Poker is a game of chance when nothing is at stake but when betting is involved it becomes a lot more complicated and requires a good understanding of strategy, psychology and probability. Getting started can be difficult without the right knowledge of poker terminology but thankfully there are plenty of resources available to help. This article will outline some of the most common terms and phrases used in poker and will also explain their meaning.
Ante – a small bet players are required to put up before a hand is dealt. Antes are designed to give the pot a value right away and make sure every player has chips in the pot before a single card is revealed.
Button – the player who sits in the first to act position, which is usually to the left of the dealer. The button passes to the next player after each hand.
Call – when you say call, you are adding your chips to the pot and going into the next round of betting. You may also say raise if you want to increase the amount of money you are putting into the pot, but you must always call any bets made by other players before raising your own.
Flop – when three community cards are dealt onto the table. The flop can change the entire shape of your poker hand and is often the most crucial part of a hand. The flop is when you can either improve your poker hand or make a straight or flush.
River – the final community card is revealed on the last betting round of a hand. The river can sometimes make your poker hand much stronger if you have the best possible hand and can often make your opponent fold their poker hand.
Hitting your needed cards on the flop, turn and river is crucial to a winning poker hand. However, you must be able to disguise your cards so that your opponents don’t know what you are holding. For example, a pair of kings is a great poker hand but it isn’t worth playing if everyone knows that you have two of them. This is why you must learn to be deceptive. This will make your opponents play rashly and give you the opportunity to take advantage of them. This will lead to you making big poker hands more frequently.