Cards and positions
Hole cards: your private cards. Board: the community cards. Button / BTN: the dealer position marker. Small Blind / SB and Big Blind / BB: the two blind positions. Ante: a forced contribution separate from the blinds.
Hand stages, draws and outs
Pre-flop: before the community cards. Flop: the first three community cards. Turn: the fourth community card. River: the fifth community card. Showdown: revealing and comparing hands. Street: a dealing stage and its associated betting round.
Draw (drawing hand): The target combination is not yet complete and may be completed by later cards, as with a flush draw or straight draw. Completing the target combination does not mean winning the pot. Here, draw means waiting to complete a target combination; in draw games, the word can also mean replacing cards.
Outs (improving cards): Unseen cards that may later improve a hand or complete the target combination. Count each individual card only once. Some nominal outs may also help an opponent, so they cannot all be treated as clean outs. The number of outs by itself is not the probability of winning.
Pots and chips
Pot: the chips being contested. Side pot: a separate pot for eligible players. Stack: available chips. All-in: committing all available chips. Split pot: a pot divided among more than one player. Kicker: an unpaired card used to compare hands of the same category. Effective stacks are generally limited by the shorter of the stacks involved.
BB beside a seat normally identifies the big-blind player. A stack of 20 BB means twenty times the current big blind. Divide the chip count by the current big blind—not the small blind, ante or starting stack.
Check: pass the action when there is no outstanding bet to match.
Call: match the required amount, or go all-in if your stack is shorter.
Bet: open voluntary betting for the round.
Raise: increase the current bet after accounting for the call.
Fold: leave the hand and give up your claim to the pot.
Common tournament abbreviations
MTT: multi-table tournament. SNG: Sit & Go. Late registration: joining after the start. Re-entry: registering again after elimination, when allowed. Freezeout: a format that generally does not permit another entry after elimination. Bubble: the stage just before the paid places.
The same abbreviation may be used with different event conditions. This reference explains the names; the specific event rules remain authoritative.
Variants, betting structures and table formats
NLHE means No-Limit Texas Hold’em. A legal action can commit your remaining stack, but a raise must still meet the applicable rules.
NLHE identifies the game and betting structure. Cash games and MTTs describe how play is organised. Both an MTT and a cash game can use NLHE. A Texas Hold’em label alone does not tell you the betting limit or format.
PLO (pot-limit Omaha): PLO is short for Pot-Limit Omaha. A hand must use exactly two hole cards and three community cards. The maximum bet and raise amounts are limited by the size of the pot. Other Omaha variants may use different betting structures.
A cash table follows its own blind, buy-in and leaving rules. An MTT is a multi-table tournament that progresses through its structure and combines tables as the field shrinks. Tournament chips do not represent an equal amount of cash. Before entering, check fees, starting chips, blind levels and what happens after elimination.
Rules may vary between platforms, tables and events. This guide explains common rules; available games, eligibility and dispute procedures are determined by the platform's official announcements.
Keep exploring
This guide was independently compiled in Chinese. The following sources let you verify the rules.
WSOP 2026 Official Tournament Rules(new window)Official Poker TDA rules(new window)