This is a Glossary of poker terms, however I’ve mostly limited them to important terms or terms that I use a lot which may be confusing. I’ve left out some of the more basic terms, however if you’re interested you can find a more complete list of terms at wikipedia.

AF - Aggression Factor (poker tracker statistic). This is the ratio of all the times that a player bets or raises divided by the times that the player calls. Below 1 is a low AF (getting passive), and above 2 is a high AF (aggressive).

Bubble - The last non-money position before everyone in a poker tournament or SNG cash. The first position out of the money. Players often tighten up on the bubble allowing more experienced/ aggressive players to “exploit the bubble” in a tournament.

Button - The “dealer button” is a plastic disc used to indicate who is the dealer. The dealer is the person who acts last on a particular hand or deal.

Buy the button - If a person in late position raises in the hopes that everyone behind him other than the blinds will fold, he is hoping to “buy the button” with his raise. This will insure that he acts last during future betting rounds.

Calling Station - A term used to describe a very passive player who rarely folds and rarely raises. AKA caller. Do not bluff a calling station, instead value bet him/ her.

Check-Raise - A player checks, hoping someone else bets so that he can put in a raise. This play has a variety of different uses and can mean strength and sometimes weakness depending on your opponent.

Cold Call - To call a bet and a raise by 2 or more players.

Cut-off (CO) - The 2nd best position on the table after the button. This person acts next to last during the hand and has the best chance of “buying the button” preflop.

Equity - The expected value that a player has in a hand is also called his equity. If a player has a draw that will complete 33% of the time and the pot is $100, then his equity in the pot is $33. See also fold equity.

Expected Value - AKA expectation. If a hand is profitable in the long run then it is said to have positive expected value. A hand that may have positive expected value in late position could also have negative or neutral expected value from middle or early position.

Fold Equity - The additional equity gained in a hand by forcing one’s opponents to fold (fold equity only applies when a player has put in a raise). If a player (hero) has a 33% chance to win the pot on a showdown (say a flush draw), and he bets 33 chips into a pot of 33 chips versus an opponent with a medium top pair who will fold 50% of the time. Then that player is winning 33 chips 50% of the time (opponent folds), 66 chips 16.66% of the time (player gets called and wins) and -33 chips 33.33% of the time (player gets called and loses). Calculate (33% * -33) + (16.66% * 66) + (50% * 33) = -10.99 + 10.99 + 16.5 = 16.5. In this example the player (hero) is netting 16.5 chips over the long run if his opponent is folding half the time. He therefore has good fold equity.

Implied Odds - Implied odds are calculated the same way as pot odds, but one must estimate the amount of money that can be won in future rounds of betting. For instance if a player thinks his opponent has a very strong hand and will not lay it down after the flop, then he would factor in all of his opponent’s chips when calculating the implied odds in the hand. This is why cash game players go “set-mining” with small pairs vs. early position raises.

Isolate - An isolation raise is made in order to discourage other opponents from entering the pot in the hopes of getting one-on-one or heads up with the player who made the initial raise. A common tactic for cash games or deep stacked play.

Leak - A weakness in ones game is also called a leak.

M (M-ratio) - A concept popularized in Dan Harrington’s series Harrington on Holdem (HoH). A player’s “M” is calculated by taking his stack size and dividing it by the blinds plus the antes. It can also be thought of as the number of rounds a player has to play (this doesn’t factor in blind escalation).

Maniac - An opponent who is far too aggressive.

Overcall - To call a bet or raise after another player has called in front.

PFR - Pre-flop raise (poker tracker statistic). This is a poker tracker statistic that calculates what percentage of hands a player raises into a pot before the flop. General wisdom would suggest that between 18% and 28% is acceptable for 6-max play, although this is heavily dependent on style of play.

Pot odds - The ratio of the size of the bet that a player must call to the size of the pot. For instance if the pot has $50 in it and a player must call $10 to stay in the pot, then his pot odds are 5 to 1, also expressed 5:1.

Ragged (Ragged board) - A board with few connecting cards and no 2 cards of the same suit. Jh 6S 2C for example.

ROI (Return on Investment) - This is used to describe a player’s overall expectation in tournaments or sit-n-go’s. Calculated by (payout - (stake + rake)) / (stake + rake).

Rakeback - Many poker sites offer programs that allow a player to get back a percentage of his rake. Visit my Rakeback section here for more details.

Scare Card - A card dealt to the board face-up that could make a big hand for someone. An ace, a third flush card, or a straight card are examples of scare cards.

Semi-Bluff - When a player raises or re-raises an opponent with a weaker hand that has enough drawing potential to win later in the hand.

Slow Play - Playing passively (checking, calling, or betting weakly) with a strong hand in attempt to deceive one’s opponent about the strength of one’s hand. This play is made with the intention of raising large at some point in the hand.

Smooth Call - Also called flat call. To just call in a situation where one might be expected to raise.

Stop-and-Go - To bet into a player who was the aggressor on the previous round of betting. For example if “Jim-bob” raises from the button and the big blind “Butch” calls. Then “Butch” leads out on the flop, “Butch” would be considered to have made a stop-and-go play.

Three-bet (Four-bet) - To put in a second re-raise (third raise) after having been reraised. A four-bet would be to put in a third re-raise fourth raise, after having been re-reraised

Under the Gun (UTG) - The first player to act after the big blind. This is the worst position at the table.

Value bet - The opposite of a bluff. A value bet is a bet made by a player who wants to get called. Typically with a strong hand, and sometimes with a medium strength hand versus an opponent who underestimates his range.

Variance - The up and down “swings” that a player’s bankroll will experience as a result of temporary luck.

VPIP (VP$IP) - Voluntarily Put $ In Pot (poker tracker statistic). This is a preflop statistic describing all times that a player a puts money into the pot preflop. Raises, plus calls. Conventional wisdom suggests that this should be a few percentage points higher than one’s PFR. Again this is subject to change with different styles of play.