Jacks Or Better | 1 Hand | Bovada
In this draw poker game, you are dealt 5 cards and have to choose which ones to keep. Discard the rest and press ‘Deal’ to get new ones. If you have a pair of Jacks or better, you win.
The more coins you bet, the more you win.
Payouts
How To Play Jacks Or Better
Rules
- Hands are ranked using the pay table.
- Cards are dealt from 1 deck.
- Cards are re-shuffled for each hand.
- You can discard up to 5 cards.
Hand Values
- A pair of Jacks or higher
- 2 pairs
- 3 of a kind
- Straight
- Flush
- Full House
- 4 of a kind
- Straight Flush
- Royal Flush
The Player Can Win if
- The final hand is at least a pair of Jacks.
The Player Loses if
- The final hand does NOT meet the minimum hand of at least a pair of Jacks.
Player Actions / Button Descriptions
- Bet – Used to bet 1-5 coins after they have purchased credits by clicking on chips.
- Bet One – Bets one coin each time it’s pressed, up to a max of 5 coins.
- Bet Max – Bets 5 coins and starts the deal.
- Draw Deal – Deals the cards after a bet has been placed or after put on hold.
- Hold – Used to keep the cards in hand.
- Cash Out – A red button used to stop playing and cash out credits and winnings.
Payouts
Payouts are based on the pay table.
Single Hand Video Poker
- One hand that can be played for 5¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1 and $5. Click on ‘pay table’ and look for the column highlighted based on the amount of coins played.
- Click on the coin slot in the bottom right corner to insert single credits into the machine.
Multi-Hand Video Poker (3 Or More Hands)
- Each Video Poker game that consists of three or more hands can be played for $0.01, $0.05, $0.25, $0.50, and $1. In addition, players can choose from 3 hands, 10 hands, 52 hands or 100 hands. If you are playing a game that consists of three or more hands, you can click on the ‘Pay Table’ button to view the payout table and the proper column will be highlighted based on the amount of coins played.
- In each of the hands played by a player, the cards held by the player appear. Cards are drawn randomly to fill the rest of the spots. Once a card or cards have been discarded by the player, the card or cards cannot appear in any of the subsequent hands.
- You must have a $5 account balance to play multi-hand video poker.
How to Pick the Right Video Poker Game
How to Pick a Video Poker Game
Considered one of the best casino games for its minimal house edge, video poker is a little like poker and a little like slots. Compared with regular poker, the stakes are much lower with video poker. There are no opponents to contend with, and you’ll never be forced to go all-in. There’s just a minimum hand that you work towards attaining in order to trigger a payout.
Video Poker winning hands are the same in standard poker, so if you’ve played Texas Hold’Em before, you have a head start in learning how to play video poker. Anything from a high pair to a royal flush is typically sufficient for a payout, with the stronger hands reeling in the bigger bucks.
So exactly how do you “work towards” getting a stronger hand? Unlike regular poker, video poker casino games give you one chance per round to improve your five-card hand by drawing replacement cards. The opportunity comes after being dealt your initial hand; at that point, you choose the cards that you want to keep, and swap the rejects for fresh new ones. Hopefully with the new additions, you have what’s needed to reel in a payout.
Difference Between Video Poker and Slots
If video poker’s core is inspired by poker, its structure is more like slots. Go to a land-based casino, and you may even confuse the two machines with each other. They each have a monitor, a lever, and flashing lights, with paytables illuminating the game’s wide range of payouts.
When you start playing video poker online, you’ll see that the similarities continue with the gameplay. Just like with slots, video poker games have game icons landing on the screen in random sequences using Random Number Generator technology. These icons are cards from a standard playing deck, although some games include the Joker as a wild. The aim for slots is to land matching icons on a payline; it’s a luck-based game. With video poker, you’re looking to build a standard poker hand, which is where the element of skill comes in.
Skill vs. luck is one way that slots and video poker differ. Video poker players can learn strategy and incorporate it into their decisions about which cards to keep vs. which cards to swap for new ones. The better you are at making this decision, the more money you’ll win.
Excitement: High Risk, High Reward
There are some pretty flashy video poker games that offer sizzling jackpots. These games are more volatile, meaning when you win, you win big. Why play Bonus Poker when you can play Double Double Bonus Poker? You’ll notice that there are iterations of the same game that provide you with a range in volatility. Let’s look at Bonus Poker vs. Double Double Bonus Poker.
