Disadvantages of Online Poker Freerolls ... AND Advantages (of course)

In case you are an online poker player you are probably already familiar with the Freeroll term, in case you are new to online poker there's no problem, since we are first going to tell you what a freeroll means and after that we are going to explain what are exactly the advantages and disadvantages of such a poker tournament.

Freeroll are online poker tournaments, with actual money prizes, which are being offered to players for free. This means that you will never be asked to pay any fee to be part for these tournaments and you can win up to a couple of thousands of dollars at some of the most popular freeroll tournaments.

Some online poker rooms are giving out free tickets that can be used to join freeroll tournaments for every player that signs up and makes a deposit. These are also known as the New Depositors Freeroll tournaments. Other freeroll tournaments are offered to you for FPPs (Frequent Player Points). There you will get the privilege to play by using the loyalty points you earn while you play poker for real money.

Here we are going to present you the advantages of freerolls:

• The moment you join a freeroll poker tournament you are given the chance to improve your poker skills and learn how to play poker for free.
• Freeroll tournaments are giving you the opportunity to win real money. Some online freeroll tournaments are offering prizes of up to $1,000 (There the 1st place is going to take home $300).
• One of the most important advantages of freeroll tournaments is the fact that they are completely free. This means that you can play without investing a cent

The disadvantages of freerolls:

• One of the main disadvantages of a freeroll poker tournament is the fact that they are very time consuming. This means that you will be sitting in front of your computer for up to 2-3 hours and in the end you might end up with nothing. In case you are going to play at a $1,000 you will see around 500 players competing against each other and only 50 of them are going to take something home.

If you are going to compare a freeroll tournament to a normal buy in tournament, the winnings at a freeroll tournament are going to be lower and in case you have already managed gain some skills to play at an online poker tournament you should go for the paid ones since the winnings are consistently higher.

There are many online poker rooms out there that are offering freeroll tournaments. In case you are after freerolls, you just have to visit the promotions section on the most popular online poker rooms and you will get the chance to find plenty of information available about the tournaments offered.

However before joining make sure that you read exactly what are the terms and conditions of joining that freeroll. This way you will be leaving out all the misinformation that you might have about that freeroll. Also, make sure you can receive a deposit bonus and rakeback at the online poker room you join.  For example, Full Tilt Poker Rake Back - play as always and get 27% rake back and up to $600 bonus. Register here: Play Online Poker

Some tips to improve your poker game

Follow these tips to boost your poker performance & profits. While geared to beginner players, there's poker tips that even seasoned pros should remind themselves of once in a while.

Don't Play Every Hand / Do Fold More

Probably the number one mistake beginning poker players make is that they play far too many hands. When you're just starting out playing poker, you want to play poker, and that means staying in hands that aren't very good just to be part of the action. But playing more doesn't mean winning more, it usually means losing more. If you find you're staying in half or more the hands you're dealt, you need to upgrade your starting hand requirements.

 

Don't Play Drunk

Countless nights have I sat across a table from someone & watched them get plastered silly and throw away their entire stack of chips. I've been that person too - and there are nights where you're just playing with friends for low stakes and it's more about the fun than the poker - but if you're in a casino, watch the alcohol. The truth is, while you may be more relaxed after 2 drinks, it may lead to you playing looser and less sharply, even if one's not 'drunk.'

Don't Bluff Just For Bluffing's Sake

A lot of beginner's understand that bluffing is a part of poker, but not exactly how. There's is NO rule that one must bluff a certain amount or at all during a poker game, but many players don't feel like they've won unless they've tried a poker bluff. Bluffs only work in certain situations & against certain people, and if you know a player always calls to the showdown, it is literally impossible to bluff that player. It's better never to bluff than to bluff "just to bluff."

Don't Stay in a Hand Just Because You're Already In It

Another common mistake beginners make is to think that "Well, I've already put that much in the pot, I have to stay in now." Nope. You can't win a pot just by throwing money at it. There may be cases when pot odds warrant a call, but if you're sure you're beaten, and there's no way your hand can improve to be the best hand, you should fold right away. The money you've already put in the pot isn't yours anymore, and you can't get it back just by playing a hand all the way to the end.

