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In the previous entry I wrote about poker tools that can help improve your game as you strive to become a good player. The first tool you should obtain is an online poker dictionary since it’s difficult to read about poker if you don’t know the poker terminology most frequently used when discussing strategy. However, the one problem with a poker dictionary is that so many words will be listed that you’ll wonder where to begin! Because of this, I’ll go ahead and talk about a few of the poker terms that I consider most important for the beginning player. Read about these terms first because they are the most important ones to know.

Actually the most important terms were already mentioned in earlier entries, so visit my previous articles to remind yourself of them. Make sure you understand “bankroll management” and “variance” very well because they will be vital for your success in poker.

Since poker is all about money, you should quickly learn about the “rake”. The rake is the money removed from all the pots or prize pools by the host of the poker game. As an example, if you make a Full Tilt Poker download and play at the no-limit tables, each pot will end up 5% less because Full Tilt will collect it as their payment. Each site or casino has their own rake percentage, and there is a maximum amount that will be taken for each pot.

Another term to know about is “position”. Previously we considered the strength of your preflop cards in the poker hands order entry, but the importance of position was never brought up. You are said to be in position if you are last to act after the flop, and it is easier to win pots when you are in position. You should be more willing to play hands in position and less willing to play hands out of position.

I suggest looking for the term “outs” in a suitable online poker dictionary. If you’re playing in a pot and you feel you don’t have the best hand, figure out which cards that could be dealt on later streets that likely would improve your cards to the winner. These cards are called your “outs”.

Look up the phrase “fold equity”. As you play pots in this game, you should recognize that one way to win pots is to bet and have your opponents fold. This is what is known as fold equity, and it is vital in poker because it’s a way to win pots without necessarily having the best hand.

As you read about poker on the internet, you’ll likely read about “nits”. A nit describes a player that plays a very limited number of poker hands and is afraid to gamble without the best of it. He will usually not invest a lot of money in a hand where there is a chance he will lose.

The last term I want to mention today is “all-in”. Most common in MTT poker, if you go all-in, you are betting your entire stack and your opponents must call the equivalent of your stack if they want to continue with the hand. If you receive a call and fail to win the showdown, you are often out of chips and you need to re-buy (if the game permits it) or remove yourself form the table.

Ok, time to play some poker rather than discuss it! Check out the latest PokerStars marketing code and PokerStars bonus code to get the maximum PokerStars bonus available!