POKER JARGON
This article is a quick glossary that explains the basic poker terms and also some of the basic poker strategies (pot odds, outs). It is assumed that you know the basic rules of Texas Hold'em. For a more complete glossary, visit our Full Glossary Page. The Empire Poker School also has a glossary.

Blind (Small blind/big blind): These are the forced bets that take the place of an ante. The person to the left of the dealer must pay the small blind and the person after him must pay the big blind.

Board Cards: The cards in the middle of the table that are shared by everyone.

Draw: Drawing means hoping to improve your hand with the cards that will come on the board. You are on a draw when you want other cards to come out on the board to complete your hand. If you have 10 9 and the flop is QJ2, you are trying to draw an eight or a king on the turn or river.

Flop: This is when the first three cards come out in Holdem.

Implied odds: The same as pot odds (read below) except it takes into account making bets in the future. Thus, you may call a bet at the flop, but have implied odds of making bigger bets on later rounds if you hit your draw. So, if you have AK of diamonds and the flop comes two diamonds, your implied odds are what you have to call at the flop compared to how large the pot will be at the end of the hand.

Limit Poker: Poker with fixed bets. In a $2-4 limit game, all bets and raises are two dollars in the first two rounds (preflop and flop), and all bets and raises are four dollars in the last two rounds (turn and river).
Longhand: This refers to a poker game with seven or more people.

Outs: Number of cards that can improve your hand. If the flop is QJ2 and you have 10 9, you want a king or an eight to complete your straight. There are 4 kings and 4 eights in the deck, so you have 8 total outs.

Position: Where you sit at the poker table. The dealer has the best position because he bets last and therefore has a better understanding of what other people have in their hand. The small blind has the worst position because he goes first.

Pot Odds: This is the odds you are getting when you are drawing. For example, say you have Ace and 2 of diamonds and the board is King, seven, six- the six and seven are of diamonds. You are sure that someone else has the king. Nevertheless, there is a total of 9 other diamonds out there (13 ? your two, - two on board), so you have a roughly 18% chance of hitting a flush on the next card. Thus, if the pot is 100, and the bet is 10, even though you are clearly losing, you have odds with your flush draw. However, let's say the pot is 100, you?re at the turn (one card left) and your opponent bets 300. The pot is 400 and you must put in 300 to see the river. Your pot odds are 300/700 which is too high, considering your chances of hitting your flush are about 1/5.

Preflop: When you just have two cards in your hand and there are no cards on the board yet.

River: This is the fifth and final card that comes on the board in Holdem, after the turn.

Shorthand: This refers to a poker game with six or fewer people.

Turn: This is the fourth board card that comes out in holdem, the card after the flop

THINKING LIKE A POKER PLAYER - THE FOUR KEY SKILLS
Poker pros are commonly described as tight and aggressive: "These poker pros do not play many hands, but when they play them, they play them like they had the nuts."
That's a nice general description, but it doesn't say much. And it's not even totally right about no limit games, as a solid loose, aggressive player is a person to be feared. Thus, when I think people say a player is tight/aggressive and therefore good, I really think they mean that the player has mastered four critical elements of poker.

#1. Math skills
Good poker players know general percentages. They know that you have about 1 in 8 chance of hitting a set when holding a pocket pair, and that you have about a 1 in 3 chance of completing a flush draw at the flop.

They know the importance of 'outs.' Outs are simply the number of cards that will improve your hand. Count your outs, multiply them by two, and add two, and that's roughly the percentage shot you have at hitting.

They can figure out the 'pot odds.' Knowing outs is meaningless unless it's translated into rational, calculated betting. Knowing you have a 20% chance of hitting, what do you do then? Well, simply once you figure out your chance of hitting/winning, you divide the size of the pot at the river (i.e. the current pot plus the amount of money that you think will be added through future bets) by the amount you have to put in. If you have a 20% chance of hitting and the bet to you is 50, if the pot at the river will be greater than 250, call. If not, fold.

Math skills are the most basic knowledge- it's day one reading. Anyone who doesn't understand these concepts should not play in a game until they do.

#2. Discipline
Good poker players demand an advantage. What separates a winning poker player from a fish is that a fish does not expect to win, while a poker player does. A fish is happy playing craps, roulette, the slots; he just hopes to get lucky. A poker player does not hope to get lucky; he just hopes others don't get lucky.

Good poker players understand that a different game requires a different discipline. A disciplined no limit player can be a foolish limit player and vice versa. A disciplined limit player is always very tight preflop. He or she will not play too many hands, only the ones that have a very good chance at winning.

However, a disciplined no limit player is VERY different. This player is not so concerned with paying too many blinds; instead, he or she does not want to get trapped. The main difference between a disciplined limit and no limit player is that the limit player avoids piddling away his stack bit by bit while a disciplined no limit player avoids losing his whole stack in one hand. Hence, a disciplined no limit player can play a lot of hands. Preflop, he or she can be extremely loose and limp in with hands as odd as 35 offsuit. However, a good no limit player knows when to toss hands that will get him or her in trouble.