Don't Call at the End of a Hand to "Keep Someone Honest"

This one follows the last tip. I see a lot of players look at another player's final bet, look at the hand, & say "I know you've got me, but I have to keep you honest," as they throw in a final call. It may be worth it to see if a player really has the hand if you're not sure & you're gaining information that will help you later on, but if you really feel a player has the hand he's representing & you're beat, why give him another pile of your money? Those bets will add up over an evening.

Don't Play When Mad, Sad, or in a Generally Bad Mood

When you play poker, you shouldn't do it to escape from being depressed or having a really bad day. You start out on tilt -- playing emotionally, not rationally -- and you won't play your best. Likewise, if during a poker game, you lose a big hand or get sucked out on and feel yourself going on tilt, stand up & take a break until you feel calm later on. Fellow players will sense your mood & take advantage of it.

Do Pay Attention to the Cards on the Table

When you first start playing, it's enough just to remember how to play and pay attention to your own hand. But once you've got that down, it's incredibly important to look at what's going on at the table. In Texas Hold'em, figure out what the best possible hand would be to fit the flop. Make sure you notice flush & straight possibilities. In 7-card stud, pay attention to what's showing & what people have folded when you consider calling opponents.

Do Pay Attention to the Other Players

As you play, one of the single best things you can do is observe your opponents, even when you're not in a hand. If you know if one player always raises in a certain position, & another has a poker tell when he bluffs, & a 3rd folds to every re-raise, you can use that information to help you decide how to play against them. Once you know that player 3 always folds to a re-raise on a river, that's when you can bluff & steal a pot.

Don't Play at too High Limits

There are many reasons people move up to a higher limit game than they usually play. Good reasons like they've been winning consistently at a lower lever & are ready to move up, & bad reasons like the line is shorter for higher limits or you want to impress someone. Don't play at stakes that make you think about the actual money in terms of day-to-day life or with money you can't lose. Even if you had one super-good night at $2/4, resist the urge to play $5/10. The next tip explains more why.

Do Pick the Right Game for Your Skill Level & Bankroll

One of the reasons you shouldn't jump into a $5/10 game after winning a huge bunch of money at $2/4 is because as the stakes rise, so does the average skill level of the players sitting there. You want to be one of the best at the table, not the fish who sits down with sharks. If you're making stacks of money at a lower level game, why move? You're winning stacks of money. The swings up & down at higher limits are much bigger, and one big night's win won't last long at a high-stakes game.

Full Tilt

Fulltilt is the second biggest online poker site in the world ...

You can watch, chat and learn from the pro. (Like I did ;)

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/multiMedia.php

http://pokerlead.blogspot.com/

First III: Poker Glossary (O-W)

