This will help improve your skills at the poker table. When you play poker, keep in mind that you are playing against human beings who want the same thing as you - to win money!

This part of the Poker School aims to give you the confidence to play low-limit poker for real money and enjoying it. After having gone through the fundamentals, you will be able to play Texas Hold'Em with a basic understanding of the game, as well as of the tools necessary to enjoy the game and, hopefully, win.

Start here

Having fun

There are two main reasons why you play poker: having fun and winning money.

Having fun

In order to have fun, you have to abide by a few simple rules:

• Decide in advance how much money you can afford to lose on poker.
• Never play with borrowed money or to win back money already lost.
• Don't play for stakes that are beyond your financial means.

Winning money

In order to win money you must learn the game properly. You can be lucky or unlucky in poker, but in the long run it is all about skill. By correctly evaluating your hand, assessing the probabilities for different scenarios and reading your opponents actions, you use your money to win more money.

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Advice to beginners

Advice to beginners

Start with play money

As a beginner, you should always start playing with play money at the low-limit tables. There, you will learn the rules of the game, and when to bet or fold. Later, you can go on to the high-limit tables before eventually playing for real money. When you play with real money, the rules are the same, but you can expect the game to be played differently.

Disciplined play

In order to win in poker, you must learn to play with discipline and tactics, but also to adapt your game to the situation and your opponents. Do not play if you are tired or intoxicated.

Learn from others

Study your opponents to see how they act. If you know somebody who is more experienced than you, ask him or her to allow you to study how he/she plays.

Understand when you are losing

If you are sitting at a table and keep losing money without really understanding why, you are probably the worst player at the table. Switch tables.

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Rules for Texas Hold'Em

Rules for Texas Hold'Em

Up to ten players can play at one table. Every player is dealt two cards, called hole cards or "pocket cards", that are not visible to the other players. Five cards will be placed face-up on the board. They are called "community cards" and everybody can use them to create their best hand.

Combining hole cards with community cards

The players combine their hole cards with the cards on the board to create a hand consisting of five cards. The player with the best hand wins the pot.

Dealer

One player is the dealer, symbolised by a button with the letter "D" in front of the player. The dealer button rotates clockwise around the table. The dealer acts last in all rounds of betting after the flop.

Blinds

Before every hand, the two players to the left of the dealer post a compulsory bet each, the small blind and the large blind. The size of the big blind depends on the table's limit. The small blind is half of the big blind.

Four betting rounds

Every hand consists of four betting rounds. The number of raises per betting round is limited to three if you play limit poker. The number of raises in Pot Limit and No Limit are unlimited. In every betting round you choose between betting, checking, calling, raising or folding.

Your options in a betting round:

Bet - nobody has bet and you want to do it.
Check - Nobody has bet and you do not want to either.Call - somebody has bet, and you want to play, but not raise.
Raise - Somebody has bet and you want to raise.Fold - Somebody has bet and you want to get out of the hand.

One or more players win the pot

After four betting rounds a winner is determined. A pot may be split between several players, if they have the exact same hand.

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Who wins?

Who wins?

The player who creates the best five-card hand wins. You never count more than five cards.

Winning hands

Below is a list of hands. It lists the hands in ranking order from top to bottom.

Royal Flush - Straight flush from ten (T) to ace (A).

Straight Flush - Suited straight.

Four-of-a-kind - If several players have the same four-of-a-kind, the fifth card determines who wins, otherwise the pot is split.

Full house - If several players have a full house, the player with the higher set wins. If they have the same set, the highest pair wins.

Flush - If several players have a flush, the player with the highest card wins. If the highest card is the same, the next card is compared, etc.

Straight - If several players have a straight, the player with the highest card wins.

Three-of-a-kind - If several players have three-of-a-kind, the player with the highest card outside of the set wins. If this card is the same for both players, the fifth card is compared.