In addition to the payouts for standard hands, Double Double Bonus Poker also awards big payouts for four Aces with a 2, 3, or 4 kicker (400 coins), and four Twos, Threes or Fours with an Ace-Four kicker (160 coins). With all these massive payouts, Double Double Bonus Poker is a more volatile, and thus more exciting game.
Relaxation
But not everyone plays video poker for excitement. Some people play it to relax after a stressful day, and these players are better off playing a low volatile game. Jacks or Better is an example of a game with low volatility.
Jacks or Better doesn’t break up 4 of a Kinds like Double Bonus Poker does. Instead it offers one lower payout for all 4 of a Kind hands. The benefits of Jacks or Better are with the lower grade hands, such as a flush and 2 pair, which are the hands you’ll end up with most often. This will result in a less volatile playing experience; you won’t experience the high highs and low lows that the flashier games facilitate, instead you’ll make slightly bigger payouts with the more common hands, making Jacks or Better ideal for someone looking to wind down after a busy day.
Compare Paytables
Each version of video poker has its own unique paytable, which is where you’ll find the payouts offered for each winning hand. In addition to displaying the payout for each hand, you’ll see the difference in payouts as you increase the number of coins staked on a turn. All video poker games allow you to play 1-5 coins per round, and the more coins you stake, the higher the payouts. Many games offer an extraordinary payout for landing the Royal Flush when betting 5 coins.
Here’s an example of a paytable from the video poker classic, Jacks or Better:
Jacks or Better
Double Double Jackpot Poker
As you can see, Double Double Jackpot Poker offers massive payouts for 4 of a Kind hands—way bigger than you’d get from Jacks or Better video poker. You’ll even notice slightly bigger payouts for Straights with Double Double Jackpot Poker. But to balance those increased payouts, the 2 Pair payouts are lower; you get paid the same for a 2 Pair hand as you’d get for a 1 Pair hand. The difference isn’t much, but you win far more frequently with a 2 Pair hand than a 4 of a Kind. That’s the difference in volatility: win big with games like Double Double Jackpot Poker, or win often with games like Jacks or Better. The choice is yours.
Jacks or Better Video Poker: Single Hand or Multi Hand?
The first video poker games released in the late ‘70s required a minimum of two pairs to win. It wasn’t easy. People didn’t embrace the game until the minimum hand was decreased to a pair of Jacks or better – thus the name Jacks or Better.
Jacks or Better is the least volatile out of all video poker variants, meaning the wins are modest and steady. Conservative video poker players enjoy this variant over the flashier and more volatile machines, such as Double Double Bonus Poker, because the risk is low and the payouts are fairly consistent.
Fortunately for them, there are four different ways to play Jacks or Better: 1 Hand, 3 Hands, 10 Hands and 52 Hands. The more hands you play per round, the higher the standard deviation and variance.
Single Hand Jacks or Better
Variance: 19.51
Standard Deviation: 4.41
When you’re just starting out with video poker, sticking to 1 Hand Jacks or Better is the way to go. You’ll be dealt one hand a round, making learning easier than playing with multiple hands. For those who’ve never played before, you start a round of Single Hand Jacks or Better by clicking the “Bet One” button once to play 1-coin a round, twice to play 2-coins a round, and so on, up to 5-coin rounds. The coin denominations include $0.05, $0.25, $0.50, $1, and $5. After setting up your betting configurations, click the “Deal” button to receive your five-card hand. Click the cards you want to hold onto, hit “Draw”, and the unselected cards will be swapped for new ones, giving you your final five-card hand. In order to win, your hand must have one of the winning combinations listed on the paytable. These are the same hands used in poker, as you can see in the list below:
- Royal Flush: Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, same suit
- Straight Flush: Five cards of sequential rank, same suit
- 4 of a Kind: Four cards, same rank
- Full House: 3 of a Kind and Pair
- Flush: Five cards, same suit
- Straight: Five cards in sequential rank
- 3 of a Kind: Three cards, same rank
- 2 Pair: Two cards, same rank
- Jacks or Better: Pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings, Aces
Double or Nothing Rules
Wins in Jacks or Better trigger the game’s Double or Nothing round. You’ll get a prompt that displays your payout and asks whether you’d like to try to double it. In this round, five cards are placed on the screen—four face-down and one face-up. The face-up card is the Dealer’s card, and the face-down cards are yours to choose from. In order to win, you must blindly pick a card that’s ranked higher than the Dealer’s; suits don’t matter. After you pick your card, they’re all revealed. If you got the higher card, you have two options:
1. Continue on for another round of Double or Nothing.
2. Collect your winnings and return to the game.
However, if you got a lower card than the Dealer, you lose your payout and return to the game automatically.