Offsuit
A hold'em starting hand with two cards of different suits.
One-Gap
A hold'em starting hand with two cards two apart in rank. Examples: J9s, 64.
Out
A card that will make your hand win. Normally heard in the plural. Example: "Any spade will make my flush, so I have nine outs."
Outrun
To beat. Example: "Susie outran my set when her flush card hit on the river."
Overcall
To call a bet after one or more others players have already called.
Overcard
A card higher than any card on the board. For instance, if you have AQ and the flop comes J-7-3, you don't have a pair, but you have two overcards.
Overpair
A pocket pair higher than any card on the flop. If you have QQ and the flop comes J-8-3, you have an overpair.
Pat
A hand that you make on the flop. For instance, if you have two spades in your hand and the flop has three spades, then you've flopped a pat spade flush.
Pay Off
To call a bet when the bettor is representing a hand that you can't beat, but the pot is sufficiently large to justify a call anyway. Example: "He played it exactly like he made the flush, but I had top set so I paid him off."
Play the Board
To show down a hand in hold'em when your cards don't make a hand any better than is shown on the board. For instance, if you have 22, and the board is 4-4-9-9-A (no flush possible), then you must "play the board": the best possible hand you can make doesn't use any of your cards. Note that if you play the board, the best you can do is split the pot with all remaining players.
Pocket
Your unique cards that only you can see. For instance, "He had pocket sixes" (a pair of sixes), or "I had ace-king in the pocket."
Pocket Pair
A hold'em starting hand with two cards of the same rank, making a pair. Example: "I had big pocket pairs seven times in the first hour. What else can you ask for?"
Post
To put in a blind bet, generally required when you first sit down in a cardroom game. You may also be required to post a blind if you change seats at the table in a way that moves you away from the blinds. Example: a player leaves one seat at a table and takes another in such a way that he moves farther from the blinds. He is required to post an extra blind to receive a hand. See also "extra blind."
Pot-Committed
A state where you are essentially forced to call the rest of your stack because of the size of the pot and your remaining chips.
Pot-Limit
A version of poker in which a player may bet up to the amount of money in the pot whenever it is his turn to act. Like no-limit, this is a very different game from limit poker.
Pot Odds
The amount of money in the pot compared to the amount you must put in the pot to continue playing. For example, suppose there is $60 in the pot. Somebody bets $6, so the pot now contains $66. It costs you $6 to call, so your pot odds are 11:1. If your chance of having the best hand is at least 1 out of 12, you should call. Pot odds also apply to draws. For instance, suppose you have a draw to the nut flush with one card left to come. In this case, you are about a 4:1 underdog to make your flush. If it costs you $8 to call the bet, then there must be about $32 in the pot (including the most recent bet) to make your call correct.
Price
The pot odds you are getting for a draw or call. Example: "The pot was laying me a high enough price, so I stayed in with my gutshot straight draw."
Protect
(1) To keep your hand or a chip on your cards. This prevents them from being fouled by a discarded hand, or accidentally mucked by the dealer. (2) To invest more money in a pot so blind money that you've already put in isn't "wasted." Example: "He'll always protect his blinds, no matter how bad his cards are."
Put On
To mentally assign a hand to a player for the purposes of playing out your hand. Example: "He raised on the flop, but I put him on a draw, so I re-raised and then bet the turn."
Quads
Four of a kind.
Ragged
A flop (or board) that doesn't appear to help anybody very much. A flop that came down Jd-6h-2c would look ragged.
Rainbow
A flop that contains three different suits, thus no flush can be made on the turn. Can also mean a complete five card board that has no more than two of any suit, thus no flush is possible.
Rank
The numerical value of a card (as opposed to its suit). Example: "jack," "seven."
Rebuy
An option to buy back into a tournament after you've lost all your chips. Tournaments may offer one or more rebuys or (often) none at all.
Represent
To play as if you hold a certain hand. For instance, if you raised before the flop, and then raised again when the flop came ace high, you would be representing at least an ace with a good kicker.
Ring Game
A regular poker game as opposed to a tournament. Also referred to as a "live" game since actual money is in play instead of tournament chips.
River
The fifth and final community card, put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fifth street." Metaphors involving the river are some of poker's most treasured cliches, e.g., "He drowned in the river."
Rock
A player who plays very tight, not very creatively. He raises only with the best hands. A real rock is fairly predictable: if he raises you on the river, you can throw away just about anything but the nuts.
Runner
Typically said "runner-runner" to describe a hand that was made only by catching the correct cards on both the turn and the river. Example: "He made a runner-runner flush to beat my trips." See also "backdoor."
Satellite
A tournament that does not award cash to its winners, but a seat (or seats) in a subsequent "target" tournament.
Scare Card
A card that may well turn the best hand into trash. If you have Tc-8c and the flop comes Qd-Jd-9s, you almost assuredly have the best hand. However, a turn card of Td would be very scary because it would almost guarantee that you are now beaten.
Second Pair
A pair with the second highest card on the flop. If you have As-Ts, and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped second pair. See "top pair."
Sell
As in "sell a hand." In a spread-limit game, this means betting less than the maximum when you have a very strong hand, hoping players will call whereas they would not have called a maximum bet.
Semi-Bluff
A powerful concept first discussed by David Sklansky. It is a bet or raise that you hope will not be called, but you have some outs if it is. A semi-bluff may be correct when betting for value is not correct, a pure bluff is not correct, but the combination of the two may be a positive expectation play. Example: you have Ks-Qs, and the flop is Th-5s-Jc. If you bet now, it's a semi-bluff. You probably don't have the best hand, and you'd like to see your opponents fold immediately. Nevertheless, if you do get callers, you could still improve to the best hand.
Set
Three of a kind when you have two of the rank in your hand, and there is one on the board.
Short Stack
