A

• ABC Poker – Straightforward, by-the-book play without fancy moves.
• Action – Betting activity or your turn to act.
• All-In – Betting all your chips.
• Ante – Forced bet from all players before cards are dealt.
• Aggro / Aggression – Betting and raising frequently.
• Air – Weak hand with no pair, no draw (complete bluff).

B

• Bad Beat – Losing with a strong hand to an unlikely draw.
• Bankroll (BR) – Total poker funds; manage it wisely.
• Barrel – Continuation bet on multiple streets (double/triple barrel).
• Big Blind (BB) – Larger forced bet; position after small blind.
• Bluff – Bet with a weak hand to make opponents fold.
• Board – Community cards (flop, turn, river).
• Boat – Full house (three of a kind + pair).
• Brick – Card that doesn't help anyone (usually low, offsuit).
• Broadway – A-K-Q-J-T straight (the nuts in many spots).
• Bubble – Last position before payouts in a tournament.
• Burn (Card) – Card discarded face-down before dealing community cards.
• Button (BTN) – Dealer position; acts last postflop (best position).

C

• Call – Match the current bet.
• Calling Station – Player who calls too much, rarely folds.
• Cap / Capped Range – Range missing the strongest hands.
• C-Bet (Continuation Bet) – Bet from preflop aggressor on the flop.
• Check – Pass action without betting (when no bet to call).
• Check-Raise – Check, then raise when opponent bets.
• Chop – Split the pot (tie) or skip blinds when heads-up.
• Coinflip – ~50/50 situation (e.g., AK vs. 99 preflop).
• Cold Call – Call a raise without having invested money yet.
• Combo / Combos – Specific hand combinations (e.g., 6 combos of AA).
• Cooler – Unavoidable big loss (e.g., AA vs. KK all-in preflop).
• Cutoff (CO) – Position to the right of the button.

D

• Donk / Donk Bet – Lead bet from out-of-position non-aggressor.
• Double Up – Win an all-in to double your stack.
• Drawing Dead – No outs; can't win even if you hit.
• Dry Board – Few draws available (e.g., A♠7♣2♦).

E

• Early Position (EP) – First seats to act preflop (UTG, UTG+1).
• Equity – Your % chance to win the pot.
• EV (Expected Value) – Long-term profit/loss of a play.
• Exploitative – Adjusting strategy to opponent tendencies (vs. GTO).

F

• Fish – Weak, losing player (be nice to them!).
• Flop – First three community cards.
• Flush – Five cards of the same suit.
• Fold – Give up your hand and forfeit the pot.
• Fold Equity – Value from making opponents fold.
• Four of a Kind – Four cards of the same rank (quads).
• Full House – Three of a kind + pair (boat).

G

• GTO (Game Theory Optimal) – Mathematically balanced strategy.
• Gutshot – Inside straight draw (4 outs, e.g., 6789 needs a T).

H

• Heads-Up (HU) – Two players only.
• Hero – You (in hand analysis).
• Hijack (HJ) – Two seats to the right of the button.
• Hole Cards – Your private cards.
• HUD – Heads-Up Display showing opponent stats.

I

• ICM (Independent Chip Model) – Tournament equity calculation.
• Implied Odds – Future betting value if you hit your draw.
• In Position (IP) – Acting after your opponent postflop.
• Isolation (Iso) – Raise to play heads-up against one opponent.
• ITM (In The Money) – Reaching tournament payouts.

J

• Jam – Go all-in.

K

• Kicker – Side card that breaks ties (e.g., AK vs. AQ on A72).

L

• LAG – Loose-Aggressive player type.
• Late Position (LP) – Button and cutoff.
• Limp – Call the big blind preflop (generally weak).
• Live Cards – Your outs aren't in opponent's likely holdings.
• Loose – Playing many hands.

M

• Made Hand – Complete hand (pair or better) vs. a draw.
• Maniac – Extremely loose-aggressive player.
• Merge – Bet medium-strength hands for thin value.
• Middle Position (MP) – Seats between early and late position.
• Min-Raise – Smallest legal raise (2x the previous bet).
• MTT – Multi-Table Tournament.
• Muck – Fold without showing cards.