Jackpot Eligibility
On the Jacks or Better paytable, you’ll notice that with each additional coin wagered, the payouts increase incrementally by the value of the 1-coin payout listed for the hand. For example, the Royal Flush pays 250 for a 1-coin wager, 500 for a 2-coin wager, 750 for a 3-coin wager, and 1000 for a 4-coin wager. This is the case with all the winning hands. However, there is one exception: the Royal Flush payout for a 5-coin wager is 4000 instead of 1250, creating an incentive to bet 5 coins.
Multi Hand Jacks or Better
Variance: 23.44
Standard Deviation: 4.84
After mastering 1 Hand Jacks or Better, the natural progression is to move on to 3 Hand Jacks or Better. 3 Hand Jacks or Better deals you a five-card hand; out of those five cards, you pick the ones you want to hold. The cards you select will be included in all three hands. When you click the “Draw” button, the unwanted cards are replaced with new ones. Each hand receives a unique set of new cards, so you’ll end up with three semi-unique hands.
After you get comfortable playing with three hands per round, you can upgrade to 10 Hand Jacks or Better, and further down the road, 52 Hand Jacks or Better. Just keep in mind, the cost per round increases as you bump up the number of hands you play. For example, playing the 52 Hand variant with the maximum five $0.25 coins per hand costs $65 a round compared to $1.25 with the 1 Hand version. So enjoy the slow progression because it’s not cheap to play with the pros.
Comparing Jacks or Better Pay Tables
Jacks or Better Single Hand
While the majority of payouts are the same whether you’re playing Jacks or Better 1 Hand or Multi-Hand, there are two exceptions: the Full House and Flush. Both of these hands pay more for the 1 Hand version as opposed to the multi-hand versions. Here are the two paytables, so you can see for yourself how they stack up:
Jacks or Better Multi-Hand ( Same for 3-Hand, 10-Hand and 52-Hand)
Managing your Bankroll
As you move from the single-hand to the multi-hand versions of Jacks or Better, the cost per round increases because you’re betting per hand as opposed to per round. For the 1 Hand version, you can pay between $0.05 to $25 per round, depending on how many coins you want to wager and the denomination of coin selected. The coins range from $0.05 to $5. Compare that with the 52 Hand version, where you’re paying between $0.52 and $260 per round, and coin denominations range from $0.01 to $1.
You can see how the cost increases, so you’ll want to factor that into your bankroll management. Depending on the size of your roll, you may be restricted to certain versions of video poker—especially if you want to bet max to be eligible for the jackpot. Don’t worry too much about rising through the ranks of Jacks or Better poker quickly. As the winning hands and rules of the game are identical from 1 Hand to 52 Hand Jacks or Better, the win rate is the same regardless of which version you’re playing. For that reason, the strategy you use for 1 Hand Jacks or Better can be used for all four games. The only difference noted is in the paytable, which offers lower payouts for the Full House and Flush when playing Multi-Hand versions of the game.
Conclusion
Anyone looking for low house edge, a good level of strategy, and low-pressure gameplay would be hard-pressed to find a better game than Jacks or Better video poker. While the 1 Hand version offers the low volatility appreciated by conservative gamblers, you can easily increase it by playing the multi-hand versions. Just keep in mind, you’re sacrificing a small edge in certain payouts when you level up. It’s not easy going pro.
Poker Glossary
Poker Terms and Terminology
They say English is the universal language of poker, but this great game has a language all its own. Anytime you hear or read some poker lingo that you don’t quite understand, make sure to consult our glossary of poker terms here at Bovada. The following list includes the most common terms used in poker, everything from the basics to some of the more colorful poker slang terms you’ll come across. By keeping on top of these online poker terms, you’ll have the vocabulary you need to communicate more effectively about the game, which will help you play online poker at the highest level possible.
A
Action
1. The opportunity for a player to act when it is their turn during the course of a hand.
2. The ongoing play during a hand, particularly when there is heavy betting and raising. A player who bets or raises frequently may be referred to as an action player.
3. A stake in the outcome of a player’s performance. If you back a player financially, you have part of that player’s action.
Active player
A player who is still involved in a live hand.
Ante
A compulsory contribution of chips made by each player before a hand is dealt. Antes are most commonly found in stud games, but may also be used in tournaments as the blinds increase.