A number of chips that is not very many compared to the other players at the table. If you have $10 in front of you, and everybody else at the table has over $100, you are playing on a short stack.
Showdown
The point at which all players remaining in the hand turn their cards over and determine who has the best hand -- i.e., after the fourth round of betting is completed. Of course, if a final bet or raise is not called, there is no showdown.
Side Pot
A pot created in which a player has no interest because he has run out of chips. Example: Al bets $6, Beth calls the $6, and Carl calls, but he has only $2 left. An $8 side pot is created that either Al or Beth can win, but not Carl. Carl, however, can still win all the money in the original or "center" pot.
Slow Play
To play a strong hand weakly so more players will stay in the pot.
Small Blind
The smaller of two blind bets typically used in a hold'em game. Normally, the small blind is one-third to two-thirds of a first round bet. See also "big blind" and "blind."
Smooth Call
To call. Smooth call often implies slow playing a strong hand. Example: "I flopped the nut flush but just smooth called when the guy in front of me bet -- I didn't want to scare anybody out."
Soft-Play
To go easy on another player at the table (e.g., not betting or raising against him). Suppose you and your brother are the last two people left in a hand. On the river, you have the nuts, but he bets. If you don't raise, you are "soft-playing" him. Please note that soft-playing is prohibited in tournaments and can result in penalties, up to and including forfeiture of winnings.
Splash the Pot
To toss chips directly into the pot rather than put them in a stack in front of you. Don't do it.
Split Pot
A pot that is shared by two or more players because they have equivalent hands.
Split Two Pair
A two pair hand in which one of each of your cards' ranks appears on the board as well. Example: you have T9, the flop is T-9-5, you have a split two pair. This is in comparison to two pair where there is a pair on the board. Example: you have T9, the flop is 9-5-5.
Spread-Limit
A betting structure in which a player may bet any amount in a range on every betting round. A typical spread-limit structure is $2-$6, where a player may bet as little as $2 or as much as $6 on every betting round.
Stop-and-Go
A play where you call (rather than re-raising) a raise, but then come out betting on the next card.
Straddle
An optional extra blind bet, typically made by the player one to the left of the big blind, equal to twice the big blind. This is effectively a raise, and forces any player who wants to play to pay two bets. Furthermore, the straddler acts last before the flop, and may "re-raise."
String Bet
A bet (more typically a raise) in which a player doesn't get all the chips required for the raise into the pot in one motion. Unless he verbally declared the raise, he can be forced to withdraw it and just call. This prevents the unethical play of putting out enough chips to call, seeing what effect that had, and then possibly raising.
Structured
Used to apply to a certain betting structure in poker games. The typical definition of a structured hold'em game is a fixed amount for bets and raises before the flop and on the flop, and then twice that amount on the turn and river. Example: a $2-$4 structured hold'em game: bets and raises of $2 before the flop and on the flop; $4 bets and raises on the turn and river.
Suited
A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are the same suit. Example: "I had to play J-3 -- it was suited."
Table Stakes
A rule in a poker game meaning that a player may not go into his pocket for money during a hand. He may only invest the amount of money in front of him into the current pot. If he runs out of chips during the hand, a side pot is created in which he has no interest. All casino poker is played table stakes. The definition sometimes also includes the rule that a player may not remove chips from the table during a game. While this rule might not be referred to as "table stakes," it is enforced almost universally in public poker games.
Tell
A clue or hint that a player unknowingly gives about the strength of his hand, his next action, etc. May originally be from "telegraph" or the obvious use that he "tells" you what he's going to do before he does it.
Thin
As in "drawing thin." To be drawing to a very few outs, perhaps only one or two.
Tilt
To play wildly or recklessly. A player is said to be "on tilt" if he is not playing his best, playing too many hands, trying wild bluffs, raising with bad hands, etc.
Time
(1) A request by a player to suspend play while he decides what he's going to do. Simply, "Time, please!" If a player doesn't request time and there is a substantial amount of action behind him, the dealer may rule that the player has folded. (2) An amount of money collected either on the button or every half hour by the cardroom. This is another way for the house to make its money (see "rake").
To Go
The amount a player must call if he wishes to continue playing. Example: "The big blind was $20. Sarah raised $40 more, making it $60 to go."
Toke
A small amount of money (typically $.50 or $1.00) given to the dealer by the winner of a pot. Quite often, tokes represent the great majority of a dealer's income.
Top Pair
A pair with the highest card on the flop. If you have As-Qs, and the flop comes Qd-Th-6c, you have flopped top pair. See "second pair."
Top Set
The highest possible trips. Example: you have Tc-Ts, and the flop comes Td-8c-9h. You have flopped top set.
Top Two
Two pair, with your two hole cards pairing the two highest cards on the board.
Top and Bottom
Two pair, with your two hole cards pairing the highest and lowest cards on the board.
Trips
Three of a kind.
Turn
The fourth community card. Put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fourth street."
Under the Gun
The position of the player who acts first on a betting round. For instance, if you are one to the left of the big blind, you are under the gun before the flop.
Underdog
A person or hand not mathematically favored to win a pot. For instance, if you flop four cards to your flush, you are not quite a 2:1 underdog to make your flush by the river (that is, you will make your flush about one in three times). See also "dog."
Value
As in "bet for value." This means that you would actually like your opponents to call your bet (as opposed to a bluff). Generally it's because you have the best hand. However, it can also be a draw that, given enough callers, has a positive expectation.
Variance
A measure of the up and down swings your bankroll goes through. Variance is not necessarily a measure of how well you play. However, the higher your variance, the wider swings you'll see in your bankroll.
Wheel
A straight from ace through five.

