Poker
Reading
Reading is the analysis of a player based on how he plays, his mannerisms and his tells. It is a skill that helps to guess his hand.
Rebuy
A rebuy is a purchase of more chips in a tournament, allowed during the rebuy period. The player pays a fixed fee and receives a fixed number of chips, often when he is short or has been eliminated.
Redeal
A redeal is a new deal of the cards, usually after a misdeal. The dealer collects the cards and deals the hand again.
Redraw
A redraw is a made hand that can still improve to an even better hand. For example, a set of queens with a draw to a flush has a redraw to a flush.
Reg
A reg is short for 'regular', a player who plays often at the same stakes and sites and is usually a solid, experienced winner. Online, the regulars are the strong players who make up the core of the player pool.
Removal
Removal, also known as blockers, is the effect of holding a card that reduces the number of combinations of certain hands that your opponent can have. If you hold the ace of spades, your opponent cannot have the nut spade flush on a board with three spades.
Represent
To represent is to play as if you hold a specific hand, whether you actually have it or not. For example, a large bet on an ace-high board represents an ace.
Reverse Implied Odds
Reverse implied odds are the chips you may lose on later streets when you make a hand that is good but not the best. They are the opposite of implied odds, and they make a call less attractive than the pot odds show.
Reverse Tell
A reverse tell is an action that a player makes on purpose to give the opposite impression of his hand. For example, he acts strong when weak, or weak when strong, to mislead others.
Ribbon Clerk
A ribbon clerk is a small-time gambler. The expression is old slang for a player who plays for small stakes and is not a big spender.
Ring Game
A ring game is another name for a cash game, a non-tournament game in which players can buy in and leave whenever they want. The chips have real money value.
River
The river is the fifth and last community card in Hold'em and Omaha, dealt after the turn betting. It is followed by the final betting round and a showdown. It is also called fifth street.
River C‑bet
A river c-bet is a continuation bet on the river by the player who raised before the flop and bet the flop and the turn. It is the third barrel, also called a triple barrel.
Rock
A rock is a very tight and passive player who plays only the strongest hands and rarely bets without them. The word is also used for a tight player in general.
ROI
ROI, return on investment, is a measure of profit in tournaments. It is calculated as a percentage by dividing the profit by the total buy-ins. For example, a profit of $500 on $5,000 in buy-ins is an ROI of 10 percent.
Rolled Up
Rolled up is a term for seven-card stud: a player is dealt three of a kind in his first three cards. It is a very strong start.
Rotation
Rotation is the movement in the direction of the deal, which is clockwise. The button, the action and the deal all rotate around the table.
Round of Betting
A round of betting is a period when players have the chance to bet, check, call or raise. It ends when the last bet or raise has been called, or when all players have checked.
Round of Play
A round of play is the action sequence in which every player deals a poker hand. In a game with a dealer button, it is one full orbit.
Rounders
Rounders are people who hustle for a living, usually by playing cards. It is also the name of a well-known poker film starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton.
Royal Flush
A royal flush is the highest possible hand in poker: ace, king, queen, jack and ten, all of the same suit. It beats every other hand, and it can only be tied when the royal flush is on the board.
Run
Run has several meanings in poker. It can mean a straight, a series of good results, or the remaining cards of a hand: a 'runout'. 'I was on a run' means that the player won many hands in a row.
Run a Pot
To run a pot is to win a hand by bluffing through the hand, with more than one bet. The bettor bets several streets and wins with no best hand.
Runner‑Runner
Runner-runner is a hand that is made by hitting the cards you need on both the turn and the river. Before the turn, you have only a very small chance of making the hand. It is also called backdoor.
Running Bad
Running bad is a period of bad luck or a losing streak. A player who is running bad loses many hands, often with strong hands that are beaten.
Running Good
Running good is a period of good luck or a winning streak. A player who is running good wins many pots and hits his draws.
Running Pair
A running pair is a pair that comes on the last two cards of the board, the turn and the river. The two cards have the same rank.
Rush
A rush is a winning streak. A player who has won several big pots recently is said to be on a rush. It is the same as a heater.
Sandbagging
Sandbagging is holding back and just calling, even though you have a very good hand, usually to hide strength, to provoke bluffs or to check-raise. It is a form of slow playing.
Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara is a nickname for ace-king, A-K, of any suits. It is a strong starting hand.
Satellite
A satellite is a tournament in which the prize is an entry into a larger, more expensive tournament, instead of money. It lets players win a seat for a much smaller cost.
Scare Card
A scare card is a community card that may have given an opponent a strong hand, and makes you afraid to keep betting. It is typically a card that completes a flush or a straight, or an overcard to the pairs on the board.