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A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | Y | Z



 

A

  • Active Player:
  • A player still in contention for a pot.

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  • Aggressive:
  • Pertaining to a style of play characterized by much betting, raising, and reraising. This is not the same as loose play. Some of the best players are very selective about the cards they play, but when they do get into a pot, play those cards aggressively.

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  • All In:
  • Out of chips, due to having put one's remaining chips into the current pot, while other active players still have more chips and have the option of further betting.

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  • Ante:
  • One or more chips put into each pot by each player before the cards are dealt. An ante is not part of a player's next bet, as opposed to a blind, which usually is.

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B

  • Bad Beat:
  • The situation in which a strong hand is beaten by a long-shot or improbable hand.

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  • Bad Beat Story:
  • A story told by someone who lost a pot, often a big one, in a bad beat. Usually no one but the teller is interested in hearing the story.

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  • Bet for Value:
  • Bet a hand with the intention of getting called by one or more lesser hands, as opposed to getting the others to fold. This usually implies betting a hand that has only a slight edge, and one that a conservative player would likely check with. Also called value bet.

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  • Bet on the Come:
  • Make a bet on a drawing hand, that is, when holding four cards to a flush or straight.

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  • Big Blind:
  • The player two positions to the left of the button puts chips into the pot equal to size of the limit of the game. Those chips (and the player who puts the chips in) are called the big blind.

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  • Big Slick:
  • A-K as one's holecards.

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  • Blank:
  • A card, usually turn or river, that doesn't help your hand. This term also refers to a card that doesn't appear to help anyone. For example, if the board is K-Q-J-9 of mixed suits, a 2 on the river would be considered a blank.

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  • Blind:
  • A bet put in by a player before he gets his cards. A blind is part of that player's bet if he comes into the pot, as opposed to an ante, which just "belongs to the pot". See also small blind and big blind

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  • Blind Thief:
  • Someone who steals the blind, that is, opens a pot without having good cards, hoping the blinds will just throw their cards away and the opener can win the chips represented by the blind or blinds without having to actually play the hand.

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  • Break (a table):
  • When a table gets short-handed, particularly in a tournament, move the players to another table.

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  • Button:
  • The disk or other marker that indicates the dealer position in a game dealt by a house dealer. Also known as dealer button.

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C

  • Call Someone Down:
  • Check, and call all bets to the river.

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  • Calling Station:
  • A player who calls on the least pretext, often with hands that rarely win against legitimate bets. A calling station is someone who feels he just has to "keep you honest."

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  • Cap:
  • The maximum number of raises in a round of betting.

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  • Chances:
  • The likelihood of a particular event, usually expressed in the form of some kind of fraction or in the form of one number out of or in another. Compare with odds, in which the outcome is expressed as one number to another number.

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  • Chase:
  • Try to catch a better hand with a worse holding.

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  • Check:
  • Make no bet, but still hold your cards. You can check, and then call a later bet, fold when the action gets back to you, or raise.

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  • Check-Raise:
  • Check, often with a good hand, and then, when someone bets and it returns to you, raise.

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  • Coin-flip Situation:
  • A confrontation involving two hands in which the chances of each are relatively close to equal. The typical situation thus described would be a pair against two overcards, as, for example, A/Q, against 7/7, with the pair being approximately a 55-45 favorite.

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  • Come Over the Top:
  • Make a large raise or re-raise.

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  • Community Cards:
  • The upcards dealt to the center of the table that are part of each player's hand.

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  • Complete Hand:
  • Five cards that constitute a straight or better. Also called pat hand.

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  • Counterfeited:
  • Having a probable winner turned into a probable loser by the appearance on the board of another card of the same rank or suit as one of yours.

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  • Curiosity Call:
  • A call from someone who is positive he is beat but just wants to know what you had, often accompanied by a statement such as, "I knew you had me beat, but I just had to see it," or, "I knew you had me beat, but the pot was too big to fold."

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D

  • Dead Money:
  • Previous bets abandoned in the pot such that the players who made those bets, having folded, cannot win the pot. Dead money includes folded blinds.

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  • Dealer Button:
  • See button.

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  • Deep:
  • Pertaining to how many chips a player has. Specifically, having a lot of chips.

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  • Discards:
  • The players' thrown-away cards, sometimes together with the undealt cards that remain in the deck. Sometimes called muck.

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  • Dominated:
  • The situation in hold'em of one hand being significantly ahead of the other, often because of having the same card in common plus a higher card. For example, K-Q offsuit is dominated by A-K offsuit. Also, any pair is dominated by any higher pair.

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  • Double Gut-Shot:
  • A five-card combination with two "holes," such that any of eight cards can make it into a straight.

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  • Downcard:
  • An unexposed part of a player's hand, delivered facedown by the dealer.

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  • Draw:
  • An unmade hand.

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  • Drawing Dead:
  • Trying to make a hand that will lose if made. An example is drawing to a flush when an opponent already has a made full house.