First II: Poker glossary (F-N)

Family Pot
A pot in which all (or almost all) of the players call before the flop.
Fast Play
To play a hand aggressively, betting and raising as much as possible. Example: "When you flop a set but there's a flush draw possible, you have to play it fast."
Fish
A poor player -- one who gives his money away. It's a well-known (though not well-followed) rule among good players to not upset the bad players, because they'll stop having fun and perhaps leave. Thus the phrase, "Don't tap on the aquarium."
Flop
The first three community cards, put out face up, all together.
Fold Equity
The extra value you get from a hand when you force an opponent to fold. That is, if you don't have to see a showdown, your hand has more value than if you do.
Foul
A hand that may not be played for one reason or another. A player with a foul hand may not make any claim on any portion of the pot. Example: "He ended up with three cards after the flop, so the dealer declared his hand foul."
Free Card
A turn or river card on which you don't have to call a bet because of play earlier in the hand (or because of your reputation with your opponents). For instance, if you are on the button and raise when you flop a flush draw, your opponents may check to you on the turn. If you make your flush on the turn, you can bet. If you don't get it on the turn, you can check as well, seeing the river card for "free."
Free Roll
One player has a shot at winning an entire pot when he is currently tied with another player. For instance, suppose you have Ac-Qc and your opponent has Ad-Qh. The flop is Qs-5c-Tc. You are tied with your opponent right now, but are free rolling, because you can win the whole pot and your opponent can't. If no club comes, you split the pot with him; if it does come, you win the whole thing.
Gap Hand
A starting hand with cards more than one rank apart. For instance, T9 is a one-gap hand. 86 is a two-gap hand.
Gutshot Straight
A straight filled "inside." If you have 9s-8s, the flop comes 7c-5h-2d, and the turn is the 6c, you've made your gutshot straight.
Heads-Up
A pot that is being contested by only two players. Example: "It was heads-up by the turn."
Hit
As in "the flop hit me," meaning the flop contains cards that help your hand. If you have AK, and the flop comes K-7-2, it hit you.
House
The establishment running the game. Example: "The $2 you put on the button goes to the house."
Implied Odds
Pot odds that do not exist at the moment, but may be included in your calculations because of bets you expect to win if you hit your hand. For instance, you might call with a flush draw on the turn even though the pot isn't offering you quite 4:1 odds (your chance of making the flush) because you're sure you can win a bet from your opponent on the river if you make your flush.
Jackpot
A special bonus paid to the loser of a hand if he gets a very good hand beaten. In hold'em, the "loser" must typically get aces full or better beaten. In some of the large southern California card clubs, jackpots have gotten over $50,000. Of course, the jackpot is funded with money removed from the game as part of the rake.
Jam
To move all-in in a no-limit (or pot-limit) game.
Kicker
An unpaired card used to determine the better of two near-equivalent hands. For instance, suppose you have AK and your opponent has AQ. If the flop has an ace in it, you both have a pair of aces, but you have a king kicker. Kickers can be vitally important in hold'em.
Leak
A weakness in your game that causes you to win less money than you would otherwise. Example: "She takes her pocket pairs too far; it's a leak in her game."
Limp
To call. Generally the term refers to pre-flop action. For instance: "He limped in early position with 77."
Live Blind
A forced bet put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt. The "live" means those players still have the option of raising when the action gets back around to them.
Live
Cards that are not duplicated in an opponent's stronger hand. For example, if you have A9 and your opponent has AJ, then your ace is not "live" because making a pair of aces won't do you any good. The nine, however, is live; making a pair of nines gives you the better hand.
Maniac
A player who does a lot of hyper-aggressive raising, betting, and bluffing. A true maniac is not a good player, but is simply doing a lot of gambling. However, a player who occasionally acts like a maniac and confuses his opponents is quite dangerous.
Made Hand
A hand to which you're drawing, or one good enough that it doesn't need to improve.
Micro-Limit
Games so small that they couldn't be profitably dealt in a real cardroom. They exist only at online poker sites. You might arbitrarily call games $.25-.50 and smaller "micro-limit."
Muck
The pile of folded and burned cards in front of the dealer. Example: "His hand hit the muck so the dealer ruled it folded even though the guy wanted to get his cards back." Also used as a verb. Example: "He didn't have any outs so he mucked his hand."
No-Limit
A version of poker in which a player may bet any amount of chips (up to the number in front of him) whenever it is his turn to act. It is a very different game from limit poker.
Nuts
The best possible hand given the board. If the board is Ks-Jd-Ts-4s-2h, then As-Xs is the nuts. You will occasionally hear the term applied to the best possible hand of a certain category, even though it isn't the overall nuts. For the above example, somebody with Ah-Qc might say they had the "nut straight."

