PKR_MODULE

Poker

Poker hands, positions, actions, and tournament concepts

16terms

1 term

All-In

All-in means betting your entire remaining chip stack in a single wager, committing everything you have to the current hand. Once all-in, you cannot make further betting decisions—you simply wait for showdown. In cash games, all-in creates a maximum risk/reward situation. In tournaments, it often means survival or elimination. When players have unequal stacks, side pots form to handle the excess chips. The all-in move is poker's ultimate commitment—there's no retreat.

Actions

2 terms

Bluff

A bluff is a bet or raise made with a weak hand, intending to make opponents fold better hands. Bluffing exploits the gap between actual hand strength and perceived hand strength—you represent a strong hand you don't have. Successful bluffs require credible stories, correct sizing, and fold equity. While pure bluffs have no showdown value, semi-bluffs combine bluffing with drawing hands that can improve to win. Bluffing is essential to balanced poker—without it, opponents only call your value bets.

Actions

Blinds

Blinds are mandatory bets posted by two players before cards are dealt, creating initial action and a pot to contest. The small blind (typically half the big blind) sits immediately left of the dealer button, and the big blind sits left of the small blind. Blinds rotate clockwise each hand, ensuring every player pays equally over time. In tournaments, blinds increase on a schedule to force action; in cash games, they remain fixed. Blinds create the fundamental tension in poker—there's always something to fight for.

Positions

2 terms

Call

Calling in poker means matching the current bet amount to stay in the hand without raising. When you call, you put in exactly the chips required to continue seeing cards. Calling is the passive alternative to raising—you're not building the pot aggressively, but you're not giving up either. While often criticized as weak, calling has legitimate strategic uses: trapping with strong hands, drawing with correct odds, and pot control with medium-strength holdings. Understanding when to call versus raise is crucial for balanced play.

Actions

Check

Checking in poker means passing the action to the next player without betting when no bet is currently required. You can only check when facing zero—if there's a bet in front of you, your options are fold, call, or raise. Checking is not weakness by default; it can be strategic—trapping with strong hands, pot control with medium hands, or giving up with weak hands. The check-raise, where you check then raise an opponent's bet, is one of poker's most powerful moves.

Actions

1 term

Equity

Equity is your percentage share of the pot based on the probability of winning at showdown with all remaining cards dealt. If you have 60% equity in a $100 pot, you're statistically entitled to $60 of that pot over infinite iterations. Equity drives every poker decision—calling, raising, folding, and bet sizing all depend on comparing your equity against pot odds and opponent ranges. Unlike fixed outcomes, equity represents expected value across all possible runouts.

Poker Math

2 terms

Flop

The flop is the first three community cards dealt face-up simultaneously in Texas Hold'em and Omaha poker. After preflop betting concludes, the dealer burns one card and deals three cards in the center of the table. These shared cards combine with players' hole cards to form hands. The flop reveals 71% of the final board, making it the most information-rich moment in a hand—hand strength is often determined here, and strategic adjustments become critical.

Actions

Fold

Folding in poker means discarding your hand and forfeiting all claim to the current pot, including any chips you've already invested. Once you fold, you're out of the hand and cannot win. Folding is the most common action in poker—winning players fold 70-85% of hands preflop. Good folding discipline separates profitable players from losing ones, as every chip saved equals a chip earned. Knowing when to fold marginal hands is as important as knowing when to bet strong ones.

Actions

1 term

Hand Rankings

Hand rankings are the standardized hierarchy of poker hand values, from Royal Flush (highest) to High Card (lowest), used to determine winners at showdown. Every poker variant uses this universal ranking system: stronger hands beat weaker hands, and when hands tie, kickers (side cards) determine the winner. Understanding hand rankings is the first step in poker—you must instantly recognize that a flush beats a straight, and know that A-K-Q-J-T suited is unbeatable.

Hand Rankings

1 term

ICM

A mathematical model that converts tournament chip stacks into real money equity by calculating each player's probability of finishing in each paying position.

Poker Math

1 term

Outs

Outs are unseen cards remaining in the deck that will improve your hand to a likely winner. Counting outs is fundamental to poker mathematics—it lets you calculate equity and determine if calling is profitable. With a flush draw, you have 9 outs (remaining suited cards). With an open-ended straight draw, you have 8 outs. The Rule of 2 and 4 converts outs to equity: multiply outs by 2 for one card, by 4 for two cards to come.

Poker Math

2 terms

Position

Position refers to your seat relative to the dealer button, determining when you act in each betting round. Acting later (in position) provides crucial information—you see opponents' decisions before making your own. Late position (button, cutoff) is the most profitable because you control the action, can bluff more effectively, and make better-informed decisions. Position advantage is so significant that winning players play 2-3x more hands from the button than from early position.

Actions

Pot Odds

The ratio between the current pot size and the cost to call a bet, used to determine if calling is mathematically profitable — the single most important calculation in poker that separates winning players from losing ones.

Poker Math

1 term

Raise

Raising in poker means increasing the current bet amount, forcing opponents to put in more chips to continue in the hand. A raise is an aggressive action that builds the pot, applies pressure, and narrows opponent ranges. When you raise, opponents must fold (giving you the pot), call (matching your raise), or re-raise. The power of raising comes from combining value extraction with fold equity—you can win by having the best hand OR by making opponents fold. Mastering raise timing, sizing, and frequency is fundamental to winning poker.

Actions

2 terms

Texas Hold'em

Texas Hold'em is the world's most popular poker variant where each player receives two private hole cards and shares five community cards dealt in stages (flop, turn, river) to make the best five-card hand. The game combines incomplete information, positional play, and betting strategy, making it both accessible to beginners and infinitely deep for professionals. No-Limit Hold'em dominates tournament poker.

Cash Games

Tournament

A poker tournament is a structured competition where players buy in for a fixed amount and compete until one player holds all the chips. Unlike cash games where chips equal money, tournament chips have no direct cash value—prizes are awarded based on finishing position. Tournaments feature escalating blind levels that create increasing pressure, and players are eliminated when they lose all chips. The unique economics of tournament poker—where survival matters alongside chip accumulation—creates strategic depth absent from cash games.

Tournaments