strategy
Overcall
An overcall is a call after another player has bet and at least one other player has already called in the same round. You are calling behind a caller.
Passive
A passive player mostly checks and calls and rarely bets or raises. The style is the opposite of aggressive.
Peel
To peel is to call a bet with a drawing hand, to see the next card in the hope of improving. It is a small call that keeps the draw alive.
Play Back
To play back is to raise or re-raise another player's bet. It is a way to answer aggression with aggression.
Play Fast
To play fast is to play aggressively: to bet and raise instead of checking and calling. It is often used for strong hands, to build the pot.
Playability
Playability is how easy it is to play a hand after the flop, and how often it can make strong hands or good draws. Hands with good playability, such as suited connectors, are valuable.
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.
Position
Position is a player's place in the betting order relative to the button. The later you act, the better your position, because you see what the others do first.
Positional Advantage
Positional advantage is the edge that a player gets from acting after his opponent on each street. The player in position sees the opponent's action before making his own.
Post‑Mortem
A post-mortem is a discussion or analysis of a hand or a game after it has ended. Players talk about what they did and what they could have done.
Pot Odds
Pot odds are the ratio between the size of the pot and the cost of a call. They tell you how often you must win to make the call profitable.
Preflop Caller
A preflop caller, or PFC, is any player who calls a raise before the flop instead of raising or folding. It is the opposite of the preflop raiser.
Preflop Raiser
The preflop raiser, or PFR, is the first player to raise before the flop. He usually has the initiative after the flop and often makes a continuation bet.
Premium Hands
Premium hands are the best starting hands in poker, such as pairs of aces, kings and queens, and ace-king. They have the highest potential to win the pot and are strong enough to play from any position.
Probe Bet
A probe bet is a bet made out of position on the turn or river after the preflop raiser had the chance to make a continuation bet on the previous street but checked. It probes for weakness.
Protect
To protect is to bet with the aim of reducing the number of opponents who continue in the hand, and so increasing your chances to win. It protects a good hand from being outdrawn.
Protection Bet
A protection bet is a bet made with a strong but vulnerable hand to make opponents with draws fold or pay a high price. It protects your hand from being outdrawn.
Putting on the Heat
Putting on the heat means to pressure the other players by betting aggressively.
Range
A range is the set of all hands that a player could have in a given situation. Instead of guessing one exact hand, good players think about the group of hands that fit their opponent's actions.
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.
Read
A read is a specific conclusion about an opponent's hand or behavior, based on his actions, timing and mannerisms. 'Reading' is the skill of doing this.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Second Best
The second best hand is the best losing hand at showdown. It is a strong hand that loses to a stronger one, and it is the hand that costs the most.
Semi‑Bluff
A semi-bluff is a bet or raise made with a hand that is not the best now but has a good chance to improve, such as a flush draw. It can win in two ways: the opponent folds, or the draw comes in.
Set a Trap
To set a trap is to play in a way that creates a false impression, which you can use to win in a later hand or later in the same hand. It is an act of deception.
Set Mining
Set mining is calling a raise before the flop with a pocket pair, only to hit a set. If the flop does not give you a third card of your rank, you give up the hand.
Short Buying
Short buying is buying more chips after your initial purchase, for an amount smaller than the minimum buy-in. In some games, a short buy is allowed after the first stack.