First: Poker glossary (A-E)

Ante
A small portion of a bet contributed by each player to seed the pot at the beginning of a poker hand. Most hold'em games do not have an ante; they use "blinds" to get initial money into the pot.
All-In
To run out of chips while betting or calling. In table stakes games, a player may not go into his pocket for more money during a hand. If he runs out, a side pot is created in which he has no interest. However, he can still win the pot for which he had the chips. Example: "Poor Bob. He made quads against the big full house, but he was all-in on the second bet."
Backdoor
Catching both the turn and river card to make a drawing hand. For instance, suppose you have As-7s. The flop comes Ad-6c-4s. You bet and are called. The turn is the Ts, which everybody checks, and then the river is the Js. You've made a "backdoor" nut flush. See also "runner."
Bad Beat
To have a hand that is a large underdog beat a heavily favored hand. It is generally used to imply that the winner of the pot had no business being in the pot at all, and it was the wildest of luck that he managed to catch the one card in the deck that would win the pot. We won't give any examples; you will hear plenty of them during your poker career.
Big Blind
The larger of the two blinds typically used in a hold'em game. The big blind is a full first round bet. See also "blind" and "small blind."
Big Slick
A nickname for AK (suited or not). Its origins are unknown (to me, anyway).
Blank
A board card that doesn't seem to affect the standings in the hand. If the flop is As-Jd-Ts, then a turn card of 2h would be considered a blank. On the other hand, the 2s would not be.
Blind
A forced bet (or partial bet) put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt. Typically, blinds are put in by players immediately to the left of the button. See also "live blind."
Board
All the community cards in a hold'em game -- the flop, turn, and river cards together. Example: "There wasn't a single heart on the board."
Bot
Short for "robot". In a poker context, a program that plays poker online with no (or minimal) human intervention.
Bottom Pair
A pair with the lowest card on the flop. If you have As-6s, and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped bottom pair.
Brick & Mortar
A "real" casino or cardroom with a building, tables, dealers, etc. This is in contrast to an online poker site.
Bubble
(1) The point at which only one player must bust out before all others win some money. (2) The person who was unfortunate enough to finish in that position.
Burn
To discard the top card from the deck, face down. This is done between each betting round before putting out the next community card(s). It is security against any player recognizing or glimpsing the next card to be used on the board.
Button
A white acrylic disk that indicates the (nominal) dealer. Also used to refer to the player on the button. Example: "Oh, the button raised."
Buy
(1) As in "buy the pot." To bluff, hoping to "buy" the pot without being called. (2) As in "buy the button." To bet or raise, hoping to make players between you and the button fold, thus allowing you to act last on subsequent betting rounds.
Buy-In
An amount of money you pay to enter a tournament. Often expressed as two numbers, such as $100+9, meaning that it costs $109 to enter the tournament; $100 goes into the prize fund and $9 goes to the house.
Call
To put into the pot an amount of money equal to the most recent bet or raise. The term "see" (as in "I'll see that bet") is considered colloquial.
Calling Station
A weak-passive player who calls a lot, but doesn't raise or fold much. This is the kind of player you like to have in your game.
Cap
To put in the last raise permitted on a betting round. This is typically the third or fourth raise. Dealers in California are fond of saying "Capitola" or "Cappuccino."
Case
The last card of a certain rank in the deck. Example: "The flop came J-8-3; I've got pocket jacks, he's got pocket 8's, and then the case eight falls on the river, and he beats my full house."
Center Pot
The first pot created during a poker hand, as opposed to one or more "side" pots created if one or more players goes all-in. Also "main pot."
Chat
Typed conversation that you can have with other players at an online poker site (or any online gathering, for that matter).
Check
(1) To not bet, with the option to call or raise later in the betting round. Equivalent to betting zero dollars. (2) Another word for chip, as in poker chip.
Check-Raise
To check and then raise when a player behind you bets. Occasionally you will hear people say this is not fair or ethical poker. Piffle. Almost all casinos permit check-raising, and it is an important poker tactic. It is particularly useful in low-limit hold'em where you need extra strength to narrow the field if you have the best hand.
Chop
An agreement between the two players with blinds to simply take their blinds back rather than playing out the hand if nobody calls or raises in front of them.
Clean Out
A card that would almost certainly make your hand best. If you are drawing at a straight, but there is a flush draw possible, then the cards that make your straight but also the flush are not clean outs.
Cold Call
To call more than one bet in a single action. For instance, suppose the first player to act after the big blind raises. Now any player acting after that must call two bets "cold." This is different from calling a single bet and then calling a subsequent raise.
Come Hand
A drawing hand (from the craps term).
Complete Hand
A hand that is defined by all five cards -- a straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, or straight flush.
Connector
A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are one apart in rank. Examples: KQs, 76.
Counterfeit
To make your hand less valuable because of board cards that duplicate it. Example: you have 87 and the flop comes 9-T-J, so you have a straight. Now an 8 comes on the turn. This has counterfeited your hand and made it almost worthless.
Crack
To beat a hand -- typically a big hand. You hear this most often applied to pocket aces: "Third time tonight I've had pocket aces cracked."
Cripple
As in "to cripple the deck." Meaning that you have most or all of the cards that somebody would want to have with the current board. If you have pocket kings, and the other two kings flop, you have crippled the deck.
Crying Call
A call that you make expecting to lose, but feel that you must make anyway because of the pot odds.
Cut-Off
The position (or player) who acts one before the button.
Dead Money
(1) Money contributed to a pot by a player no longer in the pot.

