888poker Team

Hit, in poker means to connect with our cards in some way. In most cases it means that we have picked up a made handbut can also be used to describe a situation where we pick up a good draw. It should not be confused with the term hit from blackjack which means to ask the dealer for another card.

A high hand or high-card hand is a poker hand that doesn’t make a pair or better. As such, the value of a high hand is determined by its highest ranked card (Aces being high in most variants). In the event that two high hands have the same ranked high card, the second highest card is consulted to determine a winner (and so on, through all 5 cards). High-card hands can sometimes win the pot, but their exact strength is heavily dependent on the precise situation and the variant of poker being played.

A hero call is a call made with a very weak hand on the final betting round, especially when facing a lot of action. On the surface it appears that the call being made could never be profitable since the hero calling hand is weak enough that winning seems highly unlikely. A hero call would usually be made in a situation where a player has a strong read or “tell” on his opponent. For example, if we are very confident our opponent is bluffing we might be able to call big river bets with high card type hands.

The term heads up refers to two handed poker. This would occur either because there are only two players dealt into a hand or because all other players at the table folded, leaving just two remaining. In a tournament the action becomes heads up when all other players have been knocked out of the tournament. The winner of the heads up match will win first prize in the tournament.

Hand ranking simply refers to the order of poker hands based on their strength. For example, a flush beats a straight but loses to a full house. While many variants of poker use the same hand rankings, some variants use different hand rankings. “Lowball” games such as Razz and 2-7 triple Draw make use of a low hand ranking system. The easiest way of explaining low hand rankings is “worst hand wins” although hand ranking rules are not the same across all lowball variants. Whichever variant of poker we look to play, it makes sense to be very familiar with the exact hand rankings of that variant before sitting down at the table.

Hand for Hand is a stage in poker tournaments where every table must finish their current hand before the tournament moves on to the next hand.