Two pairs - If several players have two pairs, the player with the highest pair wins. If the highest pair is the same for both players, the player with the highest second pair wins. If both pairs are the same, the player with the best fifth card wins.

Pair - If several players have the same pair, the player with the highest card beside the pair wins. If they are the same, the next card is compared, etc.

High card - The highest card wins. If they are the same, the next card is compared, etc.

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Playing a hand

Playing a hand

1. The two players to the left of the dealer post the blinds (compulsory bets).
2. Every player is dealt two cards face down. These cards are your hole cards and not visible to the other players.
3. The first round of betting starts with the player to the left of the big blind. Then you go clock-wise around the table and every player decides what they want to do.
4. Three cards ("the flop") is placed face-up in the middle of the table. These community cards are shared by all players and are combined with the hole cards.
5. The second round of betting starts with the player to the left of the dealer. All other players make their bets.
6. A fourth community card ("the turn") is placed in the middle of the table.
7. The third round of betting starts with the player to the left of the dealer. All other players make their bets.
8. The fifth and last community card ("the river") is placed in the middle of the table.
9. The last round of betting starts with the player to the left of the dealer. All other players make their bets.
10. Showdown - the player with the best hand wins the pot. Every player combines the hole cards and the community cards to make the best five-card hand. If more than one player has the same hand, they split the pot. If a player raises and nobody calls, he wins the pot without having to show his hole cards.

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Betting structure

Betting structure

A table can be Fixed limit (or just Limit), Pot-Limit and No-limit.

Fixed limit

Fixed limit means that you are only allowed to bet and raise a fixed amount in the first two betting rounds and twice that amount during the last two betting rounds. So a limit of $ 5/10 means that you may bet or raise $ 5 at a time in the first two betting rounds, and $ 10 in the last two.

Pot-limit

Pot-limit means that the size of the bets is determined by how much is already in the pot. You can never bet more than what is in the pot. You can never raise more than what is in the pot plus your call.

No-limit

No-limit means that any player can bet all his/her chips at any time.

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Managing your money

Managing your money

If you want to play poker, you should set aside money for a bankroll. Start with a bankroll that is sufficient for the tables you want to play.

Do not mix your bankroll with your ordinary everyday budget. The money you set aside for poker should not be money you need for regular expenses.

Set a limit

Only play tables you can afford. Set a limit to the amount you can lose in one session. That limit means that you stop playing when you have lost that amount. If you lose your entire bankroll, you should take a break from playing and not return until you can afford to build it up again.

Never borrow money to play.

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Finding your style of play

Finding your style of play

In poker you talk of tight or loose play, and aggressive or passive players.

Loose play

Loose play means that you gamble more and play more hands than the most favourable ones, statistically.

Tight play

Playing tight means that you wait patiently for good starting hands before you play. You do not gamble.

Aggressive

An aggressive player wants to control the game and bets and raises more often. Sometimes, an aggressive player wants to scare the others into folding. With aggressive play, you can win the pot even if somebody else has a better hand.

Passive

A passive player lets the others control the game and determine the size of the pot. With passive play, you glide along and only win when you have the best hand.

Choosing how to act

The ideal player is often described as tight aggressive. It means that you act rationally and wait for the right opportunity, but act aggressively the times you judge your chances to be good.

The more players there are seated around the table, the more important it is to play tight. With fewer players, a loose aggressive style may be a winning strategy.

When you have been playing for a while, you can start adapting your style of play to your opponents and switch between tight and loose depending on the number of players and how they act.

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Choosing your opponents

Choosing your opponents

Your first decision is to choose a table size. The strategy at a table of ten players is completely different from a heads-up table. Select a type and size of table and stick to it until you feel you have learned that style of play.

Using statistics

Using statistics

Use the statistics in the Lobby to pick the right table. The most important figure is the flop percentage (% flop). It shows how many of the players, on average, pay to see the flop, which indicates how loose or tight the game is. At a table of ten, 25 % is very tight and 40 % or higher indicates a fairly loose game

Another figure is Average pot. A big average pot means that more players have contributed to the pot, and that indicates a loose game. Compare the average pot to the level set for that table.

