A Short Poker Terminology Guide

Advanced Poker Strategy Dictionary

Compiling another list of commonly defined poker terms and definitions holds little interest for me. The Internet is rife with “poker dictionaries” of varying quality and length. (For example, one of the better guide to poker terminology can be found here: Poker Babes’ Poker Terms and Poker Definitions.) The purpose of this page is to provide a poker strategy reference for people who have some of the wrong ideas about what constitutes good poker strategy. The definitions on this page were written by me, and they might be somewhat different from what you expect.

But if this page were filled with poker definitions that you expected, it wouldn’t be nearly as useful, would it?

Advanced Poker Strategy Terminology

Cheating – What losers do. Most cheaters at poker still lose, and even when they win, they’re still losers by virtue of cheating. Cheaters suck.

Luck – A noun referring to the effect of chance in a game of poker (or in life in general). Luck can be considered either “good luck” or “bad luck”. Skilled poker players understand that good and bad luck are both illusions caused by short-term standard deviation from the actual mathematical odds of something happening or not happening. Some poker players will consider “luck” a myth, but understanding how thoughts of luck affect other player’s psychology can be important to strategic decisions later in the game. In the long run, everyone who plays enough hands of poker has as much good luck as anyone else, and vice versa.

Money – The driving force behind poker. Money is almost always converted into chips at a poker table, but remembering that those chips represent money is critical. Some poker writers claim that good poker players forget about the value of money and just make game-appropriate decisions regardless of the stakes. I don’t subscribe to this point of view. A rational, thoughtful player is going to keep the value of money at the forefront of her mind and make decisions based on that value. Correct decisions mean losing less money and winning more money. Pretending that money and chips have no value doesn’t increase your chances of making correct decisions.

Poker Math – Arithmetic as applied to the game of poker. Understanding “poker math” is only the beginning of advanced poker strategy wisdom. Correct decisions in poker are all mathematical. Even bluffing, which seems to be a psychological poker decision rather than a mathematical poker decision, is only correct when the expected value of the bluff is positive. And the only way to determine whether or not bluffing is a positive expectation move is by using poker math.

Poker Psychology – Psychology is the study of mental processes and mental behavior. It deals with how people think. The phrase “Poker Psychology” indicates the application of understanding how people think to the game of poker. Entire books have been written about poker psychology. Understanding how and why you go on tilt, and how to prevent it or halt it, is a poker psychology application. Knowing when an opponent is on tilt is also an application of poker psychology. Poker psychology is at least as important as poker math, and maybe more so.

Poker Tactics – The short term implementation of a poker strategy. Individual decisions at the poker table are tactical. Taken together, as part of a larger whole, poker tactics make up a poker strategy. “Poker strategies” can be complex and have multiple dimensions. “Poker tactics” are usually simple and one-dimensional. Being a tight aggressive poker player is a strategic decision; raising with a good hand is a tactical decision.

Self-discipline – This is a noun that refers to the ability to control yourself. Being able to avoid going on tilt is one example of self-discipline in action. Playing within your bankroll is self-discipline applied to bankroll management. Self-discipline in poker is a critical skill to learn if you want to be good at poker.

Tells – Behaviors that give away the strength of a poker player’s hand. Recognizing tells is a critical skill in poker, but counterfeiting your own tells can be equally profitable. Not having tells can also be profitable, but faking a tell is a more advanced poker strategy. Convincing a player that you’re bluffing when you’re not can be an extremely profitable way to use poker tells to your advantage.

That’s all of the advanced poker strategy terminology that I care to write about now, but I might expand this page in the future with more definitions.