Other Possible Features of a Poker Game

There are a number of terms that are used to describe the type of game being played. The actual game type would be something like Seven-Card Stud, Holdem, or any of the many flop game variants. The betting structure is described with terms like no limit or structured limit. There also are other terms that are used to describe poker games such as...

High/Low (Hi/Lo) or Eights or Better (8/b) - Players can win half the pot if they have a qualified low hand. In addition to forming the best possible five card poker hand (the high hand), the worst five card hand (the low hand) is also considered. To qualify, a player must have 8-high or worse. In some cases, a low hand cannot be made because the board cards will not allow it, and the entire pot is awarded to the high hand. In many cases, straights and flushes will not count against forming a low hand and aces are low, although this varies depending on the game.

High - This is just a standard game where only the highest hand wins the pot, as opposed to a high/low game.

Kill - When a player wins two hands in a row the next hand is considered "killed". When that occurs the blinds and limits are doubled until another player wins a pot. The dealer usually uses a "kill button" to denote which player caused the hand to be killed.

Half-Kill - The same as a game with a kill, except that instead of doubling the bets and blinds are increased by 50%. So it would temporarily make a $10/$20 game into a $15/$30 game, for instance.

Half-Blinds - A game where the blinds are half of the amount of the game. So in a $4/$8 game, the blinds would be $1 and $2. Depending on the house, a preflop raise in this $4/$8 game could make the total bet either $6 or $8, although making it $6 is more common. This is used primarily in live casino ring games as a way to entice action.

There are also terms that are used specifically to describe aspects of tournament-style poker games such as..

Sit-and-Go (SNG) - A short, single-table tournament. This structure is very popular online.

Rebuy - If a player loses all their chips, they may buy back in again. This is only allowed for a certain amount of time at the beginning of a tournament. Sometimes players can also rebuy if their chip stack is below a certain amount.

Add-On - Used almost exclusively in conjunction with rebuys, this is where players can buy an additional amount of chips at a certain point in the tournament, usually when the rebuy period ends.

Freezeout - A game that is winner-take-all. There is no prize amount for 2nd place.

Bounty - A feature where if a certain flagged player is eliminated, the eliminator wins a prize.

Turbo - An online tournament structure where the levels are shorter than usual, creating a faster, more aggressive style of poker.

Step - A step tournament is a small tournament where the winner gains entry into a larger tournament, somewhat like satellite.

Enough talk, take me to the featured poker room.

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