Picking opponents

You have the opportunity to observe a table and the game before taking a seat. Use that opportunity and get a feel for how the game is played and what the players are like. Study carefully and make notes on how people play with the Player Notes feature. First and foremost, you should try to determine whether those players play better or worse than you. Avoid tables where there are many early raises before and immediately after the flop, and tables where it looks as if one or two players are fleecing the rest. Extremely aggressive players can be sharks or fishes and if you consider yourself a beginner or an average player, you would do better to avoid them.

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Starting hands

Starting hands

One important recurring decision is to choose which hands to play. A good rule of thumb is to play fewer hands than your opponents. Learning whether a hand is playable or not, is very much a question of experience. Strong pairs and running cards are good hole cards.

Do not be curious

Remember, it will cost money to see the flop. In order to win in the long term, you should not waste money out of curiosity. Sometimes, high cards are not as good as they may seem at first glance. For example, a queen and a jack off-suit is normally not a good starting hand.

Good starting hands

These are very good starting hands: AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ, TT

These are also good: AJ, KQ, QJ, JT, T9 (suited), 99, 88, 77, Ax (suited).

You should normally refrain from playing other starting hands.

Heads-up

If you are playing heads-up - one against one - you can play more starting hands than you would at a full table. In that situation you have a greater chance of winning a hand with 22 (55% chance of winning) than with AK (45%). That is because you already have a pair, and against only one player, the risk of his/her hitting a higher pair than yours is smaller.

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Learning to read the cards

Learning to read the cards

When the community cards are dealt, the table may turn. You must make a decision: should you be in the second round of betting or not? The decision should be based on the reading of both your cards and your opponents'. Your strategy for which hole cards you play are most certainly used by others as well. Think about what possible hands may be created with the first three community cards (the flop).

The flop - the first three community cards

If the first three community cards (the flop) don't fit your hole cards, fold. It could be expensive to chase something if you do not already have a decent hand with the first five cards.

A pocket pair (paired hole cards) that didn't give you a set (three-of-a-kind) is not worth much unless all cards in the flop are lower than your pair. The chances of improving your hand are remote.

An open straight or flush draw after the flop is a good hand. Bet, raise or call.

A gut-shot straight draw is usually not good enough to bet on. A gut-shot straight draw has four outs, which means that there are four cards in the deck that will give you a straight. A common strategy is to call on the flop if it is cheap to do so, and then fold if you don't make the straight on the turn.

The turn - the fourth community card

When you come to the fourth card (the turn) stakes go up. There are possibilities of winning, or losing, big. If you succeed in raising twice on the turn and then win the pot, you have played perfectly.

Calling and then raising (check-raise) is a good method if you are first to speak with a good hand. That way, you do not give your opponent the opportunity to read you or your hand.

A bet or a raise on the turn almost always means that the player has a good hand. If more than two players remain in the pot, it is almost certain that at least one of them has a really good hand, e.g. three-of-a-kind, a straight or a flush.

Do not bet on the turn with an incomplete hand. Calling is fine, but betting or raising is often incorrect (unless you think you can scare the opponent into folding).

The river - the fifth community card

Call a weak hand if you have a strong hand. If you have a hand that was good on the flop, but has not improved on the turn or the river, it is better to start by checking. There is probably no reason to bet, because a weaker hand would fold, but a stronger hand would raise, losing you more money than necessary. It is a typical no-gain-high-risk scenario.

On the river, there is usually so much money in the pot that it is worth calling a small bet even if you are uncertain about whether you have the best hand.

