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39 terms found
M‑Ratio (M)
M-ratio, or M, measures how many rounds of forced bets your stack can pay for in a tournament. It is your stack divided by the cost of one orbit: the small blind, the big blind and the antes.
Made Hand
A made hand is a hand that is already complete and does not need more cards to be strong, such as a pair, a straight, a flush or a full house. It is the opposite of a drawing hand.
Main Pot
The main pot is the first pot, which all players have contributed to before any side pots are created because a player went all in.
Make
To make the deck is to shuffle the deck. It is an old way to say that the dealer mixes the cards.
Makeup
Makeup is the amount of money a player has to win before the backer begins to share in the profits. It is the total of the backer's investment that has not been recovered yet.
Maniac
A maniac is a very loose and very aggressive player who bets and raises with many hands, often when it is not a good idea. He puts lots of chips into the pot and makes the game very wild.
Marginal Hand
A marginal hand is a hand that is not strong, but not particularly weak either. It is tricky to play, since its value depends on the situation.
Mark
A mark is a player at the table who attracts attention because he is inexperienced and weak, so the others expect to win his money. The words 'fish' and 'sucker' mean the same.
Marked Cards
Marked cards are cards that have been illegally altered so that their value can be read from the back. They give an unfair advantage to a cheater.
Markup
Markup is a premium that a player charges investors when he sells shares of his tournament entry. A markup of 1.2 means that a share costs 20 percent more than its face value.
Match the Stack
Match the stack is a room rule that allows a player in a cash game to add chips to equal the largest stack at the table. It lets players keep up with a big stack that has grown during the game.
Maverick
Maverick is a nickname for queen-jack, Q-J, of any suits.
MDF
MDF stands for minimum defense frequency. It is the share of your range that you need to continue with when facing a bet so that your opponent cannot profit by bluffing with any hand.
Mechanic
A mechanic is a cheat who manipulates the deck, for example by dealing from the bottom instead of the top, or from the middle, or by dealing the second card instead of the first.
Meet
To meet is to call. A player who meets a bet puts in the same amount to stay in the hand.
Merged
A merged range is a range that consists of medium-strength and strong hands, with few weak hands. A player with a merged range bets or raises with a broad group of hands, and does not choose only the very strong and very weak ones. The opposite is a polarized range.
MHIG/MHING
MHIG or MHING stands for “most hands I’m good” (or “I’m not good”)—often in chat self‑deprecating humor.
Micro‑Stakes
Micro stakes are the lowest stakes in poker, usually found only online. Cash games up to $0.10/$0.25 (25NL) are considered micro stakes. The buy-ins can be just a few dollars.
Mid‑Stakes
Mid stakes are the middle levels of poker, above low stakes and below high stakes. Online they are roughly $1/$2 to $3/$6, and live games from about $5/$10 are often called mid or high stakes depending on the room.
Middle Pair
Middle pair is a pair made with the second-highest card on the board, or with a card that is neither the highest nor the lowest on the board. It is a medium-strength hand.
Middle Position (MP)
Middle position is the group of seats between early position and late position. In a nine-handed game, the two seats after under the gun are usually middle position. Players there act after the early seats and before the late seats.
Minimum Buy-In
The minimum buy-in is the least amount that you can start a game with. Cash games and tournaments have a minimum.
Minimum Defense Frequency
Minimum defense frequency is the share of your range that you must continue with against a bet so that your opponent cannot make an automatic profit from bluffing. It is written MDF.
Miracle Card
A miracle card is a card that is very unlikely to appear but gives a player a winning hand when he was almost certain to lose. A player who needs one of the last cards in the deck and gets it has caught a miracle card.
Miscall
A miscall is when a player announces the value of his hand incorrectly. It can be a real mistake or an attempt to mislead.
Misdeal
A misdeal is a deal that is invalid because of a mistake, so the cards are collected, shuffled and dealt again. It can happen when two or more cards are exposed or when the dealer makes a mistake in the order of dealing.
Miss
To miss is to fail to make your hand. A player misses when his draw does not come in, or when the flop does not help his hole cards.
Missed Blind
A missed blind is a forced blind bet that a player did not post because he was away from the table when it was his turn. Many rooms require him to pay it before he can play again.
Mississippi Straddle
The Mississippi straddle is a type of straddle made by the player on the button, instead of the player under the gun. The straddler acts last before the flop, and then the action starts after him.
Mites And Lice
Mites and lice is slang for two pair of twos and threes, or a full house of those cards. The small cards are compared with tiny insects.
Mneumonics
Mnemonics are mental devices used to remember things. In Hold'em, players give names to starting hands, such as Big Slick or Maverick, to remember them easily.
Monotone Board
A monotone board is a board on which all community cards are of the same suit. For example, K♠ 9♠ 4♠ is a monotone flop. Anyone with two spades already has a flush.
Monster
A monster is an extremely strong hand that is likely to be the best at the table, such as a set, a full house, quads or a straight flush.
Monster Hand
A monster hand is a very strong hand that is likely to be the best at that moment. Before the flop, pocket aces and kings are monsters, and after the flop hands like sets, flushes and full houses are monsters.
MTT
MTT stands for multi-table tournament, a poker tournament with many tables. Players are moved to fill empty seats when others are eliminated, until only the final table remains.
Muck
To muck is to fold your hand by throwing it into the discard pile. The pile itself is called the muck. A player can also muck his hand at showdown without showing it if he knows he has lost.
Multi-Table Tournament
A multi-table tournament is a tournament with more than one table. As players are knocked out, tables are broken down and players are moved until only one table remains. It is often shortened to MTT.
Multi‑way Pot
A multi-way pot is a pot with three or more players. It is the opposite of a heads-up pot. It is also called a family pot when many players take part.
Must-Move
Must-move is a rule in some card rooms: to protect the main game, the players of a second game must move into the first game when seats open there.