In honor of our new quasi-regular-but-hoping-to-make-them-regular-weekly-events, this week’s term is sit-and-go. These are tournaments that begin whenever a specified number of players have registered (usually 10). Thus, the players register and sit and then when there are enough they go.
“A Friend in Need” (1903) by C.M. Coolidge [Public Domain]
Let’s have a two-for-Tuesday, shall we?
The first of this week’s terms is Broadway which, quite simply, is the highest straight you can get in poker: 10, J, Q, K, A.
Conversely, we have the wheel, which is the lowest straight you can get: A, 2, 3, 4, 5.
This week’s word is gutshot. While it may sound a bit painful and/or somewhat messy, in poker, a gutshot refers to a straight that is completed by an inside card.
For example, if you have 9♥, 10♣ in your hand, and the flop is Q♦, 8♥, 4♠, then you would need a Jack—of any suit—on the turn or river to complete your straight.
A gutshot is the opposite of an open-ended straight (bonus word) in which any outside card would complete your hand.
In this case, if you have 9♥, 10♣ in your hand, and the flop is Q♦, J♥, 4♠, then you would need either an 8 or a King to complete your straight
This week’s word is backdoor. From a poker perspective, backdoor means hitting the two cards you need to make your hand on the turn and the river.
For example, say you have two spades in your hand and there was one on the flop. If two more spades show up on the turn and river then you’ve made a backdoor flush.
Similarly, if you have three cards to a straight between your hole cards and the flop—and the turn and river cards complete your straight—then you’ve made a backdoor straight.
Keeping it simple—and related to last week’s word—here’s a bonus for you: two terms. First is the turn (also called fourth street) which is the fourth card the dealer deals face-up into the community, or board cards.
Finally, there is the river (also called fifth street) which is, simply, the fifth card dealt face up on the board. Along with the flop, these two cards comprise the entirety of the five shared community cards in Hold’Em and Omaha games.
To add some variety and spice to our highly informative and captivating blog, we are introducing a new feature: “Poker Term of the Week.” From the relatively common to the more obscure—and until I run out of terms—see how many you may already know.
For this, our inaugural post, I will start things off with a term with which practically every poker player is familiar: the flop.
Quite simply, the flop in poker is the first three community—or board—cards dealt face-up by the dealer.
