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A straddle is an optional blind payment made before any cards are dealt. It is typically twice the size of the big blind and acts as a third blind. (So we now have, small blind, big blind and bigger blind aka straddle). This type of straddle (third blind) is referred to as the classic straddle but there are other different types of straddle.
Stealing in poker, refers to an attempt to pick up the pot on the first betting round by making a raise in late position. For example, in Hold’em, a steal is any open-raise made from either the cutoff, button or small blind. The term stealing generally carries the connotation of trying to pick up the pot with a hand that is not especially strong. However, since we can’t see our opponent’s cards, any late position open is referred to as a steal attempt.
Find the meaning of the term "stand pat" in poker and learn how it can be used as an advanced bluff line in draw games.
Stack to Pot Ratio (or SPR for short) describes the relationship between what is currently in the pot to what is remaining in the effective stacks. For example, if there is $100 in the middle and $400 remaining in the effective stacks, the SPR is would be 4. The stack to pot ratio carries important strategic implications; the lower the SPR the wider we can profitably commit all of our chips.
A squeeze refers to a raise made when facing a bet plus a call from our opponents. Although the terminology could technically be applied to any such situation, it’s most commonly used to describe preflop situations in Omaha and Hold’em. I.e. it’s typically a 3bet made after there is an open-raise and at least one caller before us. It’s named squeeze because the initial open-raiser has to worry about the fact that he is not closing the action if he decides to call the squeeze. He is ‘squeezed’ between the 3better and initial caller.
A split pot poker variant is where the two halves of the pot are awarded based on different hand rankings criteria. For example, in Omaha Hi/Lo split half of the pot is awarded to the best high hand while half of the pot is awarded to the best low hand. Winning both halves of the pot is referred to as scooping, but on many occasions there will be a split pot.
