A complete guide on basic Poker abbreviations

The world of Poker is very huge and widespread. If you are interested in this game, you must give all your efforts to tackle it so that you can go far. As much as exciting the game is, it is also a game that demands a lot of things from your end and that’s fair, Isn’t it? You have to ace every factor to master the game. No matter what level of player you are, you need to have a common set of elements such as determination, patience, commitment, will, and dedication, while playing the game.

While the game might seem simple to crack, it’s not. It takes a lot to dive into this world with the commitment to ace this field and to drive yourself towards more wins otherwise what’s the point? If you ask a professional player, do you struggle with the poker game even now after playing for so many years? Their answer will be a huge yes. Of course, they have learned about the game for a long time and found their style. They know when to make a certain move. Overall, they have a good hold over the game compared to the newbies.

There are a lot of things to learn in Poker, be it playing styles, tips to win more, strategies to turn the game in your favor, poker terms, and most important factors required for easy conversation because while playing you need to have good conversational skills as it’s one of the most important aspects of playing poker in the long run.

In this article, we will look at some of the commonly used Poker abbreviations that players use to save time and space. Some of these might not be common to you especially if you are a beginner but you will get there eventually. These are often used in chat while playing online poker and in forum groups where poker is discussed.

Let’s take a look!

AI- All in When all the remaining chips are placed in the middle of the pot.

AF- Aggression factor: the ratio between a player’s raising and calling frequencies

ATS- Attempt to steal: How often a player attacks the blinds from a late position

AO- Add on: The additional buy-in in a poker tournament

ATC- Any two cards: Playing any two cards preflop and never folding a hand

BB- Big blind: The minimum bet

B/C- Bet/Call: when a player bets and calls an opposing raise

BR- Bankroll: Amount of money a player has set aside to play with at the poker table

BRB- Be right back: When a player has to take a quick break

CK- Check

CO- Cut off: Position before the dealer

EV- Expected value: Long-term result of your decisions in a poker hand

EP- Early position: The early positions at the table

FH- Full house: A hand that contains three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank

FE- Fold equity: the equity a player can expect to gain due to the opponent folding to his or her bets.

FPS- Fancy play syndrome

FT- Final table

GG- Good game

GTD- Guaranteed

HU- Heads-up: a game with two players

HE- Hold’em

HH- Hand history: a record of the action in an online poker hand

IIRC- If I recall correctly

IMHO- In my humble opinion

ITM- In the money

LAG- Loose aggressive: a playing style

LP- Late position: Players who act later in a game of poker

LH- Long hand: a game with 7 or more players

LHE- Limit Hold’em

MP- Middle position: refers to several different seats at the poker table

MHIG- My hand is good

NH- Nice hand: a player has a good set of cards

NL- No limit

OOP- Out of position: When a player is Out of Position (OOP), it means they must act first, before the other players in each betting round.

OOTM- Out of the money

OTOH- On the other hand

OESD- Open-end straight draw: a draw to a straight in which two potential cards (or eight outs) could fill a straight

PL- Pot limit

PFR- Pre-flop raise: indicates how many hands a player raises on the first betting round

PTL- Player to my left

PTR- Player to my right

ROI- Return on investment: the ratio between investment and return

R+A- Rebuy and Add on

SB- Small blind: placed by the player to the left of the dealer button

SH- Shorthanded: a game with 3-6 players

SNG- Sit and go: online poker tournaments that start when a preset number of players have signed up.

SSS- Short stack strategy: a strategy to play with a small stack in no-limit games

STT- Single table tournament: a tournament played on just one table

TAG- Tight aggressive playing style

TAF- Tell a friend: a bonus where a player can bring in new players

UTG- Under the gun: the player in the earliest position, the one required to act first

VB- Value bet: a bet where you expect to have more equity than your opponent

VNH- Very nice hand

WPT- World poker tour

WSOP- World Series of poker

WTSD- Went to showdown: is a measure of how often a player goes to showdown after seeing a flop

To sum up!

It’s all about learning new different things in a field that you enjoy being in. Poker offers a lot of attributes and factors that you can even include in your day-to-day life. While playing such a complex and interesting game, the players must talk with as few words as possible so that the entire focus is on the game. Thus, there were a few abbreviations and terms that players use in the games to converse, learn and discover a lot of things about their game. You can inculcate these in your next game to take yourself to the next level.