Monotone means that a selection of cards are all of the same suit. It is most commonly used in Hold’em to describe flop textures. For example, if the flop comes down 789 all of diamonds, we might refer to the texture as ‘789 monotone’. Monotone can also be used to describe other scenarios such as four preflop cards of the same suit in Omaha, or fourupcards of the same suit in Stud.

Lowball is the name given to the range of poker variants that make use of a low hand ranking system. Examples include Razz (the lowball version of Stud) and Deuce to Seven Triple Draw (a drawing game which uses a low hand ranking system). Some games such as Omaha Hi/Lo and Stud Hi/Lo make use of both a high and low hand ranking system and award half of the pot to the winning hand from each category.

Leverage refers to an effect that chips can have on the action despite not being directly in play. Generally, our opponent needs to fold more of his mid-strength hands against our bets we have lots of chips behind. This is because he has to worry about us continuing with large bets on the following streets making it harder for him to reach showdown. Assuming our stack is shallow, villain would be able to call much wider since he has guaranteed equity realization.

Mental Game refers to the mental state of a player when playing poker. Having a good mental game means that we are psychologically strong and can continue to perform at a high level despite dealing with adversity. Players with a strong mental game go on tilt less and are not as heavily affected by downswings. Many professional players dedicate time to specifically working on their mental game, even hiring a mental game coach in some circumstances.

Levelling refers to an attempt to adjust to an opponent’s thought process while they are simultaneously trying to adjust to ours. He thinks, that I think, that he thinks, that I think etc…..Ending up on the right level is often based on an intuitive understanding of human psychology – it is not necessarily a precise science.

Laydown is simply another word for folding in poker. Although laydown can be used to describe any fold, it is commonly used in situations where the fold itself is quite tough due to having a reasonably strong holding.