The useful poker terms for beginners

Have you ever heard about poker tools?

In the poker world, there are many poker tools that accompany a lot of players in their game. Below you can find the most popular poker tools according to Donkhunter. The first one of them is VPN i.e. Virtual Private Network. When you play poker online that tool protects you and your device. You need it to avoid geo-restrictions because when it comes to online poker it's a crime in many countries. VPN hides your real IP and makes you totally anonymous. It doesn't mean that all poker rooms tolerate that tool. VPN is strictly forbidden on some of the rooms, one of them is Bodog.

The other useful tool is emulator. This term is widely known among the players who play on Chinese apps which are apps for mobile devices. Emulator allows you to launch Chinese poker apps on the computer. If you have never heard about these apps, you have to check this poker variant. On our website, you'll find a lot of popular Chinese apps such as PokerBros and Upoker. Probably if you have ever reviewed poker room descriptions you saw that some of them allow or disallow to use HUD i.e. Head-up Display. It's another tool used by the player. The program collects data on your opponent and tracks their statistics, what enables you to better understand their strategy during a game. The vast majority of poker rooms allow to use HUD but on Snail Poker and PartyPoker, it’s banned practice. The last tool we’ll describe here is Virtual Machine. It’s an emulation of a computer system. Thanks to that you have the possibility to play online poker using any device with access to the internet without the necessity of installing local software. 

Do you know the most popular poker variations?

Among poker games, we can pick different variants out. Surely the most popular are Texas Hold'em, Omaha, and Stud. These three variants appear almost everywhere. First of them, Texas Hold’em is a game where some of the cards are common.  These cards are used to make the best possible five-card hand. Initially, each player receives two cards face down, then the dealer reveals shared cards. After, the players have only two rounds to make the best hand. A lot of Texas Hold'em tables you'll find on Pokerstars. Additionally, you can also come across Pineapple. It's an exciting variation of Texas Hold'em where the biggest difference is dealing three cards instead of two. However, after the flop, you have to discard one of them. Pineapple is available on SwC Poker.

More popular variant of Texas hold 'em than Pineapple is Short Deck where the cards from 2 to 5 are removed from the deck. This variant you’ll find on Betkings. The other most popular poker variation is Omaha which is compared to Texas Hold’em, because both of them have a few similar rules. To start the game you need at least two players. Each player receives four face-down cards and it's the biggest difference between Omaha and Texas Hold'em. To win you have to build a five-card hand including exactly two of your cards and three common cards similarly to in Texas Hold. According to players, the best Omaha tables are available on Intertops. Next to Omaha, it’s also worth mentioning Seven-Card Stud. It was the most popular poker game before Texas Hold’em came to the top. To win you have to make the best five-card hand using seven cards. Each of the participants receive two face-down and one face-up card.  Then the players play through three rounds and during each of these rounds they receive a one face-up card. In the last seventh round players receive one face-down card. The Seven-Card Stud tables you can find on Bovada or Americas Cardroom. Next to the above mentioned variations of poker you probably saw something like zoom. The most dynamic ring game or tournament format where you can play a huge number of hands in a short time. It's possible because you play against a pool of players, instead of players on one table. If you fold in Zoom, you are immediately transferred to another If you would like to try your hand, in zoom, you should review poker rooms such as Betfair and Winamax.

If you are bored with classic poker variations you should check Open Face Chinese.. There, your aim is to complete three the best possible hands instead of one. At the beginning of the game, 13 cards are dealt to each player, that's why only four players can sit at one table. Open Face Chinese is offered on PPPoker.

In the poker world, we can also distinguish a few variations of poker in view of the number of players or limits on the table.

Pot-limit means that a player's bets or raises are limited. The amount has to fit in a particular range often between big blind value and the current size of the pot. In fixed-limit games, amounts are fixed. At the beginning of the game, you know how much you can bet and raise by. Usually, these amounts are increased for the later betting rounds. On No Limit tables, bets and raises are unlimited. There is only one restriction. You'll never bet less than the minimal value of bet at the table. 

When it comes to poker variations with different numbers of players. we can distinguish three types such as heads-up, short-handed and full ring. First of them is a game where there are only two players. Short-handed refers to a table with a couple of players in a game, usually up to six players. The game can be continued even if there are less than six players. The last, full ring is a format where you'll find from 7 up to 10 players. Some full ring tables are limited to nine players. A full-ring relates only to the maximum number of players. As in the short-handed case, participants can continue the game even if there are less than ten players. You can check this variation on PokerKing or PokerBros.