All-in
1. A bet that puts all a player’s remaining chips at risk.
2. The condition of having all one’s chips at risk; he’s all-in.
B
Backdoor
A draw that requires two more cards to complete after the flop has been dealt.
Bad beat
A situation where a player loses a hand they were heavily favored to win, after their opponent catches one of a small number of outs to make a better hand.
Bankroll
1. The amount of money that a player has to play poker with.
2. The act of providing a player money for poker, typically as an investment.
Bet
1. To add money or poker chips to a pot. Specifically, this refers to a situation when the action has yet to be opened, but can also be used in general terms for raising and calling.
2. A player’s turn to act; e.g. “It’s your bet.”
3. The money or chips a player adds to a pot.
Betting round
A series of bets involving every player remaining in the hand. Flop games include four betting rounds: pre-flop, the flop, the turn, and the river.
Big blind
1. A mandatory live bet that is posted before the start of each hand in a flop or draw game. This bet is typically twice the size of the small blind.
2. The player at the table who must post this mandatory bet.
Blank
A card that isn’t likely to benefit any player or impact the hand in a meaningful way, like a Deuce of Spades on the turn after a rainbow Ace-King-Jack flop.
Blind
1. A mandatory live bet that is posted before the start of each hand in a flop game. Most games feature two of these bets: the small blind and the big blind.
2. The player(s) at the table who must post this mandatory bet.
Bluff
A bet made with a weak hand that is only expected to win by forcing the other players to fold.
Bottom pair
The lowest pair available given the community cards that have been dealt.
Broadway
An Ace-high straight (Ace-King-Queen-Jack-Ten).
Bullets
1. A pair of pocket Aces in Texas Hold’em.
2. Poker chips.
Bump
An older term for a raise.
Burn
To discard the top card of the deck before each hand, and before any subsequent cards are dealt in later betting rounds. This is done to protect the integrity of the deal, in case any player has seen the top card before it is dealt.
Burn cards
The cards that are discarded when a hand is dealt; these cards are placed in the muck, or discard pile.
Bust
1. To lose all of your money or chips.
2. A draw that does not complete; e.g. “a busted flush draw.”
Button
1. A white plastic disk that moves clockwise around the table in flop games, signifying the dealer in a hand-dealt game. In games with a dedicated dealer, the button represents the player who receives their hole cards last.
2. The player who receives their hole cards last in flop games.
3. The position at the table where said player is seated.
Buy
To place a large bet or raise, hoping to win the pot or become the player in position by getting others to fold; e.g. “buying the pot” or “buying the button”.
Buy-in
The amount of money that is required to play in a cash game or tournament.
C
Call
To match the amount of a bet, as opposed to folding or raising.
Calling station
A player who calls more frequently than most others do.
Cap
1. The final raise allowed during a betting round, typically in a Fixed-Limit game.
2. The maximum buy-in allowed to play in a cash game.
3. The maximum amount of money players may bet during any one hand.
Case
The last card of a given rank remaining in the deck, after the other three cards have been dealt.
Catch
To receive a card that is considered good for the player.
Check
1. A betting decision where the player doesn’t fold, but also doesn’t add any chips or money to the pot.
2. A poker chip used in cash games that has actual monetary value, as signified by the denomination printed on its face.
Check-raise
The act of checking when out of position, then raising after someone else puts in a bet/raise.
Chips
Small disks that are used at the poker table in place of money. Different colors of chips are used for different denominations; these chips and denominations represent actual money in cash games (see: checks), but not tournaments.
Cold call
The act of calling during a betting round, after a bet and a raise have already been made.
Come
A drawing hand that must complete to win; e.g. “I bet on the come with four cards to a straight flush.”
Connector
A card that is one rank higher or lower than another card.
Counterfeited hand
A hand that loses after getting dealt a card that nullifies the player’s advantage; e.g. “I had Nine-Eight on a King-Ten-Nine flop, then another King and another Ten were dealt and I got counterfeited.”
Cowboy
A pair of pocket Kings in Texas Hold’em.
Crack
To beat a very strong hand by completing a draw.
Cut
The act of separating the deck into two or more piles after it has been shuffled, to help maintain the integrity of the deal.
D
Dog
Short for underdog.
Dominated hand
A hand that is a heavy statistical underdog to another player’s hand.
Door card
The first card dealt face-up in a stud game, after the hole cards are dealt.
Drawing dead
A situation where a player has no chance to win the pot at showdown.