N

• Nit – Extremely tight player.
• NLHE – No-Limit Hold'em.
• Nuts – Best possible hand given the board.
• Nut Flush Draw – Draw to the best possible flush.

O

• OOP / IP – Out of Position / In Position.
• Open / Open-Raise – First raise preflop.
• Overlay – Added value in a tournament when entries don't meet guarantee.
• Overbet – Bet larger than the pot.
• Overcard – Card higher than top board card (or your pair).
• Offsuit (o) / Suited (s) – Hole cards of different / same suit.
• Outs – Cards that improve you to likely best hand.

P

• PFR – Preflop Raise (stat) or the player who raised preflop.
• PLO – Pot-Limit Omaha.
• Polarized Range – Very strong hands + bluffs; few mediums.
• Position – Order of action; later = advantage.
• Postflop / Preflop – Streets after / before the flop.
• Probe / Stab – Small bet to test/deny equity.
• Protection – Betting to deny equity to draws.
• Pot Odds – Price you're getting relative to needed equity.
• Punt / Spew – Bad, impulsive, over-aggressive play.
• Push/Fold – Short-stack strategy: all-in or fold.

Q

• Quads – Four of a kind.

R

• Rainbow – Three different suits on a flop.
• Rake / Rakeback – House fee / % returned to players.
• Range / Range Advantage – Set of hands you or villain can have / equity edge across the range.
• RFI – Raise First In (preflop).
• Reg – Regular, competent player in the pool.
• Reverse Implied Odds – Risk of winning a small pot when behind in bigger pots.
• Re-Entry / Rebuy – Pay to enter again / buy more chips (formats differ).
• Ring Game – Cash game (not tournament).
• River – Fifth community card.
• Runner-Runner – Hitting turn and river perfectly.

S

• Satellite – Qualifier tournament awarding seats/tickets.
• SB / BB – Small/Big blind.
• Set / Trips – Three of a kind using a pocket pair = set; using one board card = trips.
• Slowplay – Under-rep a strong hand to keep weaker hands in.
• Slowroll – Deliberate delay showing a winning hand (bad etiquette).
• Solver / Node-Lock – Software for GTO approximations / forcing assumptions.
• Squeeze – 3-bet after a raise + one or more callers.
• SPR (Stack-to-Pot Ratio) – Effective stack divided by pot size on the flop.
• Straddle – Optional blind bet posted preflop (house rules).
• Street – Betting round: flop, turn, river.
• Suckout – Weaker hand overtakes with unlikely runout.
• Suited Connector – Consecutive ranks, same suit (e.g., 76s).

T

• TAG / LAG – Tight-Aggressive / Loose-Aggressive player types.
• Tilt – Emotional state causing poor decisions.
• 3-Bet / 4-Bet – Re-raise preflop; next re-raise.
• Triple Barrel – Three bets across flop/turn/river.
• Turn – Fourth community card.
• Trap – Induce action by under-repping a strong hand.
• TPTK / TPNK – Top Pair Top/No Kicker (strength varies).

U

• UTG / UTG+1 – First seat(s) to act preflop.
• Underbluff / Overbluff – Too few / too many bluffs versus balanced play.
• Uncapped Range – Range that can still include the nuts.
• Upswing / Downswing – Sustained heater / cold run due to variance.

V

• Value Bet (Thin Value) – Bet expecting calls from worse hands (thin = marginal).
• Variance – Natural short-term swings vs. long-term EV.
• VPIP – Voluntarily Put $ In Pot; core HUD stat.

W

• Walk – Everyone folds to the blind; blind wins uncontested.
• Whale – Very loose, wealthy recreational (don't berate).
• Wheel – A-5 straight.
• Wrap (PLO) – Big straight draw (13–20+ outs depending on board).

X

• x/c, x/r, x/f – Check-call, check-raise, check-fold shorthand.

Y

• "One Time" – Superstitious plea for a crucial card (table banter).

Z

• Zoom / Fast-Fold – Fast pool where you're instantly moved to a new hand.

Abbreviations & Notation (Quick Table)

Etiquette & Fair Play (Read This!)