More Rules Of Poker: Some Terms Explained
By Al Oharra of AllOnlinePokerSites.com
Al O'Harra is a professional poker player out of Atlantic City.
Fold
If you don't like your cards, you can fold. If you have posted a blind, made a bet or raised a bet, you will lose that money. But you will not lose any more. After folding, you are out of the hand until the next hand is dealt.
Check
You can stay in the game by checking If no bet has been made before you, you can check without placing any money in the pot.
Call
If a bet has been made, you can call by placing the same amount in the pot.
Check / Call
What is Check/Calling? It is saying "Check" when it is your turn in a betting round, and then if a player in later position bets, you "Call" on your turn in the same betting round. Often, when this is done, the player Check/Calling is on a draw or has shown weekness and would have preferred a free card. But this action is sometimes used by players on a slowplay.
Bet/Raise/Re-raise - If you think you hand is good enough, you can make a bet. If another player has already made a bet, you can raise it: the table stakes control bet amounts. For example, in a $2/$4 table, bets are $2 in the first two rounds and $4 in the last two. There can be one bet and three raises in each round (bet, raise, re-raise, re-raise). After three raises the betting round is capped and the next card is dealt (or, if it is the final betting round, the best hand is determined).
Check / Raising
What is Check/Raising? It is saying "Check" when it is your turn in a betting round, and then if a player in later position bets, you "Raisel" on your turn in the same betting round. This action is normally taken to slowplay a strong hand and lure other players to stay in the pot. Check/Raising is also called Sandbagging. This action can also get players who would have folded to feel more pot committed and stay in for additional rounds they normally would not have had you not allowed them to lead the betting.
Smooth Call / Flat Call
There are two terms used in connection with the previous strategies: Smooth Call, which means you've Called the bet in a natural-sounding way so few or no players can tell that you're slow-playing; and Flat Call, which means you've Called the bet in a tone that tells just about everyone that something's probably up; you definitely sound like you are calling with reluctance and you wished you could check. Are you really calling just to avoid folding, or are you being deceptive? Slow-playing…if that's what you're doing…is akin to bluffing, so you need to do it well.
Nuts
The Nuts is the best possible hand, and in community card games like Texas Hold'em, the Nuts is usually the same for all players. In Hold'em, the Nuts is usually considered three of a kind or better.
String Bet
A String Bet bet is an illegal bet made in cash casino's. If you are going to Call a bet, say "Call." If you are going to Raise a bet, say "Raise." You do not want to say, "I Call your $5... and Raise you $5." This is considered misleading, and stringing players along; hence it is called a String Bet. The cash casino will only except the $5 call bet and your $5 raise bet will not be honored.
Tight Players / Loose Players
So what is a Tight Player? And what is a Tight Game? If you are a tight player, this means you play fewer hands and fold earlier than others; It means that you are tight with your cash, and don't play unsatisfactory hands. If a table is populated with several such players, it's called a tight game because there is not much action. It is the opposite of a loose game where the players are much more free with their cash and play more hands with lesser cards. Loose Players and loose games are what you are looking for to make maximum money.
Continuation Bet
A continuation bet is a bet that follows a preflop raise, but by connotation means that the player either missed the flop, or in reading the community cards could very well be beat. It is a bet that continues your pre-flop aggression with a bet that is 35-50% the size of the pot. It is designed to knock people out who would otherwise check and see the Turn, but it costs you little enough so that you can get away from it if someone raises you and you estimate that they are ahead of you. The hope in making a continuation bet, is that everyone else will fold. The idea is to give yourself good pot odds by making the bet. In one example, the pot is $20 and you hold pocket 10's. The flop comes K, 6, 4. If you bet $10 then you only have to win a little less than one in three times to make a profit on it.
You make this bet when you are not too sure you are in the lead and when you also know that checking is the wrong choice, since your draws are thin and you have a good chance of getting surpassed with the Turn. If someone raises you then you toss your hand, giving up on the bet. Compare this to a standard pot-sized bet on the Turn. With that type of bet you need to succeed 50% of the time, either by getting your opponent to fold or by going forward and winning the hand.
You can also make a continuation bet with a drawing hand, as a semi-bluff. You bet the pot amount if you have some expectation that your opponents will fold, but with the added possibility of winning the hand if you hit your draw. If, for example, you raised with Ac Qc in any position and you got two callers, and then the flop was Kc 8c 3h, you might make a stab at the pot with a pot sized bet hoping your opponent would fold, but knowing that you would likely be far ahead if he called and the Turn was a heart or an Ace. On the other hand, if he raised you then you’d have to suspect he had at least a pair of Kings and maybe a set, tossing your hand.
The continuation bet, is a risk bet, and is very common in both online or cash game poker rooms. Knowing when to use it, and when your opponents are using it and you have them dominated, is very important to building your bankroll.
Semi-Bluff
Semi-bluffing is when you bet or raise with a hand that is not likely to be the best at that time but you have reasonable outs to outdraw your opponents if you get called or raised. The intent of your bet, since your hand is likely beaten, is to get your opponents to muck their cards and win the pot right there. For example, you are in late position holding Qc-Jc and the flop shows 10h-Ks-4d, thus giving you an open ended straight draw with 8 outs.
Straddle Bet
A Straddle Bet is a bet made by the player immediately after, and to the left of, the Big Blind. The action must have just passed to him, meaning it is his turn, or he is Under The Gun, and no one has gotten any cards yet. Which makes it an unusual time to bet, actually. If he now posts a Straddle Bet he is raising the ante blind, or posting an additional blind bet. Generally, the house rules of cash casino poker rooms allow straddles; not all do, and this bet is not available in online poker rooms. The next player after him must call, raise, or fold. If, going around the table, no one raises, including the Blinds, then the person who posted the straddle may be allowed to re-raise his own bet on his next turn; this is called his Option. In this instance, his straddle bet may be called a Live Blind, because his blind bet is still "live" when the action returns to him. House rules differ, some offering Live Blinds and others don't. In any case, straddle bets, raising the ante before you view your cards, can be very expensive and it is not recommended.
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