Drop
1. Another term for fold.
2. A form of commission charged by casinos to players at cash tables, based on how much time they spend playing.
E
Equity
The share of the pot that a player can expect to win, on average, given the current situation.
Expectation
1. The amount of money that a player can expect to win, on average, by making a specific play given the current situation.
2. The amount of money that a player can expect to win, on average, at a specific game during a specific time period.
F
Family pot
A hand where everyone at the table is involved in the pot.
Fast play
The act of playing a hand aggressively with bets and raises, as opposed to checks and calls (see: slow play)
Fishhook
A pair of pocket Jacks in Texas Hold’em.
Flop
1. A type of poker game that uses blinds rather than a bring-in, and features community cards, such as Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and Omaha Hi/Lo.
2. The first three community cards that are dealt in such a game.
3. The betting round in which the first three community cards are dealt.
Fold
To withdraw from the hand and relinquish any claim to the pot, as well as any bets that the player has already made.
Foul
A hand which is ruled unplayable due to a breach in rules or procedure.
Free card
A card that a player receives without first having to call a bet or raise.
Free roll
1. A tournament that is free for any player to enter.
2. A situation where two or more players have the same hand value, but one player also has a draw to a stronger hand.
Full house
A hand consisting of three cards of the same rank and two cards of another rank.
G
Gutshot
An inside straight draw.
H
Hand
1. A complete series of betting rounds leading to the pot being awarded to the winner(s).
2. The cards a player is holding, including any community cards they might use.
Heads up
A game or hand involving exactly two players.
High hand
The strongest hand out of those competing for a pot, except in lowball games, where the high hand is the weakest hand.
Hit
Another term for catch.
House
The casino, card room or other organization hosting the game.
I
Ignorant end
A straight draw where the player will make the worst straight possible if they complete, aka the dumb end.
Implied odds
The pot odds that a player has at one point in a hand, given an assumed series of actions later in the hand.
Inside straight draw
A draw to a straight that can only be completed by a single rank of card, as opposed to an open-ended straight draw.
J
Jackpot
A prize that is sometimes awarded to a player or players for the occurrence of a specific event during a game, like winning a hand with a royal flush, or having a very strong hand beaten by an even bigger hand at showdown.
Jam
The act of going all-in.
K
Kicker
Any unpaired card that is used to break a tie situation among hands.
L
Live
1. A description for any cards in the deck that have yet to be dealt or exposed.
2. A description for a player who brings action to the table, or a game featuring a lot of action.
3. A description for a hand that is still in play.
Loose play
A style of poker featuring more action than normal.
Lock
An unbeatable hand that is guaranteed to win the pot.
M
Made hand
A hand that already contains at least a pair, as opposed to a drawing hand.
Maniac
A player who will raise and re-raise aggressively with little regard to the quality of their hand.
Muck
1. The pile of discarded and burned cards collected in front of the dealer.
2. The act of folding by placing one’s cards face-down in the discard pile.
N
No-Limit
A betting structure that allows players to go all-in when it’s their turn.
Nuts
The best possible hand any player can have, given any visible cards.
O
Offsuit
A card that is not of the same suit as another given card.
Omaha
A flop game similar to Texas Hold’em, with players receiving four cards instead of two.
One-gap
Two cards that are separated by a single rank.
Out
Any single card that can improve a player’s hand.
Outdraw
To defeat an opponent by completing a draw.
Overcall
To call a bet after one or more other players have already called.
Overcard
A card of a higher rank than any visible cards during a hand.
Overpair
A pair of a higher rank than any visible cards during a hand.
P
Paint
Another term for face card.
Passive
A style of poker featuring checking and calling, as opposed to aggressive play with bets and raises.
Pay off
To call a bet and lose the hand.
Play the board
To use all five community cards on the river to make your hand.
Pocket cards
The cards that are dealt face-down to a player at the start of a hand.
Post
1. To put in a blind at the start of a hand.
2. To put in a forced bet, usually equal to the size of the big blind, when first sitting down at a cash game.
Pot
The chips that have been put into play during a hand and are eligible to be won.
Pot limit
A betting structure where the maximum bet or raise any player can make is the current size of the pot.
Pot odds
The ratio between the size of the pot and the cost of continuing in a hand.
Protect
1. To shield one’s cards so that they are not accidentally exposed or otherwise compromised.
2. To bet or raise with a strong, but vulnerable made hand, when facing a threat from one or more drawing hands.
Q
Quads
Another term for four of a kind.
R
Rag
A low card, usually between Deuce and Five, although a Six may also be considered a rag.
