Mixed game poker glossary

Betting (fixed-limit)

Fixed-limit

A betting structure in which every bet and raise is one of two set sizes, the small bet or the big bet, decided by the street rather than by the player. All six games in the THORSE rotation are fixed-limit; see how fixed-limit betting works.

Small bet

The smaller of the two bet sizes, used in the early betting rounds: preflop and on the flop in Hold'em and Omaha 8, on third and fourth street in the stud games, and predraw and after the first draw in 2-7 Triple Draw. In a 2/4 game the small bet is 2.

Big bet

The larger bet size, usually twice the small bet, used in the late rounds: the turn and river, fifth through seventh street, and the last two rounds of Triple Draw. In a 2/4 game the big bet is 4.

Cap

The limit on the number of raises in one betting round, usually a bet and three raises, though house rules vary. Once the betting is capped, the remaining players can only call or fold.

Blinds

The forced bets posted before the deal in the flop games and in Triple Draw. The big blind equals the small bet; the small blind is commonly half of it.

Ante

A small forced bet that every player at the table posts before each hand in the stud games. The antes build the starting pot and are the reason stealing matters so much in Seven Card Stud, Razz and Stud 8.

Bring-in

The forced opening bet on third street in a stud game, smaller than a small bet. It is posted by the lowest door card in Stud and Stud 8, and by the highest door card in Razz.

Complete (completion)

Raising the bring-in up to a full small bet on third street. The bring-in player may complete instead of posting the minimum, and any later player may complete rather than call the bring-in.

Steal

Betting or completing with a weak hand to win the antes, blinds or bring-in without a showdown. In stud, a steal works best when your door card looks strong and the cards left to act behind you look weak.

Formats and rotations

Mixed game

Any poker session that cycles through two or more different games instead of playing one all night. The how to play mix poker hub explains the idea from the start.

Rotation

The fixed order in which a mixed game changes from one game to the next, and the rule for when it changes. In Mix Poker the HORSE, TORSE and THORSE rotations switch game every 6 hands.

HORSE

A rotation of five fixed-limit games: Limit Hold'em, Omaha 8 or Better, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Stud 8 or Better (the "E" is for Eight). See HORSE vs THORSE for a letter-by-letter comparison.

THORSE

HORSE with 2-7 Triple Draw added at the front, for six games in all. Mix Poker offers THORSE alongside HORSE and TORSE.

TORSE

THORSE without the Hold'em: 2-7 Triple Draw, Omaha 8, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Stud 8. Mix Poker plays HORSE, TORSE and THORSE.

8-Game

A rotation of eight games that adds No-Limit Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha to the six THORSE games. It is discussed here for education only; 8-Game, no-limit and pot-limit games are not in the app.

Heads-up

A game between exactly two players. Every game and rotation in Mix Poker can be played heads-up, where the free Beginner bots unlock one at a time as you beat the previous one.

6-max

A table with at most six seats. In Mix Poker you can play any game or rotation 6-max as well as heads-up; see how to practice mixed poker.

Stud games

Door card

The first face-up card each player receives on third street in a stud game. It decides who posts the bring-in, and it is the first thing your opponents know about your hand.

K♣ 9♦ 4♠

Upcard

Any card dealt face up to a player in stud: the door card plus the cards on fourth, fifth and sixth street. Four of your seven cards are upcards.

Downcard (hole card)

A card dealt face down that only you can see. In stud you get three: two on third street and one on seventh street.

Board (stud)

A player's exposed cards, as in "the king has the best board." In the flop games the same word means the community cards instead.

Third street

The first betting round in a stud game, after each player has two downcards and one upcard. The bring-in opens the action, and bets are at the small-bet size.

Fourth street

The second upcard and the second betting round, still at the small bet. In Seven Card Stud, an open pair on fourth street traditionally lets a player bet the big bet; many rooms don't use that option in Stud 8, it never applies in Razz, and house rules vary.

Fifth street

The third upcard and the first big-bet round. Because the price doubles here, fifth street is where most stud hands are either committed or abandoned.

Sixth street

The fourth and last upcard, with another big-bet round. By now you can see four cards from every opponent still in the hand.

Seventh street (the river)

The final card, dealt face down, followed by the last big-bet round and the showdown. Each player picks the best five of their seven cards.

Dead cards and live cards

Cards you have seen in other players' upcards, including folded ones, are dead: they cannot come to you. Cards you still need that nobody has shown are live. Counting them is the core skill of reading exposed cards in stud.

Brick

A card that does nothing for your hand, especially a high card or a pairing card in Razz or Stud 8 when you were drawing to a low. "Catching a brick" on fourth street often ends the hand.

Open pair

A pair showing among a player's upcards. It tells the table that player has at least a pair, and in Seven Card Stud it brings the fourth-street big-bet option described above.

Split pair

A pair with one card in the hole and the other face up, as opposed to a pair that is fully hidden or fully exposed. Players extend the word to "split two pair" for two pair in which at least one of the pairs is split this way.

Buried pair

A pair made of your two downcards on third street, so nobody can see it. Buried pairs are deceptive because your door card points the table in the wrong direction; see Stud 8 starting hands.

