tournament
Felted
Getting felted means losing your entire stack, so only the felt of the table is left in front of you.
Final Hand
A final hand is a player's hand ranking after all cards have been dealt.
Final Table
The final table is the last table of a multi-table tournament.
Freeroll
A freeroll is a poker tournament that is free to enter but still offers real prizes. It also describes a situation in which a player can win the whole pot but cannot lose more than a split.
Freezeout
A freezeout is a tournament in which every player starts with the same stack and plays until they lose all their chips. There are no rebuys or re-entries, so once you are out, you are out.
Full Ring
A full ring game is a cash game with a full table, usually nine or ten players. It is the opposite of a short-handed game such as 6-max, and it is the usual format in live casinos.
Guarantee
A guarantee is a guaranteed prize pool for a tournament, set by the poker room that hosts the event. If not enough players enter, the room pays the difference.
Hand-for-Hand
Hand-for-hand is a tournament procedure used near the money bubble, in which every table plays one hand at a time and waits for the other tables to finish before starting the next hand. It prevents players from stalling to reach the money.
Head to Head
Head to head means a game or a hand with only two players. It is the same as heads-up.
Heads Up
Heads up means that only two players are involved in a hand or in a game. It is a pot contested by two players.
High Limit
High limit describes a game in which the amounts wagered are high. What counts as high depends on the room.
High Roller
A high roller is a player who plays at very high stakes. The word is also used for tournaments with very high buy-ins, usually $25,000 or more.
High‑Stakes
High stakes are the biggest betting levels in poker. Online, cash games at $5/$10 and up are considered high stakes, and in live rooms the label applies to games above about $10/$25.
HORSE
HORSE is a mixed game that rotates through five poker variants: Hold'em, Omaha hi-lo, Razz, seven-card stud and seven-card stud hi-lo (eight or better). It is usually played with fixed limits, and the letters of its name are the first letters of the games.
HUSNG
HUSNG is short for heads-up sit and go, a tournament for two players that starts as soon as both have registered. The winner takes the whole prize pool, after the site's fee.
Hyper Turbo
Hyper turbo is a very fast tournament format in which the blinds rise rapidly, sometimes every three minutes. Stacks are small compared with the blinds, so most of the play is short-stacked.
ICM
ICM, the Independent Chip Model, is a method that turns the chips in a tournament into their cash value based on the prizes that remain. It shows that chips are worth less than their face value when the payouts are fixed.
In The Money (ITM)
In the money means that a player finishes in a tournament high enough to win a prize. The point at which the first payout is guaranteed is when the bubble bursts, and all remaining players are in the money.
Jackpot
A jackpot in poker is a special prize offered by a room or a casino, awarded for a rare outcome. The best-known example is the bad beat jackpot, which is paid when a very strong hand loses to an even stronger one.
Knockout Tournament
A knockout tournament is a tournament in which part of the buy-in becomes a bounty on each player. When you eliminate a player, you win their bounty in cash. Also called a bounty tournament.
Last Longer
A last longer is a side bet among players on who will last the longest in a tournament. The winner is the player who is eliminated last.
Leader
The leader is the player with the most chips in a tournament or at a table. He can apply pressure to the others with his big stack.
Leg Up
Leg up means being in a situation equal to having won the previous pot, so that you must kill the next pot if you win the current one. It is a term from kill games.
Level
A level in a tournament is a period of time in which the blinds and antes stay the same. After each level, the blinds go up. For example, level 4 might have blinds of 100/200.
Low Limit
A low limit game is a game in which the amounts wagered are small. Players can learn there with little risk.
Low-Stakes
Low stakes are poker games with small blinds, above micro stakes but below mid stakes. Online they are roughly $0.25/$0.50 to $0.50/$1, and in live rooms games such as $1/$2 are usually called low stakes.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.