tournament
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.
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.
One-Chip-Behind
One-chip-behind means betting or raising almost your entire stack while keeping one chip unbet. Unless you have declared all-in, that chip remains available for a later decision.
Open‑Shove
An open-shove is a first raise before the flop that is an all-in. The player pushes all his chips when nobody has raised yet.
Overlay
An overlay is the shortfall in a tournament with a guaranteed prize pool when the entries do not bring in enough money. The casino or card room has to add the missing money, and so it takes a loss.
Potting Out
Potting out is an agreement with another player to take money out of a pot, often to buy food or drinks or to make side bets. It is done with the consent of the players.
Push
To push is to bet all your chips, going all in. The word also describes a pot that is tied or split between players, so nobody wins more than their own bet.
Race
A race is a situation in which two players are all in with hands whose chances are close to even, such as a pair against two overcards. It is also called a coin flip.
Rack
A rack is a plastic tray that holds 100 poker chips in five stacks of 20. The word also means 100 chips of the same value.
Rail
The rail is the edge of a poker table or the area where spectators stand to watch the game. If a player is knocked out, he goes to the rail.
Re-buy
A re-buy is the amount of money that a player pays to add a fixed number of chips to his stack in a tournament. It is the same as a rebuy.
Re‑Entry
Re-entry is a tournament structure that lets a player who was eliminated pay the buy-in again and enter as a new player. Some events allow several re-entries.
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.
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.
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.
Shoot‑out
A shoot-out is a tournament in which players with no rebuys play until they lose all their chips. It is also a format in which winners of a table move on to the next stage.
Short Handed
Short handed means a game with six or fewer players. It is the opposite of a full ring game.
Short Stack
A short stack is a stack with relatively few chips compared with the blinds, usually fewer than 20 big blinds. It also means the player with the fewest chips at the table.
Shorthanded
Shorthanded describes a poker game with six or fewer players at the table. It is the opposite of a full ring game with nine or ten players.
Shot Clock
A shot clock is a timer that gives a player a limited time to act, usually 30 seconds per decision. Players also get extra time banks to use when needed.
Shove
To shove is to push all your chips into the pot, going all in. It is also called a jam or a push.
Sit and Go (SNG)
A sit and go, SNG, is a tournament that starts as soon as the required number of players have registered, without a fixed start time. Most sit and gos have one table of six, nine or ten players.
Stake
A stake is the amount of a player's buy-in, or the amount of money that he is willing to play with in a session. It can also mean money given by a backer.
Stakes
Stakes are the size of the bets in a game, the amount you play for. In cash games, they are given by the blinds, such as $1/$2. In tournaments, they are given by the buy-in.
Staking
Staking is an arrangement in which a backer pays for a player's buy-ins in exchange for a share of his winnings. The player plays with the backer's money and does not risk his own.
Stop and Go
A stop and go is a play in which a player calls a raise before the flop and then bets the flop himself, out of position, instead of checking to the raiser. It is also used for calling and then pushing all in after the flop in tournaments.
Structure
Structure is the set of limits and rules of a game: the blinds and antes, the bet sizes, and in a tournament the schedule of blind levels. A tournament structure tells you how fast the blinds rise and how deep the stacks stay.
Swap
A swap is an agreement between players in a tournament to exchange a percentage of each other's winnings. It reduces variance, because both players share in the other's success.
Ticket
A ticket is a slang word for a card. It is used in some games and old gambling language.
Time Bank
A time bank is extra time that an online poker site gives you for difficult decisions, beyond the normal time to act. You can use it when you need longer, and when it is gone, you have only the standard time.
TOC
TOC stands for Tournament of Champions, a tournament that is open to winners of earlier events. It is an invitation-style event.
Tournament
A tournament is a poker competition in which every player pays a fixed buy-in, gets the same number of chips and plays until one player holds all the chips. The buy-in forms a prize pool that is paid to the best finishers.