Scare-card

A scare-card is a card on the board that may have created a good hand for another player. Scare-cards reduce the probabilities of your winning. Typical scare-cards include:
- three running cards or cards close together
- might give somebody a straight
- two running cards
- might give somebody two pairs as people often play connectors
- a two-card flush on the board will significantly reduce the possibility of winning with a straight. One of the four cards you are waiting for may give somebody else a flush!

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Position

Position

Your position at the table primarily means your position in relation to the dealer. The dealer has the most advantageous position, as he/she has the opportunity to see how all the players act before making his/her own decision. But you can also choose position in relation to players that you know play in a certain way.

Early position

The four players to the left of the dealer are in early position.

It is more difficult to win much from an early position. The player to the left of the dealer is the small blind and is the first to act after the flop. The player to the left of the small blind is the big blind. This player already posted his/her bet. The player to the left of the big blind is the first to act before the flop. This is called being under the gun.

The players on the blinds and under the gun (early positions) must be selective about the hands the play as they do not have the privilege to see how the other players act before they make their own decisions on whether to call, raise or fold.

Say, for example, that you are the first to act, holding Jack-ten in different suits. You call, betting the same amount as the big blind. The player to you left raises and everyone else folds. You are now faced with a dilemma. There is a significant risk that the other player is holding better cards than you, with at least on ace or a pair. Unfortunately, you have already bet, because you had no idea how the other players would act. In addition, you will have to act before the other player throughout the entire hand.

Late position

Playing clockwise means that the players who act late have an advantage. This means that a player in a late position can play a weaker hand and gamble more without having to worry about losing too much money.

Sitting on the button gives you the benefit of not only seeing how the other players act, but also of being able to control the size of the pot. After all the other players have bet, a raise from the button can push up the pot, assuming everyone does not fold. Because the players have already accepted making a bet, it is easier to lure them into betting a second time (or a third or a fourth!).

Sit to the right of a tight player

A classic strategy is to "sit to the right of a tight player and to the left of a loose one". With the loose player on your tight, you always assess the hand after he/she acts. He/she will probably call or raise more often with worse cards, which allows you to confront him/her. A tight player rarely relies on luck.

You can steal the blinds more easily if you have a tight player on your left. By raising pre-flop you can make a tight player fold if he/she does not have very good hole cards.

A tight player to your left will call rather than raise when you raise, even if they have a really good hand. You can scare them more easily into believing that you have the best possible hand (the nuts), thereby getting the next card without paying anything. This applies even if they really have the edge over you.

Sitting to the left of a loose player

With loose or even wild players to your right, you can re-raise immediately after they raise and thus get rid of mediocre hands or drawing hands.

The bankroll of a loose player fluctuates wildly. Money has a tendency to move clockwise around the table because it is easier to read the player to your right. When a loose player is heading for a negative round, you are in the right position to take maximum advantage of this.

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Odds - probabilities

Odds - probabilities

By knowing the probabilities of certain things happening, you will be able to significantly improve your poker game. A good poker player knows the probabilities for the most important plays, but if you want to be in complete control, you use an odds table.

Outs

Outs is a value stating how many cards that will improve your hand there are left in the deck.

Odds before the flop

States the probability of getting a certain starting hand.

Odds at the flop

States the probabilities of getting a hit on your hole cards when the flop is turned over.

Odds after the flop

States the probabilities of getting a hit on the turn or river cards.

Pot odds

Indicates the relationship between the bet you must do and the size of the pot.

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Pot odds

Pot odds

Pot odds are used to determine whether a bet is worth making, i.e. if the pot is big enough in relation to the probabilities of your catching the hand you want. In order to make that assessment, you need to know two things:

1. What are the chances of your getting the "outs" you need, i.e. the cards that will give you the hand you want.
2. How much money is there in the pot and how much does it cost to call.

This is how you calculate the pot odds

Let's say the pot is $10 on a $1/$2 table. It costs you $1 to call, which gives you pot odds of 10-1. In order for it to be worth calling, the pot odds must be higher than the odds of your making the draw.

