A Bit Of Strategic Poker Jargon
- Filed under: Casinos
- Date: Nov 8,2010
Before we go any further, you need a brief explanation of the kinds of poker games that exist. They can basically be thought of as two major groups, tournament and non-tournament poker, or sometimes referred to as cash and ring poker. There are multi-table (MTT) and single table tournaments (STT). The single table variety is normally sit and go (SNG) meaning that the game can only begin when the table is full.
Tournaments can be satellite games, with the player receiving access to a more prestigious and expensive tournament, or freeroll games, in which a fee is not required, and guaranteed games, in which the establishment guarantees a prize pool. With the exception of freeroll games, a buy-in fee is required. Some tournaments allow players to buy additional chips, buy means of a re-buy or an add-on.
Tables are classified by the number of players: long tables (8-10 players), short tables (4-6), and one-on-one or heads-up tables (HU).
Now we know the raw basic terms and rules so lets move right along to basic poker strategy. Leading in importance is the concept of odds. The odds are the opportunities you have of receiving a winning card combination throughout all the game’s steps.
These cards are called outs. The improvement of your chances depends on the number of outs you currently hold and can be calculated, memorized, or read from a table of chances.
The player must also be able to calculate pot odds – the relationship of the required bet to the bank. Pot odds can be discounted and implied odds. Discounting is a decrease in the number of outs which is beneficial to the opponent as well. Implied chances include not only the current pot and bets, but also the possible bets in future rounds.
The possible strategies of poker include the bluff plays such as the straight bluff which is either a bet or raise with no chance at winning should a showdown come up, and the semi-bluff, a raise without a proper hand to do so but the hand has a nice number of outs, which gives it a good chance to improve. There are more intricate plays like the slow play or sandbagging, which refers to playing passively while at the same time having a strong hand in the game’s beginning phases. This move will keep opponents in the game. Then there is the free card which is a raise from the late position in the flop with the expectation there will be checks on the turn to enable the river to be arrived at without further betting action. This technique is most commonly employed in a drawing hand.
There is normally a distinction between flush-draw, four cards to a flush, and straight draw, four to a straight. A straight draw is possible as open ended or gut shot (inside straight) draws. If two distinct cards are required to build a combination, these draw hands are referred to as backdoor draws or runner-runner. Should a player continue to attempt to construct a draw even though he is for sure losing to an opponents present combination, this player is referred to as drawing dead.
There is the check-raise. The player checks with the intention of making a raise after an opponent bet. The move is usually used during the flop against the preflop-raiser (a player raising during the preflop found).
And lastly, we have the blind steals and defense. Should no one enter into the game prior to the flop, a player in the late position raises in order to coerce the blinds to muck, thereby raking in the bets with no opposing forces. The blind defense is one in which the blind answers the steal with a 3-bet.
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Red Star Rakeback as well as Carbon Rakeback.