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  • Drawing Hand:
  • Four cards to a straight or flush with cards to come, as opposed to a complete hand.

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  • Draw Out:
  • Beat someone's hand by drawing.

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E

  • Early Position:
  • The first few positions to the left of the dealer, or to the left of the blinds.

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  • Extra Outs:
  • Cards that improve a hand in more ways than the self-evident outs.

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F

  • Family Pot:
  • A pot with a lot of players, sometimes as many as all at the table.

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  • Fish:
  • Easy-to-beat player, usually a loose-passive player.

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  • Flop:
  • The three community cards turned faceup after the first round of betting.

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  • Free Card:
  • The situation in which there is no bet on a particular round, so players get extra cards without having had to risk additional money.

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G

  • Go All In:
  • Move all in.

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  • Go In the Tank:
  • Sit and think, usually about an important decision, for an unusually long time.

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  • Gut-Shot:
  • The card that makes an inside straight, or, more commonly, the making of a straight by catching a card inside.

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H

  • Hold'em:
  • A form of poker with two cards dealt facedown to each player, and five community cards dealt faceup in the center of the table.

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  • Holecard:
  • Any one of the downcards.

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  • House:
  • A cardroom or casino, or the management of a cardroom or casino; often preceded by the.

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  • Human Card Rack:
  • Someone who gets a lot of good hands.

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I

  • Implied Odds:
  • The ratio of what you should win (including money likely to be bet in subsequent rounds) on a particular hand to what the current bet costs.

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K

  • Kicker:
  • The unpaired card (side card) that goes with a player's pair or set. For example, a player with A-K and a board of K-9-2 has a pair of kings with an ace kicker (something known as top pair, top kicker).

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  • Kicker Trouble:
  • Having an inferior kicker (side card) to a likely better kicker held by another player. For example, if you have A-2 and an ace appears on the board, if there is any betting, there is a good chance that at least one opponent has an ace with a better kicker.

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L

  • Late Position:
  • Positions to the right of the dealer, that is, those that make their decisions after the first few players have acted.

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  • Leave Money on the Table:
  • Fail to extract as much as possible (by not betting with what is almost certainly the best hand).

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  • Limp:
  • Open for the minimum, as opposed to entering the pot with a raise.

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  • Live One:
  • A very loose player, usually implying one who loses.

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  • Loose:
  • Having relaxed playing standards (and consequently playing more hands than other players); opposite of tight.

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  • Loose-Aggressive:
  • See maniac.

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  • Loose-Passive:
  • A loose player who plays passively. A loose-passive player is often termed a calling station.

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M

  • Maniac:
  • Someone who bets and raises wildly and at every possible opportunity Ñ with little correlation to the value of his cards. Also known as a loose-aggressive player.

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  • Middle Pair:
  • The situation in which a player pairs one of his holecards with something other than the highest card on the board.

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  • Middle Position:
  • Somewhere between early position and late position.

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  • Miracle:
  • When poker players use this word, they generally mean the catching of a long shot, as, say, an inside straight or a third deuce when the player holds 2-2 against a higher pair.

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  • Move:
  • [A] play. "In no-limit hold'em, going all in is a very powerful and important move."

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  • Move All In:
  • Bet all your chips. Also, go all in.

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  • Muck:
  • The discards. To throw cards into the muck means to discard them.

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N

  • Nut:
  • The best possible hand for the situation. Thus a nut flush is the best possible flush that can be made. With four hearts on the board, for example, whoever holds the Ace has the nut flush. Similarly, with a board of 6 7/8/Q/A, anyone with holecards T-9 of any suits would have the nut straight. That hand would also be known as the nuts, because it is the best possible hand that can be made with that board.

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  • Nuts:
  • See the nuts.

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O

  • Odds:
  • The likelihood or unlikelihood of a particular event, usually expressed in the form of one number to a number.

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  • Offsuit:
  • Descriptive of the holecards being of different suits, as opposed to suited.

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  • One Gap:
  • Describing starting cards in which the two cards are two apart in rank.

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  • On the Button:
  • In the button position.

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  • On Tilt:
  • Playing badly. See tilt.

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  • Option:
  • When the action is on the player who put in the big blind, and the pot has been opened for the minimum (that is, there has been no raise), that player may, if he wishes, raise. A house dealer may say "Your option," as a reminder.

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  • Outkicked:
  • Losing with a pair because an opponent has the same pair, but with a higher kicker (side card). For example, you have J-T and the board is J-9-6-3-2. If you lose to a player with A-J, you have been outkicked.

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  • Outs:
  • Cards that improve a hand, usually used with reference to a hand that is not currently the best hand.

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  • Overcard:
  • A card on the board higher than the rank of your pair.

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  • Overcards:
  • Cards higher than your pair, or cards higher than any on the board.

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  • Overlay:
  • Receiving a better return than the pot odds indicate. For example, if the odds against making your hand are 2-to-1 and the pot offers 9-to-1, your hand is an overlay.

