Effective stack refers to the effective amount of chips that are in play in a hand. For example, if you have a stack of $2,000 and your opponent has a stack of $550, the effective stack is $550. Though you have more chips than that, the maximum you can play for in the hand is…

The effective nuts is an objective term, meaning your hand may not be the best possible hand, but it’s effectively the best possible hand given the situation.   Example: Suppose your opponent raises preflop, you re-raise with and your opponent calls. The flop comes . Your opponent is unlikely to have raised and called a…

EV is short for Expected Value, which refers to the amount of money, on average, a particular action expects to win or lose. Expected Value differs from actual winnings because EV is a statistical measurement that takes place over a large sample. For example the best hand in Hold’em, AA has 80 percent equity vs…

Equity realization is the percentage of the pot a hand can expect to win based on its raw equity and the many postflop variables at play. In other words, it’s your equity after accounting for how often you will reach showdown, get bluffed, bluff your opponent, etc. Want to learn the strategic value of equity…

Equity denial is when you prevent a player from realizing his equity by forcing him to fold before showdown. For example, if you fold a hand that had 40% equity to win the pot versus a flop bet, you were denied 40% equity. Want to learn the strategic value of equity denial in poker? Read this guide:…

An exploitative strategy is one where you identify and exploit imbalances in the strategies of your opponents. For example, if you know a particular opponent will fold to a 3-bet 95 percent of the time, you might 3-bet with a much wider range as part of an exploitative strategy.  Want to learn how to exploit…

Eight-or-Better is a qualifier for certain poker variants in which the object is to make the best low hand with cards that are all 8 or lower. The most commonly played eight-or-better games are Omaha 8 and Seven-Card Stud 8 (aka Omaha Hi-Lo and Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo). In both of these games, players are…

Exposed Cards are cards purposely or accidentally dealt face-up. If a dealer exposes a card by mistake, that card is taken out of play and remains exposed for the rest of the table to see throughout the rest of the hand.

Expected Value (EV) refers to the amount of money, on average, a particular action expects to win or lose. Expected value differs from actual winnings because EV is a statistical measurement that takes place over a large sample. For example the best hand in Hold’em, AA has 80 percent equity vs KK preflop, so in…

Equity is defined as the amount of the pot belonging to a player based on his/her odds to win the pot. This can be expressed as a percentage. For example, in an AA vs KK preflop situation, the player with AA has roughly 80 percent equity to win the hand preflop. 

Early Position refers to the first two or three seats directly clockwise of the blinds. These players act first and are said to be in early position. “I raised with aces from early position.” Early positions can also be referred to as Under The Gun (UTG), UTG+1, UTG+2, etc, depending on the number of players…