Bum hunting refers to actively seeking out and playing against weaker competition. Sometimes bum hunters will only play against very soft line-ups, refusing to play once the table gets too tough for them. Many casinos and cardrooms consider this predatory behavior, although it can be tough to tell when bumhunting is occurring.    It’s a…

Bubble pressure refers to the pressure a poker player – especially a short stack – feels when nearing the money of a poker tournament.    If you’ve ever been 1-2 players away from making the money in a poker tournament, you’ve probably felt the pressure of the bubble before! Hopefully you don’t bubble any tournaments…

In poker, bottom end refers to having the lowest possible straight draw or made straight. Bottom end straight draws and bottom end straights can sometimes be dominated, making them less valuable than their top end counterparts.   Example: If you have on a board of , you hold the bottom end of the straight draw,…

A bring-in is a forced bet in stud formats of poker. Depending on the game type, the player with either the highest or lowest up-card will bring in the bet for a fixed amount, then action will start from that player’s left. 

A belly buster (also known as a gutshot) is a straight draw that can be completed by one specific card rank, giving you 4 outs to hit your straight.    Example: You have on a board of . This gives you 4 outs to your belly buster, as you’ll need to catch a 7 to…

Bad beat jackpots are special bonus jackpots paid by casinos and cardrooms to players in the event that a very strong hand loses to an even stronger hand. Bad beat jackpots typically payout the largest percentage to the loser of the pot, the second largest percentage to the winner, and the remaining money is split…

Also known as a blank or rag, a brick is a community card (either the turn or river) that seemingly does not affect anyone’s range of hands. It is the exact opposite of an Action Card, as it probably does not improve many hands, thus not creating much additional action.  Example: The flop is 789,…

Bankroll management is the practice of playing poker at stakes you can afford based on how much money you have at your disposal. Proper bankroll management helps poker players lower or eliminate their risk of ruin. For example, if you want to play $1/$2 cash games (which have a buy-in of $200) and you want…

Board coverage refers to how well a player’s range of hands connects to the all possible flops, turns, and rivers. For example, if you raise with a range containing only high pairs and high-card hands (AA, AK, KT, QJ, etc.), your range has bad board coverage because most of your hands will miss on low…

A hand in which each player at the table agrees to put a set amount of money in the pot before the hand is dealt. A bomb pot hand will usually skip the preflop betting round, with normal betting rules resuming once the flop is dealt.

Any bet made in a poker game can be called a barrel, but the term “barrel” most commonly refers to betting consecutively across multiple streets. For example, a double barrel refers to betting on the flop, getting called, and betting again on the turn. Want to learn when you should keep barreling on the turn?…

A Backer is an investor that supplies a bankroll to a poker player in return for some percentage of the player’s profits. Getting backed (or “staked”) allows players to play at higher stakes than they would on their own bankroll. If the player loses money, the backer is the one who primarily eats the loss.…

Bots are computer programs designed to play poker without human oversight. Bots are illegal and unethical to use.

In Knockout/Bounty tournaments, a bounty is a set amount of prize money you win for each player you knock out. For example, in a $100+20 buy-in Knockout tournament with $20 bounties, you win $20 for each player you eliminate from the tournament, in addition to the normal payout structure. Read our guide to knockout/bounty tournament…

Short for Bankroll Management, which is the practice of playing poker at stakes you can afford based on how much money you have at your disposal. Proper bankroll management helps poker players lower or eliminate their risk of ruin. For example, if you want to play $1/$2 cash games (which have a buy-in of $200)…

A expression of winnings in poker cash games, bb/100 refers to the number of big blinds won per 100 hands. Here is the formula for bb/100: (winnings/big blind amount) / (#of hands/10) For example, if you’re playing a game with $1/$2 blinds and win $200 over a 1,000-hand sample, your bb/100 would be 10. This…