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  • Overpair:
  • A player's pair higher than any card among the community cards.

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P

  • Passive:
  • Playing nonaggressively, that is, rarely originating bets and tending generally to call and not raise. Opposite of aggressive.

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  • Pat Hand:
  • Complete, or five-card, hand, that is, a straight or better.

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  • Play Fast:
  • Bet aggressively; make large bets.

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  • Pocket Pair:
  • A pair as one's first two cards.

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  • Position:
  • Where a player sits in relation to the dealer.

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  • Pot-Committed:
  • Having put so much money into a pot that one feels obligated to play the pot to the end, perhaps by calling any subsequent bet.

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  • Pot Odds:
  • The ratio of the size of the pot compared to the size of the bet a player must call to continue in the hand.

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  • Put Someone on a Hand:
  • Decide that a player has a specific hand. See read a hand.

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R

  • Rag:
  • A card in the flop that probably doesn't help players who started with good cards.

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  • Rainbow:
  • Of all different suits.

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  • Rake:
  • Take a percentage of the pot, usually by the house as its means of making money on the game.

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  • Ram and Jam:
  • Bet and raise frequently and aggressively. Also, play fast.

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  • Read a Hand:
  • Make a conclusion about another player's holdings based on that player's actions, remarks, betting patterns, etc., and on the constitution of the board with relation to the preceding.

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  • River:
  • The fifth and final community card.

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  • Rock:
  • An extremely tight player, one who takes few chances.

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  • Runner-Runner:
  • Flush or straight cards that arrive on the fourth and fifth cards, appearing for someone who, on the flop, had only three to that particular hand.

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S

  • Scare Card:
  • A scary-looking card for the situation. When two of one suit are on the board, the appearance of a third card of that suit may be a scare card for anyone for whom that card does not make a flush. If you had two pair when there were three spades on the board, you might worry about someone having the needed two spades with which to make the flush. And if the third of a suit is a scare card, the fourth suited card is even more so.

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  • Second Pair:
  • Forming a pair that consists of one of your holecards matching the second-highest card on the board.

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  • Semibluff:
  • A bet made on a hand that is probably not the best at the time of the bet, but that has two ways to win either by getting everyone else to fold or, if called, that might improve on succeeding cards.

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  • Set:
  • Three of a kind. To flop a set means that (most often) one started with a pair and one of those cards was among the flop.

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  • Showdown:
  • The point in a hand, after all the betting is over, at which the players turn their cards faceup for comparison with all active hands, to determine which hand wins the pot.

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  • Side Pot:
  • An auxiliary pot generated when one or more players run out of chips, and which those who ran out cannot win.

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  • Slow-Play:
  • Opting to not bet or raise with a good hand in the hope of trapping other players on this or subsequent rounds.

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  • Small Blind:
  • The player to the immediate left of the button puts chips into the pot equal to half the size of the lower limit of the game. Those chips (and the player who puts the chips in) are called the small blind.

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  • Smooth Call:
  • Call, and specifically not raise, on your turn.

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  • Solid:
  • Conservative, not likely to get out of line; said of someone's play or a player.

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  • Steal position:
  • In a game with blinds, a late position, often the cutoff (position one to the right of the button) or button; so used because it is most likely from this position that a player attempts to steal the blinds, that is, open with a raise in the hope of not getting called by either blind.

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  • Structured Limit:
  • Describing the betting structure of a limit game (as opposed to no-limit), that is, with bets at one level before and on the flop, and twice that level on the turn and river, such as $15-$30 hold'em.

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  • Suited:
  • Descriptive of the first two cards being of the same suit, as opposed to offsuit.

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T

  • Tell:
  • A mannerism that gives away your holdings.

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  • Texas Hold'em:
  • The "official" name for hold'em.

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  • The Nuts:
  • The best possible hand at a given point in a pot. See nut.

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  • Third Pair:
  • Forming a pair that consists of one of your holecards matching the third-highest card on the board.

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  • Tight:
  • Playing very conservatively; showing little gamble; not likely to take a chance; having stringent playing requirements.

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  • Tilt:
  • The state of playing poorly and irrationally due to emotional upset, often caused by the player in question having had a good hand beat by a freak draw from another player or the player having lost a pot because of his own bad play.

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  • Top Pair:
  • The situation in which a player pairs one of his holecards with the highest card on the board.

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  • Turn:
  • The fourth card dealt to the center. Also known as fourth street.

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U

  • Underpair:
  • A player's pair lower than any card among the community cards.

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X

  • X:
  • Shorthand for any unspecified card. A-x, for example, means an ace plus any other card. A-x suited is an ace plus any other card of the same suit.

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Z

  • Zombie:
  • A player who has previously registered for a tournament but never logged in to actually play. Zombies will be given 30 mins to join the tournament. Those who do not show-up within this time frame will be removed from the tournament.

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