A disciplined player knows when to play and when to quit. He recognizes when he is on tilt and is aware when a game is too juicy to just quit while ahead.

A disciplined player knows that he is not perfect. When a disciplined player makes a mistake, he learns. He does not blame others. He does not cry. He learns from the mistake and moves on.

#3. Psychological Skills
A good player is not a self-centered player. He may be the biggest SOB you know. He may not talk about care about anyone but himself and may enjoy stealing food from the poor. However, when a poker pro walks into a poker room, he always empathizes with his opponents. He tries to think what they think and understand the decisions they make and why they make them. The poker pro always tries to have an answer to these questions:

a- what does my foe have
b- what does my foe think I have
c- what does my foe think I think he has

Knowing the answer to these questions is the first step, manipulating the answers is the second and more important step. If you have a pair of kings and your foe has a pair of aces, and you both know what each other have and both know that you each know what the other has, why play a game of poker? A poker pro manipulates the latter two answers by slowplaying, fastplaying, and bluffing in order to throw his opponent off.

Good poker players know that psychology is much, much, much more important in a no limit game than in a limit one. Limit games often turn into math battles, while no limit games carry a strong psychology component. I would NEVER play against a solid computer 'bot' in a limit game. However, in a no limit game, that bot would be toast.

#4. A Clear Understanding of Risk-vs-Reward
Pot odds and demanding an advantage fall into this category. Poker players are willing to take a long shot risk if the reward is high enough, but only if the expected return is higher than the risk.

More importantly, they understand the risk-vs-reward nature of the game outside of the actual poker room. They know how much bank they need to play, and how much money they need in reserve to cover other expenses in life.

Good poker players are fundamentally slightly risk-averse. In economics, a person is defined as risk-neutral, risk-averse, or risk-loving, depending on how that person rewards the next dollar they gain or lose. Risk loving are perfectly happy risking their entire roll on an even odds bet, a risk-neutral person is indifferent towards it, and a very risk-averse person would never risk his whole roll. Thus, a good poker player is slightly risk averse because he demands a big enough advantage to not be considered 'risk-neutral,' but he tends to value every dollar in his roll equally. If you cannot afford to lose your entire roll, you should not be playing with that much money.

 

STARTING HANDS
The first thing you must understand when you play Texas Holdem is which hands are good and which are bad. Though it depends on the number of people in the game and the type, here is a general guide to use when you are just starting out but want to be a winning player at the lower limits. I suggest starting out at a fixed limit of $1-2 or lower.
Hands to Raise with:

These are 'premium hands' that you want to jam the pot with preflop:
AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ, 1010

Hands to call with:
You want to see the flop with these hands and then decide. Do not call three bets with these hands, call only one or two.
AJ, KQ, QJ, J10, 109 (only if of same suit),99, 88, 77, Ax (same suit)

POT ODDS
When you see a flop, you will generally be in one of three situations. First, your hand may totally miss the board. Example: you hold Qs Js. The board is Ad 8h 7h. You have nothing, so you should check and fold. The second option is that you hit the flop well and hold a strong hand. An example of this is if you hold As Ks and the board is Kd Jh 4s. In these situations, you should generally bet/raise.

The third possibility is that you currently do not hold a hand, but it is possible for you to make a good hand if the turn or river brings you a good card. This situation is known as "drawing." An example is if you hold As Ks and the board is 4s 6s Jc. In this situation, a spade will make you a flush, and an ace or king will bring you top pair.

When you are drawing, there are several tools that will help you make your decisions. One important tool is "pot odds." Calculating pot odds is fairly simple. First, you must count the number of outs you have. An out is a card that will make your hand the best hand. For example, if your hand is Qs Js, and the board is Kd 10h 7c, then your outs are 4 Aces and 4 Nines, or 8 outs total. To calculate your percentage of hitting an out on the next card, you take the # of outs times 2, then add 1. In the above situation with 8 outs, you have roughly a 17% chance of drawing successfully.

Once you figure out your chance of hitting a draw, you multiply it by the pot plus the bet to see what the maximum bet is that you can call.

For example, if the bet is $20 and the pot is $80, the bet plus the pot is $100.

Now let's say you have 6 outs (6 cards will help you). This means you have about a 13% chance of hitting. If the pot is $90 and you must call $10, you should call because you can call as long as you have at least a 10% chance to hit (10/100- the total pot is 90+10). However, if the bet to you was $20, you should fold, because that would require a 18.2% chance of hitting (20/110).
POKER STRATEGY - DECEPTION

Bluffing and Slowplaying are two deceptive techniques you should employ.

