity, outs, ranges and blockers all turn into a single percentage once there are real cards involved. The calculator runs it in your browser, on your own machine.
- Pot odds calculatorOuts and price
- Hand rankingsWhat beats what
- Preflop chartsBy position
- All 169 starting handsRanked by equity
- How to play pokerThe rules
Hear when the course opens
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