Poker
Poker hands, positions, actions, and tournament concepts
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.
PositionsBluff
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.
ActionsBubble
The bubble is the period in a tournament 1–3 spots before the money. It's the most expensive phase for mistakes: ICM pressure overrides standard cEV math, and one wrong all-in call turns a potential min-cash into zero. Bubble factor (the ratio of ICM equity lost to gained) spikes to 1.5–3.0 on the bubble, forcing folds even on +cEV hands.
conceptCall
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.
ActionsCheck
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.
ActionsChip EV
Chip EV (cEV) is the expected value of a hand measured in chips, without accounting for the dollar value of those chips. In cash games, chip EV equals dollar EV directly — one chip equals one monetary unit. In MTTs and satellites, chip EV diverges from dollar EV because chips have nonlinear value near bubbles and final tables. Most solver calculations (PioSolver, GTO+) operate in chip EV, and tournament play requires an ICM adjustment on top.
conceptFlop
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.
ActionsFold
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.
ActionsICM
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 MathImplied Odds
Implied odds represent the money you expect to win from your opponent after completing your hand, on top of what's already in the pot. They extend basic pot odds by factoring in future betting: you can call a spot that is pot-odds-negative right now if you expect to extract enough value on later streets. They work best with deep stacks, sticky opponents, and disguised hands like sets and straights.
conceptPosition
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.
ActionsPot 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 MathRaise
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.
ActionsReverse Implied Odds
Reverse Implied Odds (RIO) are the future losses you absorb on later streets when you hit your hand but still lose to a better holding. It's the mirror image of implied odds: where implied odds measure what you stand to gain on a hit, RIO measures what you stand to lose on a hit that isn't good enough. The greater your RIO, the tighter your calling range needs to be — even when pot odds look attractive.
conceptTexas 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 GamesTournament
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