 

In the lobby from any poker room you can also find tabs called MTT, S&G, Satellites or other types of tournaments that are described here. However, let us focus on these three types. MTT i.e. Multi Tables Tournaments run on more than one table. Next to MTT, you will find S&G. It's also a type of tournament called Sit and Go. This format is the opposite of the Scheduled Tournament. S&G starts when the required number of players has joined. By the S&G tournaments, it's worth mentioning Spins i.e. Spin&Go. It’s a new 3-player variation of S&G tournament in hyper-turbo format. There, you can multiply your buy-in many times and the prize pool is randomly drawn there. This format is available on Titan Poker or Bet-At-Home. The more specific tournaments are satellites which are allowed to free qualification for the major tournaments such as WSOP or WPT. Qualification is possible on one condition, you have to win the satellite. You can find them on Unibet.

It's also worth mentioning that you can find anonymous and real name tables. The anonymous tables protect the new or recreational player from the shark. Players usually receive a number, and their username isn't displayed. These types of tables you will find on Aconcagua The opposite to anonymous tables are real name tables where username is appeared. The opponents through use of poker tools can easily suss your strategy out.  At the poker rooms you can also come across other useful terms The first one of them can be the jackpot and its types on the particular rooms. Jackpot Is a prize won by a player who met some conditions. We can distinguish a few type:

• Spin&go Jackpot on Coral Poker and Bwin Poker
• Bad Beat Jackpot for example on Tigergaming
• High Hand Jackpot on Lottomatica.it
• Boost Jackpot on Spartan Poker

Additionally, a lot of poker rooms offer their players freeroll and leaderboards. Among poker fans, freeroll has great interests. For the players, it's a chance to win something for free. Freerolls are no risk and cost. You will find this way of promotion on 888poker. Leaderboard is a place where you can see your current points. You receive points for participation in tournaments and then you can exchange them for prizes. Rewards may vary from week to week and month to month. You can come across on weekly, monthly, and yearly leaderboards. Leaderboards are available on GGpoker.

Some poker dictionaries available on the internet include nearly two thousand poker terms. Apart from the above terms, we also want to explain a few different words which we use in our poker rooms description. Below we chose for you the most useful words in this category.

A lot of poker rooms offer table with:

CAP means the last possible raise in a round or top limit in a game.

Ante is popular in Seven-card Stud and Five Card Draw. It's a type of bet which all players have to do. However, it is not a typical bet but rather a form of buy-in at the beginning of the game. You’ll find Ante on Vbet

Push or Fold is a poker strategy cutting down your move options to just two push or fold.  At the best moment players just run all in or fold to protect their chips. If you want to see this action, take a look at Bestpoker.

Run it Twice is one of the actions where two players decide to deal with the river card twice. Half of the pot will go to the winner after the first river card and the other half after the second river card. If you have never seen this type of action, check poker rooms like SportsBetting Poker

Rush and Cash is a fast-fold variant. There, the players are in one large pool and they can rush to a new table at any time. It's possible even if it's not their turn to act. BetKings offers tables with rush and cash.

Straddle is a blind raise made before the cards are dealt which is usually equal to two big blinds. Straddle makes a game more aggressive. You’ll find straddle on Tigergaming. 

Other useful in game terms

Add-on means additional chips which can be optionally purchased at the end of the rebuy period during the tournament.

Blind is A mandatory bet that must be posted blind before each hand. The big blind is twice the small blind. Blind bet is always before looking at one's hand.

Blind level determines the size of the mandatory blinds for each phase of the tournament. The blinds increase together with levels progress.

Bring-in is a forced bet. The player who received the lowest card in Seven Card Stud and Stud 8 has to make a bring-in on the first round of betting. In other poker variations like Razz,  the player who received the highest card has to make a bring-in.

Buy-in is the amount of money that must be deposited in order to participate in the tournament. Often buy-in is used to create a prize pool.

Collusion is kind of a cheat often between a few players. Poker rooms that effectively combated with this practise are PartyPoker and

Entry fee is a part of the buy-in which goes directly to the tournament host and will not go into the prize pool.

Equite is your chance of winning multiplied by the size of the pot.

Rake is the commission taken by the poker room on each hand.