Texas Hold'em Definitions Trivia Quiz

Answer: Three-bet

The terms 4-bet, 5-bet, and even the exceptionally rare 6-bet follow the same logic. The first person to put in money during any street is considered the bettor (or pre-flop, the blinds). However decides to increase the stakes bet is called the raiser.

In order to distinguish the first raise and the second raise, the terms "raise" and "3-bet" are used, with 3-bet referring to the third theoretical "level" of stakes being wagered.

Answer: Under the gun

Any player who is "under the gun" is called so because they are first to act right after the cards are dealt. In standard 9-table poker game formats, the player directly to the left of the "under the gun" or "UTG" player, is called "under the gun plus one", or "UTG+1".

Answer: One-outer

An "out" is a card that will give an underdog the lead. The greater the number of outs, the better the underdog's chances are of winning the hand. For example, if a player can only win with an ace, then he is said to have four "outs", given that all the aces are unrevealed. If two of the aces are already revealed, then the player can only win with two "outs'. With one card to come, needing a "one-outer" is the worst situation for an underdog to be in.

Answer: Drawing dead

"Drawing dead" means that even though there are more community cards to come, no possible combination of cards can possibly save this player; they have already lost the hand. Players rarely draw dead completely, but it is a gut-wrenching feeling to go all-in, only to realize that you are so thoroughly beaten that you are drawing completely dead.

In most casinos, the remaining cards are dealt only as a formality, as they have no bearing on the hand whatsoever, except in multi-way pots where only one of three or more players is "drawing dead".

Answer: Floating

Floating is a particularly advanced poker strategy that is used more commonly by top pros. When an opponent displays weakness, players can try to exploit this read regardless of what they have by either "floating" or "raising". While the "float" may end up committing more money to the pot than a raise, the advantage it provides over a raise is that it heavily overrepresents the bluffer's holdings, because a call followed by a raise on the next street is usually indicative of "slow-playing", making the opponent even more nervous.

Answer: Straddle

In games where straddles are enforced, all players agree to post a third "blind bet", usually equal to twice the big blind. This is meant to stimulate action by creating bigger pots and making the pre-flop prize more lucrative to all those sitting on the table.

Answer: Backdoor draw

After the flop is dealt, a player has a "backdoor" draw if two cards will result in a made hand. For instance, if a player has the Ace of hearts and the 10 of hearts, and the flop has only one heart, this player has a "backdoor flush draw", meaning that he will make a flush if both the turn and the river are hearts.

Answer: C-bet

The "pre-flop aggressor" is the last raiser before the flop is shown. He or she is the last person that has influenced the stakes requires. A C-bet is short for a "continuation bet" implying that the player is continuing the narrative that their holdings are strong.

Answer: Blocker bet

The player making a blocker bet believes that their hand is strong enough to have some showdown equity in most cases, but perhaps not enough to call a large bet against an opponent that has been firing money into the pot. The blocker bet achieves its goal by ensuring that one of three possible outcomes will occur:
1) The opponent folds, in which case the player can win the pot with weak to medium holdings
2) The opponent calls, in which case the showdown price was likely cheaper than if the player had checked.
3) The opponent raises, which would indicate very strong holdings - opponent bluff-raises on the river are significantly less long-term optimal than opponent bluffs to checked hands, so a raise against a river blocker bet would make a fold easier.

Answer: Isolation play

Isolation plays are typically only done with very strong pre-flop holdings, such as "Pocket Aces" or "Pocket Kings". Players with these premium hands are always and almost-always favored pre-flop respectively. However, if many other opponents are allowed to see a flop for cheap, then the likelihood of being favored after the flop, as well as predicting range accurately, decrease exponentially fast.

The isolation play aims to ensure that the opponent playing the next street has a very narrow range of holdings that can only improve with specific cards, making exploitative play significantly easier.