Poker Glossary

Rank in poker simply refers to the value of a certain card. It will either be a number between two and ten, or it will be the value of a face-card as in the case of the Jack, Queen, King and Ace. In most poker formats higher ranked cards are better (where Ace is usually considered high), but in low ball variants such as Razz lower ranked cards are stronger.

Find the meaning of the term "range" in poker along with a guide for using and discussing different types of ranges.

Poker rake is a fee taken by the poker room as payment for running a poker game. It’s usually collected as a percentage taken from each pot ranging anywhere from 0 to 10% of the total pot. Most rooms only take rake from the pot if a flop is seen; this is referred to as the ‘no flop no drop’ policy.

Quads is a common nickname for four-of-a-kind in poker. In fact, the nickname quads is so common, that it has virtually replaced four-of-a-kind as the official name for this type of holding. It’s simply a lot easier to say that four-of-a-kind. Quads is made when we hold four cards all of the same rank. This leaves room for one kicker, since poker hands are made with 5 cards in the majority of variants.

Preflop in poker simply means “before the flop”. The flop is the name of the second betting round in Hold’em and Omaha where 3 community cards are dealt face up in the centre of the table. Anything that happens before those 3 cards are dealt is referred to as preflop(so essentially, the entire first betting round including posting the blinds and receiving hole cards).

Pot Limit is a type of betting structure used in poker. In a pot limit game, the maximum allowable bet or raise is equivalent to the size of the pot. Omaha poker is most commonly played with a pot limit betting structure. The other two types of commonly used betting structures are no limit (bet or raise any amount) and fixed limit (betting and raising occurs in fixed increments).

Postflop in poker simply means ‘after the flop’. The flop is the name of the second betting round in Hold’em and Omaha where 3 community cards are dealt face up in the centre of the table. Anything that happens from the moment those 3 cards are dealt is called postflop, including all the action on the flop, turn and river. Anything that happens before the flop is dealt is referred to as preflop.

Texas Hold’em uses two hole cards and five community cards. This ruling makes it possible to make a pair in two main ways. Find out how and why.

Post means to make a mandatory payment into the pot during a hand of poker. There are two types of mandatory payments that a player may be asked to make; blinds and antes. The antes are posted by every player at the table while the blinds are posted only by specific seats (small blind and big blind). If a player wishes to join a game of poker mid orbit, it’s necessary that he pay some extra blinds before being dealt cards – this is referred to as posting.

A pair is a poker hand where we have two cards of identical rank. In most poker variants this leaves room for three kickers, since poker hands are usually constructed with exactly 5 cards. The higher the rank of a pair, the higher it’s value. Aces are high in this context, so a pair of Aces is the best possible pair and will beat all other pairs. If two players make the same pair, the kickers are consulted to determine the winner (highest kicker wins).

An overpair is a pair in the hole that is higher than the highest card on the board. For example, in Hold’em we have QQ in the hole and the board texture is T72. We hold an overpair. This concept only makes sense in games where there are community cards, Hold’em and Omaha for example.

An overlimp is a limp made after a player has already limped before us on the current betting round. The term overlimp is used interchangeably with limp behind. Although open limping is not generally considered a good strategic option, the general consensus is that overlimpinghas its merits when used correctly. Since limping can only occur on the initial betting round, it’s natural that overlimpingis something that can also only occur on the first betting round (preflop in Hold’em).

An overcard is a card that has a higher rank than another card or hand to which it is compared. For example, in Hold’em, imagine a flop texture of T75. Any turn card that is higher than a Ten can be referred to as an “overcard to the board”. Imagine we held pocket Queens on that same board texture. We might now describe any King or Ace as an overcard. Although a Jack on the turn would still be an overcard to the board, it wouldn’t be an overcardto our pair, which is what is most relevant here.

An out is any card left in the deck that can complete our hand (and generally give us the best hand). For example, if we hold the 6789 straight draw, any Five or Ten is an out since it completes the straight. That would typically be a total of 8 outs, but it does depend on which cards are still in the deck and which cards are already ‘dead’.

An open raise is the first raise on the first betting round where we are the first player to enter the pot voluntarily. The most common example is in Hold’em, where the action gets folded around to us preflop. If we are the first to enter the pot with a raise, it’s known as an open raise. If a player has already entered the pot before us by limping, a raise is instead referred to as an is o raise rather than an open raise.