Category: Poker

Poker is a combination of luck and skill. People think mastering the skill part is hard, but they’re wrong. The trick to poker is mastering the luck. That’s philosophy. Understanding luck is philosophy, and there are some people who aren’t ever gonna fade it. That’s what sets poker apart. And that’s what keeps everyone coming back for more.”
        – Poker commentator and player Jesse May

Poker Jargon and Acronyms

  • AIPF = All In Pre-Flop
  • BB = Big Blind
  • CBET = Continuation bet. When a player bets after the flop, because she was the aggressor pre-flop.
  • CO = Cut Off seat. 2 seats to the right of the button.
  • EP = Early Position. In a 9-handed game, 3 seats are referred to as Early Position: Small Blind, Big Blind and UTG (Also see MP and LP)
  • EV = Expected Value
  • “floor” = Tournament official. Example: “the floor ruled that the guy had folded because his cards had hit the muck”
  • “flatting” = “Flat Calling” = Not raising the pot.
  • HPT = Heartland Poker Tour
  • HJ = Hi-Jack seat. 1 seat to the right of the button
  • HU = Heads Up
  • “iso’ing” = isolating. When a short-stacked player goes all-in, your chances of beating her are best if you play against her heads-up, i.e. iso her. Example: “The shorty shoved for her remaining 20K. I had 88, so I 3-bet all-in to iso her”
  • ITM = In the money
  • LAG = Loose Aggressive Player (Also see TAG)
  • LP = Late Position. In a 9-handed game, 3 seats are referred to as Middle Position: Hi-Jack, Cutoff and Button (Also see EP and MP)
  • ME = Main Event (The Main Event of the World Series Of Poker)(Also see WSOPME)
  • MP = Middle Position. In a 9-handed game, 3 seats are referred to as Middle Position: UTG+1 and the 2 seats directly to the left (Also see EP and LP)
  • MTT = Multi Table Tourney
  • NLHE = No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em
  • o = Offsuit. Example: “He called with 86o, what the hell was he thinking?”
  • OOP = Out Of Position
  • PF = Pre Flop
  • PLO = Pot Limit Omaha
  • PP = Pocket Pair
  • r = Rainbow (3 cards of all different suites). Example “The flop came AK9r”
  • ROI = Return On Investment
  • s = Suited. Example: “I had AJs”
  • SB = Small Blind
  • SNG = Sit ‘N Go Tournament. A single table tournamanet. When the required number of players “sit”, the tournament “goes”.
  • “shorty” = Short stack
  • “shove” = To go All-In with a relatively small stack (in order to put pressure on the opponent)
  • “Stars” = PokerStars – the poker website pokerstars.net / pokerstars.com
  • STT = Single Table Tournament
  • TAG = Tight Aggressive Player (Also see LAG)
  • TPTK = Top Pair Top Kicker
  • UTG = Under The Gun position. The seat to the left of the Big Blind
  • UTG+1 = Under The Gun + 1 position. 2 seats to the left of the Big Blind
  • VB = Value Bet
  • WPT = World Poker Tour
  • WSOP = World Series Of Poker
  • WSOPME = World Series Of Poker Main Event
  • > = The greater than sign (>) is used to denote a winning hand. Example “I tripled up. Won race 99 > AK > AJ”
  • 400/800/100 = A way of denoting the blinds and ante (SB/BB/Ante).