Rolled up

Three of a kind on third street: a buried pair plus a matching door card. It is the best possible start in Seven Card Stud and is rare enough to play fast.

8♠ 8♥ 8♦

Position in stud

Unlike Hold'em, there is no button, so who acts first can change on every street. The bring-in opens third street; from fourth street on, the best exposed hand acts first in Stud and Stud 8, and the lowest exposed hand acts first in Razz.

Draw games

Predraw

The first betting round in 2-7 Triple Draw, after the five cards are dealt and before anyone has drawn. It uses the small bet.

Draw

Discarding any number of your cards and receiving the same number of replacements. Triple Draw has three draws, each followed by a betting round, and the number of cards an opponent takes is the main information you get.

Pat hand

A hand you keep as it is, drawing zero cards. In 2-7 a "pat 9" means a nine-high hand you are not trying to improve.

Stand pat

To take no cards on a draw. Knowing when to stand pat and when to keep drawing is the central decision in Triple Draw.

Snow

To stand pat on a weak or worthless hand and bet it as if it were made. A snow works because opponents who are still drawing cannot tell a pat bluff from a pat 7.

Break

To throw away a card from a made hand and draw to a better one, for example breaking a pat J-8-5-3-2 by discarding the jack. You break when the hand you hold is unlikely to be good at showdown.

One-card draw

Drawing a single card while keeping four. After the second draw, a one-card draw against a pat hand is usually the signal that you are behind and trying to catch up.

Split-pot (hi-lo) games

Hi-lo split

A game in which the pot is divided between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand. Omaha 8 and Stud 8 are the two split-pot games in THORSE; split-pot poker explained walks through the math.

Qualifier (8-or-better)

The requirement a low hand must meet to win the low half: five different ranks, all 8 or lower, with the ace counting low. If nobody qualifies, the high hand takes the whole pot.

Scoop

To win both halves of a split pot, either with the best high and the best low or because no low qualified. Scooping, not splitting, is where the profit in hi-lo games comes from.

Quarter (get quartered)

When two players tie for one half of the pot, they split that half and each receives a quarter. Getting quartered usually means you tied for low while someone else won the high plus half the low.

Counterfeit

When a board card duplicates one of your low cards, so your low loses its edge: opponents can now use the board's copy. In Omaha 8, A-2 on a board of 3-4-8 is the nut low; a deuce on the turn leaves you with the same 8-4-3-2-A but lets A-5 make a wheel.

Nut low

The best possible low hand given the board, or, in stud, the best low available with the cards in play. In Omaha 8 the nut low can change with every board card, which is why counterfeits happen.

Freeroll

Holding one half of the pot locked up while still having a chance at the other half. A player with the nut low and a flush draw is freerolling an opponent who has only a high hand.

Redraw

Outs that can improve a hand that is already made, such as a made low that can also turn into a straight. Hands with redraws are the ones that scoop most often.

Backdoor

Making a hand with both of the last two cards, for example a backdoor low that needs running low cards on the turn and river. Backdoor draws are weak on their own but add value to a hand that is already live another way.

Two-way hand

A hand with a real chance at both the high and the low, like A-2 with a suited ace in Omaha 8 or three low cards with an ace in Stud 8. Two-way hands are usually the starting hands worth playing in split-pot games.

Odd chip

The leftover chip when a pot does not divide evenly between high and low. It is commonly awarded to the high half, though house rules vary.

Lowball

Lowball

Any poker variant in which the lowest hand wins. Razz and 2-7 Triple Draw are the lowball games in THORSE, and they use different rankings; see low hand rankings.

Ace-to-five (A-5)

The low ranking used in Razz and for the low half of Omaha 8 and Stud 8. Aces are low, straights and flushes do not count against you, and pairs are bad.

Deuce-to-seven (2-7)

The low ranking used in 2-7 Triple Draw. Aces are high only, so A-2-3-4-5 is just an ace-high hand, and straights and flushes count against you.

Wheel

The hand 5-4-3-2-A. It is the best possible low in ace-to-five and in 8-or-better, and the best hand in Razz; in 2-7 it is a poor ace-high hand.

5♥ 4♣ 3♦ 2♠ A♦

Number one

The best hand in 2-7: 7-5-4-3-2 with the cards not all of one suit. Number two is 7-6-4-3-2, and 7-6-5-4-3 does not count because it is a straight.

7♣ 5♦ 4♠ 3♥ 2♣

Eight-low, seven-low

Low hands are named for their highest card, so 8-6-4-3-2 is "an eight" or "an eight-low." To compare two lows, start at the top card and work down; the first difference decides.

Smooth and rough

A smooth low has small cards under its top card; a rough low has big ones. In ace-to-five games a smooth 8 is 8-4-3-2-A and a rough 8 is 8-7-6-5-x; in 2-7, where the ace is high, a smooth 8 is 8-5-4-3-2. Between two eights, the smooth one always wins.

8♦ 4♥ 3♣ 2♠ A♥

8♣ 7♠ 6♥ 5♦ 2♦

Babies and paint

Babies are the low cards, roughly ace through five, that lowball hands are built from. Paint is the face cards, jack through king, which are bricks in every low game.