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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nash Equilibrium
Nash equilibrium is a set of strategies in which no player can improve his result by changing his own strategy, if the others keep theirs. In poker, a Nash equilibrium strategy is one that cannot be exploited by the opponent.
Neocheater
A neocheater is a player who wins by neocheating: simple, invisible and highly effective cheating techniques.
Neocheating
Neocheating means simple, invisible and highly effective cheating techniques. It is a modern form of cheating that is hard to see.
Nosebleed
Nosebleed stakes are the very highest stakes in poker, where games are played for huge amounts of money. A nosebleed game is one in which most people would feel dizzy about the size of the bets.
Nut Advantage
Nut advantage is a situation in which one player is more likely than the other to hold the strongest hands on a board. It is one of the three main types of advantage in a hand, alongside positional advantage and range advantage.
Polarized
A polarized range is a range that is made of very strong hands and bluffs, with few or no medium-strength hands. A player who bets with a polarized range has either the nuts or nothing.
Range Advantage
Range advantage is a situation in which one player's overall range is stronger than the other's on a particular board. The player with it can bet more often and apply more pressure.
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.
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.
Solver
A solver is a program that calculates the best strategy for a given poker situation. You give it the stacks, bet sizes and ranges, and it gives a solution that is close to game theory optimal play.
Solver Solution
A solver solution is the strategy that a solver gives for a situation you entered: what to do with each hand and how often. It shows the expected value of each action.
Squared Deck
A squared deck is an evenly stacked deck that is ready for cutting or dealing. The dealer taps the cards into a neat pile.
Stacked Deck
A stacked deck is a deck that has been arranged to give one player a huge advantage. It is a form of cheating.
Super‑Bluff
A super-bluff is a bluff made against a player who has a very good hand, and that wins the hand. It is bluffing a strong player and making him fold.
Value Cutting
Value cutting is betting for value with a hand you believe is best, and being called or raised only by a stronger hand. You cut the value of your own bet, because only better hands pay.
Vest Holdout
A vest holdout is a type of holdout machine worn under a thief's coat, also called breastworks. It lets a cheater hide cards and slip them into play.