Ragged
A description for a board with few high or co-ordinated cards, either paired or by rank/suit.
Rainbow
A board where all the cards are of different suits.
Raise
To add a larger amount of money, usually at least twice as much, to the pot than the previous bettor did.
Rake
A percentage of the pot which is removed by the dealer before being awarded to the winner, and kept by the house as a commission. This is typically done only with hands that have reached the flop.
Rank
1. The denomination of a playing card.
2. The specific strength of a hand, e.g. two pair.
Represent
To play a hand, intentionally or otherwise, in such a way that suggests what cards you may be holding.
Re-raise
To raise after a previous player has raised.
Ring game
A cash game, as opposed to a tournament.
River
The last dealt card or betting round in a hand.
Rock
A conservative player who plays very few hands.
Runner-runner
A draw that completes using the final two cards dealt in the hand.
S
Scare card
A card that appears to help a player, like an Ace on the flop in a 3-bet pot.
Second pair
The second-highest pair available given the community cards that have been dealt.
Sell
To represent a big hand as if it were a less powerful hand, hoping to induce action.
Semi-bluff
A bet or raise with a hand that may not be the best at the moment, but can draw and make the winning hand should the opponent continue.
Set
A specific version of three of a kind, where you have a pocket pair and a third card of the same rank hits the board.
Seven-Card Stud
A stud game where each player is dealt seven cards, and asked to make their best 5-card hand. The first betting round sees two cards dealt face-down, then the door card; this is followed by up to three more betting rounds if necessary, each preceded by a single face-down card, then a seventh and final betting round after the seventh card is dealt face-up.
Short stack
1. The stack with the fewest number of chips at a tournament or tournament table.
2. A relatively small stack at a cash game that allows a lower buy-in; e.g. 40 big blinds when everyone else has bought in for 100bb.
3. A player with such a stack.
Showdown
The final sequence of a hand, if required, after all the action has been completed. The players left in the pot turn their hole cards over, any remaining cards are dealt, and the winner is declared.
Side pot
A secondary pot created after one or more players are all-in during a hand, and at least two other live players still have chips.
Slow play
The act of playing a hand (usually a strong hand) passively with checks and calls, as opposed to fast play.
Small blind
1. A mandatory live bet that is posted before the start of each hand in a flop game. This bet is typically half the size of the big blind.
2. The player at the table who must post this mandatory bet.
Split pot
1. A pot that is divided equally among two or more winning hands that each have the same value. Also known as a chopped pot.
2. A pot that is divided between the high hand and the low hand in a game like Omaha Hi/Lo.
Split two pair
A hand in which a player’s two hole cards are each paired by cards on the board.
Straddle
An extra blind voluntarily posted in a cash game, where allowed, in order to stimulate the action. A straddle is typically twice the size of the big blind, although unlimited straddles are sometimes allowed; other players may re-straddle for twice the previous straddle.
String bet
A bet or raise in which a player places their chips into the pot in two or more separate physical motions, without previously declaring that they are betting or raising. This is not allowed; if enforced correctly, the dealer will declare the bet a call.
Structure
A catch-all term used to describe the collective elements of a game, such as the buy-in, the size of the blinds, the number of players at a table, the length of the blind levels in a tournament, et al.
Suited card
A card that is of the same suit as another card.
T
Table stakes
A rule in a poker game where a player may only bet with the chips in front of them, and not produce more money or chips in the middle of a hand.
Tell
A verbal or physical action, made knowingly or otherwise, that may give information about the strength of one’s hand.
Texas Holdem
A flop game where players are dealt two hole cards, then up to five community cards in order to make the best 5-card hand possible.
Tilt
Any physical or mental condition that leads to sub-optimal play.
Toke
A tip that is given to the dealer by the winner of a pot.
Top pair
The highest pair available given the community cards that have been dealt.
Trips
A specific version of three of a kind, using one of your hole cards and two other cards.
Turn
1. The fourth community card that is dealt in a flop game.
2. The betting round in which the fourth community card is dealt.
U
Under the gun
1. The position at the table where the player must act first pre-flop.
2. The player seated at said position.
Underdog
1. A player who is not favored against the competition.
2. A hand that is statistically weaker than the other hands involved in a pot.
V
Value bet
A bet that is placed with a made hand, generally hoping to induce a call or raise.
Variance
The difference in the potential outcomes of a hand or series of hands, based purely on the randomness of the cards rather than the decisions made by the players.