Bluffing
Contrary to popular belief, bluffing is almost useless in a low limit game (anything less than $2-4). Rarely will people not call to a showdown, so there is no point in scaring people out of the pot. I suggest waiting to bluff until you play at a higher limit. When you play at a higher limit, it's best to bluff when you 'represent' something and there are only one or two opponents in the pot. For example, betting at the flop with a high card on the board 'represents' a pair, raising when a flush is possible 'represents' the flush.

Slowplaying
Slowplaying means deceiving your opponents into thinking you have less of a hand then you do. For example, suppose you hold KK. The flop comes K33, so you flopped a full house! There is no need to scare people out of the pot because there is little chance of someone drawing out on you. Thus, you should wait to the turn or maybe even river to jam the pot with bets and raises. You should slowplay if two conditions are met:
1. You hold a whopper and there is almost no chance of someone drawing on you
2. You will only get action if some other cards come out that will improve your opponents' hands, but these cards are not good enough to make these hands beat yours.

TILT
Being on tilt means letting your emotions disrupt your ability to play. All poker players go on tilt at least once during their career, but limiting these episodes is essential to winning at poker. Poker is a game that requires reason. If you have JQ of spades, and the flop comes AQ10, all of hearts, and there is a lot of betting action, you need to know to fold. If you were on tilt, you would let your emotions take control and make you do whatever it took to take down the pot. You would keep chasing, hoping to catch a king and hoping that no one had a flush.

In general, people who get upset and don't stay focused and reasonable will lose all the money they brought to the table. Poker is almost anti-human in the way it triggers emotions but rewards people who are made of stone. I don't mean to scare you or act as if all poker players are unemotional stones, but it is imperative to stay focused and rational while at the poker table.
Generally, most players tilt due to a bad beat or if they just can't seem to win a hand. Some players have a slight tilt after they win a big hand or two, but those episodes generally are much shorter than tilts caused by losing.

For example, take a hand I played recently. I had AQ and the flop came AQ2. I bet and was called. A 10 came on the turn. Bet, call. River was a 7. I bet and he raised. I decided to just call, thinking he may have actually had KJ.(for the straight). No, he had 77. The idiot had called me to the river with little hope but won on a very lucky river catch. Needless to say, I was not playing well the next couple of hands.

While going on tilt is natural, you need to limit it. Generally, the best way is to sit out a couple of hands and go on a walk. Another good way to handle a bad beat is to just think about all the bad beats you have laid in the past. When you are about to go on tilt, sit out and think of happy thoughts (as cheesy as it sounds, it's true) and hopefully you can resume playing your best.
POKER STRATEGY - KEEP IT SIMPLE When you start to play poker, you will more than likely be playing lower limit games. To beat these games does not require you to become a masterful poker player, it primarily entails that you are able to outplay poor opponents. To beat good players at higher limits can be incredibly difficult, entailing many complex moves. However, winning at low limits is pretty straightforward.

What do I mean? Basically, other players won't be paying attention to you. They only care about their own cards; they don't care about you or your cards. They will play their hand as they always play their hand, regardless of whether or not you are in the pot. You are basically a ghost to them...but hopefully you will be a ghost that's slowly taking their money! If you want to beat these types of players, you simply need to a play a straightforward game that will win in the long run. For example, play tight, don't do any fancy bluffs, bet aggressively when you probably have the best hand, and utilize pot odds for your drawing decisions.

When it comes to deception with these players, slowplaying can work. These players are easily fooled into thinking they have the best hand when they hit a pair on the turn, so giving them a free card when you hold the stone nuts can be to your advantage. However, bluffing is simply an exercise in futility. These guys want to see if they have the best hand. They'll pay to see your cards just so they can see them sometimes! Don't expect to scare any fish at lower limits with an extra $2 bet.

Master the art of choosing starting hands, employing pot odds, and aggressively betting your winning hands. However, psychological strategies are generally useless. Your opponents are not thinking too deeply, and attempting any fancy plays will only hurt you.
POKER STRATEGY - THINK FOR YOURSELF A disturbing trend I've noticed in the poker community is that people seem to want to follow strict guidelines when they play poker. Many want to treat poker like blackjack, where there is always an optimal strategy in every situation.
This is simply not the case. Any and all advice are just some general hints that can never take the place of proper situational judgment skills. Poker is a game of people and a game of situations. It is not a game of optimal/pre-planned strategy. All of the best poker players vary their play and make decisions on the spot. Poker players that rely on a ready-made recipe are doomeed to failure because they will play very predictably and will not take into account many important situational factors when making decisions.

There really is no way to teach someone situational judgment skills. The only advice on this topic that I can give is to practice and pay attention to your flaws. What are some situations that could be played differently? How often do you correctly place opponents on their hands?
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If you are going to play poker, have confidence in yourself. Think for yourself. Don't worry if your play may be violating textbook guidelines. A winning poker player's arsenal combines general poker knowledge with situational judgment skills. Losing poker players don't think for themselves or simply don't think at all.