The pot odds at 10-1 are higher than 4.88-1 which means that it is worth calling. You will lose 4.88 times for every time you win, but because you win $10 when you do win, that is enough to cover the losses of $4.88

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Bluffing

Bluffing

One important aspect of poker is to be able to pull the wool over someone's eyes. Bluffing is the ultimate weapon in poker. The reason for bluffing is of course to get the other players to believe that you are sitting with a better hand than you do, and, above all, with a better hand than they do.

Many beginners like the idea of bluffing and consequently misuse it.

Some typical reason for bluffing

1. When there are few players in the pot - because it is easier to trick a few than a whole bunch.
2. When you are playing against tight players - because they often fold.
3. On the river (the last card) - because your opponents do not know you didn't make your hand.
4. When you are on the button and everyone else have checked - because they will fold if they think you have a good hand.
5. When you bet on your hole cards and hit nothing on the flop - because the others do not know you didn't.
6. You want to put "fear" in the others - because you have won several pots with good hands, and you want them to think that "he's at it again".
7. When the flop (the first three cards) is rubbish - because most players will fold automatically.
8. When there is a pair on the board - because you can act as if you have the set (three-of-a-kind).

Semi-bluffing

A semi-bluff is when you don't have anything right now, but you have a chance of getting a really good hand if the right card comes later.

Slow-playing

A different kind of bluff is when you have really good cards, but you are worried about scaring off players if you play your hand too aggressively. Instead, you can play as if you do not have a very good hand and just want to tag along hoping to hit something. On the turn or the river you can raise to bring home a decent pot.

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Poker glossary

Poker glossary

Action

A request to act when a player forgets that it is his or her turn.

Alias

The name under which other players will know you. Also known as Nick.

All-in

To go all-in is when a player bets all his remaining chips into a pot. Somebody who is all-in cannot win more money from another player than what he had in his chip-stack before the pot. The all-in player has a chance to win the main pot, but any additional money that is bet into the pot forms a side-pot.

All-in Protection

All-in protection is used when a player in a ring game loses his connection. When a player loses his connection, a side-pot is created (as if the player is all-in) with the money that the player has already bet. That means that the player still has a chance to win if it turns out he has the best hand in the show-down.

Ante

A small bet that all players put in the pot before the cards are dealt. The size of the ante is determined by NorgesAutomaten Poker and varies with the level of the game. Note that this is only relevant to 7-Card Stud. Before the cards are dealt, all players place a nominal bet (ante), e.g. $1 at a $10-$20 table. Blinds are a special form of ante and are used in Texas Hold'em, see "Blind" below.

Bankroll

The total amount a player brings to the poker room and is willing to risk.

Bet

(Verb) To place a bet in the pot during any of the betting rounds; or (noun) the chips that have been placed in the pot.

Bet limits

The limits define the maximum and minimum amounts of chips a player can bet. E.g. in a $10/20 game, the minimum bet is $10 and the maximum bet is $20.

Big Blind

The compulsory bet by the player who is the second player to the left of the dealer, before any cards are dealt. The big blind is equal to the lower bet limit, or, if there is no such limit, is paid in accordance with the rules for blinds at that table. The various levels are visible next to each table in the Lobby. See also "Small blind"!

Bluff

A bet or raise with a hand that probably cannot beat the other hands.

Board

All community cards - flop, turn and river - in Hold'em.

Button

The button on the table indicating who the dealer is. You often hear the expression "player on the button". In NorgesAutomaten Poker the button is marked D for dealer.

Cap

The last raise allowed in a betting round. In limit games the only allowed bet or raise is for example $5 in the first two betting rounds of a $5-$10 Hold'em game. There can be a maximum of four bets/raises in one round. These include bet, raise, re-raise and cap. More information is found in the poker rules.

Centre Pot

The first pot to be created in a hand.

Check

Refraining from betting with the option to call or raise later in the round. It is equivalent to betting zero (0) dollars.