(2) A player in a tournament who has no realistic chance of winning.
Dog
Shortened form of "underdog."
Dominated Hand
A hand that will almost always lose to a better hand that people usually play. For instance, K3 is "dominated" by KQ. With the exception of strange flops (e.g., 3-3-X, K-3-X), it will always lose to KQ.
Draw
To play a hand that is not yet good, but could become so if the right cards come. Example: "I'm not there yet -- I'm drawing." Also used as a noun. Example: "I have to call because I have a good draw."
Draw Dead
Trying to make a hand that, even if made, will not win the pot. If you're drawing to make a flush, and your opponent already has a full house, you are "drawing dead." Of course, this is a bad condition to be in.
Equity
Your "rightful" share of a pot. If the pot contains $80, and you have a 50% chance of winning it, you have $40 equity in the pot. This term is somewhat fanciful since you will either win $80 or $0, but it gives you an idea of how much you can "expect" to win.
Expectation
(1) The amount you expect to gain on average if you make a certain play. For instance, suppose you put $10 into a $50 pot to draw at a hand that you will make 25% of the time, and it will win every time you make it. Three out of four times, you do not make your draw, and lose $10 each time for a total of $30. The fourth time, you will make your draw, winning $50. Your total gain over those four average hands is $50-$30 = $20, an average of $5 per hand. Thus calling the $10 has a positive expectation of $5.
(2) The amount you expect to make at the poker table in a specific time period. Suppose in 100 hours of play, you win $527. Then your expectation is $5.27/hr. Of course, you won't make that exact amount each hour (and some hours you will lose), but it's one measure of your anticipated earnings.