A dark bet or bet in the dark is a bet made without looking at all or any of the cards involved in a hand. For example, the player first to act on the flop in Hold’em, might make his flop betting decision before the flop cards have even been dealt. Naturally, betting in the dark is not an advisable strategy. It’s often used by players looking to gain a psychological advantage over their opponents or for entertainment value in the case of live TV.

In Short Deck poker all deuces, threes, fours, and fives are removed from the deck – leaving 36 cards to play with, which can result in a more action-packed game.

Even though only 4 to 8 per cent poker tournament players are women, the ladies want to play. Here’s a quick guide to setting up your own Ladies Poker Night.

In poker a check raise is where a player raises after already checking on the current betting round. It is often considered a deceptive play because it involves a passive action (checking) followed by an aggressive action (raising). A check raise is really just two actions strung together, a check followed by a raise.

A big bet is the larger of two different fixed bet sizings used in fixed limit poker games. A big bet is twice the size of the big blind in game such as fixed limit Hold’em and Omaha. Depending on the betting round, either the small bet sizing or the big bet sizing will be used. In Hold’em, the small bet sizing is used on the flop while the big bet sizing is used for the turn and river.

In poker, the term bet means to wager our chips by placing them into the centre of the table. Although raises and calls are both types of bet, the term bet is generally used to describe a situation where we make the first wager on the current betting round. For example, if we make the first wager on the flop, it’s described as ‘making a bet’. All further bets on that betting round will typically be described either as raises or calls. In more general terms betting refers to the activity of making wagers on the outcome of any event, whether it be a card game or something completely unrelated.