Check raise

First checking and then raising when a player sitting after you decides to bet. This is an important part of poker strategy and can be used for adding money to the pot when you are certain you have the best hand but suspect the others will fold if you bet first. Instead, you lull them into a false sense of security, believing that they can buy the pot with a bet. Then you raise, which will probably force the other player to call. (Hopefully with a worse hand...).

Community cards

The five shared face-up cards on the table. You use those cards and your pocket cards (hole cards) to make the best possible five-card hand.

Complete Hand

A hand using all five cards - straight, flush, full house, four-of-a-kind or straight flush.

Connector

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Dominated Hand

A hand that will always lose against a better hand, but that people often play nonetheless. For example: K3 is dominated by KQ. Except for when you flop (e.g. 3-3-x, K-3-x), K3 will always lose to KQ.

Equity

Your rightful share of the pot. If the pot is $80 and you have a 50% chance of winning it, your equity is $40. This is, to some extent, fictitious as you will either win $80 or nothing, but it does give you a good idea of expected profit.

Expectation

1. A term used to give you an idea of how much you will, on average, win if you play in a certain way. Imagine, for example, that you bet $10 into a $50 pot on a draw that you will hit 25% of the time, and it wins every time you hit it. Three times out of four, you will not get the hand and lose $10 every time, for a total of $30. The fourth time you will get your hand and win $50. Your total profit for those four hands will be $50-$30 = $20, or an average of $5 per hand. You call with $10 and have a positive expectation of $5.
2. The amount you expect to make at the poker tables over a certain period of time. For example; if you have made $527 after 100 hours of playing, your expectation would then be $5.27/h. You will of course not make this exact amount every hour (some hours you will lose as well), but it is your average expectation.

Flop

The first three community cards, turned up at the same time.

Gut-shot Straight

A straight that is completed on the inside. If you are holding 9s-8s, the flop comes 7c-5h-2d, and the turn is 6c, then you made a "gut-shot straight".

Pocket cards

The two cards you are holding. Also known as Hole cards.

Heads Up

A pot contested by two players only. - "It was heads up by the turn".

Hit

We say "the flop hit me." It means that the flop consisted of cards that helped and strengthened your hand. If you have AK and the flop comes K-7-2, then it hit you.

House

The house is the establishment that organises the game. You pay a fee (rake) to the house but the house does not participate in the game itself.

Kicker

A card that determines which one is the stronger of two similar hands. E.g. you have AK and your opponent holds AQ. The flop comes with yet another ace. Now, you both have a pair, but you have a king kicker. The kicker can be essential in Texas Hold'em.

Lobby

The area where you choose table and type of game.

Muck

When you fold your cards against a better hand, without showing them and without having been called. You do not have to show a winning hand either, assuming nobody called you.

Nick

The name under which other players will know you. Also known as Alias.

No-limit

A variation of poker in which the players can bet any number of chips (up to the number of chips they have available at the table) every time it is their turn. It is a completely different game to limit poker.

Nuts

The best possible hand that can be had with the help of the board. If the board is Ks-Jd-Ts-4s-2h, then As-Ds gives you the best possible hand (the nuts). The term is sometimes used of the best hand in a certain category, even if it isn't the best possible hand you can have. In the example above, somebody with Ah-Qc could say that he had the nut straight.

Out

A card that will turn your hand into a winning hand. It's usually heard in plural. For example: "Any spade will give me a flush, hence I have nine outs."

Overcard

A card higher than any card on the board. For example, if you hold AQ and the flop comes J-7-3, you don't have a pair, but you have two overcards.

Overpair

A pocket pair that is higher than any card on the board. If you are holding QQ and the flop comes J-8-3, you have an overpair.

Playing the Board

When your hole cards cannot help create a stronger hand than the five cards on the board, you play the board. An example is when you are holding 22 and the board is 4-4-9-9-A (no possible flush).

Pocket cards

The two cards you are holding. Also known as Hand cards or Hole cards.

Posting

Contributing a blind to the pot, which you often must do if you sit down at a table with an ongoing game. When a player takes a seat at an active Texas Hold'em table he/she is also forced to post a first bet equal to the big blind. If you sit out and the dealer button passes your chair, you are also forced to post when you rejoin. This can be considered a fine or a fee for coming back to the table.

Pot Limit

A variation of poker where a player can bet up to the amount already in the pot when it is his/her turn to speak. Just like no-limit poker, this is a completely different game to limit poker

Quads

Four-of-a-kind.

Rake

An amount from each pot collected by the house - this is NorgesAutomaten Poker's revenue.

Rank

The numerical value of a card. For example: "Jack"," Seven".

River

The fifth and last community card on the board. Also known as Fifth street.

Scare

A card or a combination of cards that may give other players the edge against your hole cards. For example: three running cards or three cards close together could very well give somebody else a straight.

Second Pair

A pair using the second highest card of the flop. If you are holding As-Ts and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have second pair.

Set

Three-of-a-kind, when you hold one and have two on the board.

Short Stack

When your chip count is significantly lower than the other players' stacks. If you have $10 worth of chips and everyone else at the table have $100, you are short-stacked.

Showdown

When all remaining players show their hand in order to decide which one is the winner, e.g. when the fourth and final round of betting is concluded. This does not apply if the last bet or raise is not called, in which case there is no showdown.

Side Pot

A pot created outside of the main pot which one player does not partake in, because of his being out of chips. For example: Anders bets $6, Oliver calls his $6 and Cecilia calls, but she only has $2 remaining. A pot of $8 is created, which Anders or Oliver can win, but not Cecilia. All further bets from Anders and Oliver will go into the side pot. Cecilia can still win the original pot, the main pot or centre pot.

Sit-out

A player who decides to stay at the table but not participate in the actual game. When the player decides to rejoin the game he will be required to pay a compulsory fee if the dealer button has passed him.

Small blind

This is the first bet and it is posted by the player directly to the left of the dealer. This is a compulsory bet in Texas Hold'em. The small blind is half of the Big blind and equals half of the minimum bet limit.

Split Pot

A pot that is split between two or more players when their hands are of equal value.

Split Two-Pair

Two pairs where both pairs consist of one hole card and one community card. For example: you have T9, the flop comes T-9-5, giving you a split two-pair. Compare with two pairs where one is on the board. For example: you have T9, the flop comes 9-5-5.

Stack

A player's chips. The player's chips available at the table.

Suited cards

Cards that are connected in value, suit or a combination of the two. Hole cards like AsKs, 8c9d, Dh6h. The first one could give you a flush and/or a straight, the second could give you a straight and the third example form part of a flush.

Table Stakes

A rule at NorgesAutomaten Poker that means that a player cannot bring more chips to a table during an ongoing hand. He/she can only invest or bet the amount available at the table, in the current pot. If he/she runs out of chips during the ongoing hand, a side pot is created in which he/she does not take part. All casinos implement this rule. The definition sometimes also includes the fact that a player cannot remove chips from the table during an ongoing hand. Even if this extended rule is not normally called "table stakes", it is more or less always enforced in public poker games.

Top Pair

A pair formed with the highest card in the flop. If you are holding As-Qs and the flop is Qd-Th-6c, you flop the highest pair.

Trips

Three-of-a-kind.

Turn

The fourth community card, turned over separately. Also known as fourth street.

Under the gun

The position acting first in a new round of betting. If you, for example, are sitting first after the big blind, you are "under the gun" in the pre-flop betting round.

Value

As in value play, or when you really want your opponents to call you. This is the opposite of a bluff, when you try to scare or trick them into folding. You have the best possible hand.

Wager

1. Betting into or raising the pot.
2. The chips used for betting or raising.

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Strategies