Broadway Straight Poker
The game of poker has its own slang or “poker talk.” If you are new to poker, learning the poker slang will greatly improve your knowledge of the game.
Created by daven on July 23, 2009. An ace high straight. Man, i had to fold my set. On the river it was one card to a broadway straight. 555 is never good when he raises there.
The Straight is fifth on the poker hand rankings list and is made up of five sequential or consecutive cards. The word Straight should immediately have you thinking that it consists of five cards in a row - and that makes it a very easy hand to identify. The highest possible Straight is A-K-Q-J-10 (also called “Broadway”). An ace-high straight, such as A ♣ K ♣ Q ♦ J ♠ 10 ♠, is called a Broadway straight, while a five-high straight, such as 5 ♠ 4 ♦ 3 ♦ 2 ♠ A ♥, is called a baby straight, bicycle or wheel and is the best possible hand in ace-to-five low games (where it is a high card hand, not a straight). Broadway is the common poker nickname/term for an Ace-high straight. A Broadway card is therefore any of the cards which could make such a straight: any ten, jack, queen, king, or Ace.
From the small blind to the straight flush, here is a poker glossary of the important poker terms to know.
Act: check, bet, raise, or fold
Action: whose turn it is, as in “Action is on you.” Also, slang for gambling, as in “He loves action.” Or a lot of betting, like “The 2/4 game at Pala has a lot of action.”
Active Player:player still in competition for a pot
Add-on: additional chips that may be purchased to “add on” to your chip stack, usually at the end of the Re-buy period, though some tourneys allow add-ons earlier and some tourneys even allow for multiple add-ons (and/or Re-buys)
All-in: a player bets all of his or her remaining chips
Bad Beat: when a player has the best of it and the odds are heavily with him or her, but gets beaten in the hand by a long-shot draw
Bankroll:the money a player has set aside to gamble with
Behind: a player who acts after another player in a betting round
Benjamin: a hundred-dollar bill (Benjamin Franklin’s portrait appears on a U.S. $100 bill)
Best of It: the player who has the odds on his or her side
Bet:money initially wagered and put into the pot (during a given betting round, subsequent betting action beyond an initial bet is termed a “raise”)
Big Blind: the larger of two forced “blind hands” in community card games like Hold’em and Omaha; the big blind is generally located two to the left of the “dealer button”
Big Hand: a really good hand
Big Slick: Ace-King hole cards (see Hole Cards)
Blank: community board card that looks like it is harmless or couldn’t really help anybody
Bluff: a bet or raise that appears to represent a good hand, when in fact the bettor has a mediocre or at best a drawing hand
Board:(see also, Community Cards) the playing surface and the community cards on the “board” that are shared by all players in games such as Hold’em and Omaha. Players use the community cards to complete their hands.
Boat:full house (aka “full boat”). three of one card, two of another. ex. JJJ99
Brick and Mortar: a casino with a physical world spatial existence (as opposed to merely online or cyberspace); some casinos, like Pala, have both a brick and mortar and an online existence.
Broadway: ace-high straight
Bubble: in a tournament, one place away from making it to the money
Busted: broke. Lost all chips and out of the tournament.
Button:(aka Dealer Button), disc that denotes which player is the “dealer” for that hand. Button position is dealt the last card and is last to act in each betting round
Buy-In:the amount of chips a player must buy in order to enter a card game. For tourneys, the buy-in is a set amount of money for a set amount of starting chips. For cashgames, buy-ins are generally expressed as minimums, but can have an optional limited or unlimited range beyond the minimum as well.
Buying the Pot: to win a pot with a bluff or semi-bluff that forces other players out
Call:to put in the amount that another player bet: “I call”
Calling Station: you bet and bet and he calls and calls; generally a weak player who calls too much but doesn’t usually bet or raise.
Case Card: last card of a given rank left in the deck… the other three are already out
Chasing: hoping an upcoming community card will “hit” to complete a so-far unmade hand
Check: to not bet when it is your turn. can say “I check” or tap on the table in a live game
Check and Raise: to check initially, but then make a raise if another player bets after your initial check
Chop:in tournament play, the last remaining players decide to split up the prizepool rather than play to the end; or, in a hand, where the end result is a tie and the pot is split up and distributed evenly to the tied players.
Community Cards:(see also, Board) the community cards on the “board” that are shared by all players in games such as Hold’em and Omaha. Players use the community cards to complete their hands.
Connectors:(see also, Suited Connectors) two or more cards in sequence; for example: 89 or 10J
Counterfeit:In Omaha Eight or Better, when the board pairs one of your low cards
Cracked: to lose a hand you were initially favored to win, as in “My Aces got cracked!”
Crying Call: a very reluctant call
Dealer:player or staff member who deals the cards out to players; however, see also, Button
Dead Man Hand: A famous hand that consists of the black eights and the black aces
Deep Stack:a tournament in which players begin with an amount of chips that is relatively high in relation to the blind or ante.
Dog:underdog. Not favored to win.
Dominated: a hand that is beaten due to shared cards. for example, A-8 is “dominated” by A-K
Draw: hand that needs additional cards to become a winning hand
Drawing Dead: when there are no cards left in the deck that will make a draw hand into a winner
Draw Poker: each player gets a set amount of cards and then can replace some of his or her cards with others dealt out from the remainder of the deck
Duck: a deuce, a 2
Early Position: approx. first third of players to act in a hand
Face Down: cards, like the hole cards, that are unexposed to other players
Face Up: exposed card that everybody can see
Fast Play: aggressive style emphasizing a lot of betting and raising
Favorite: based on odds alone, most likely hand to win
Fish: a novice or poorly-skilled player, expected to lose money
Flop: first three community cards dealt face up on the board
Flush: hand containing five cards of the same suit
Fold:to get rid of one’s cards, and in doing so forfeiting the right to any part of the pot.
Four-Flush: having four of the five cards needed for a flush… and hoping for the fifth
Free Card: a betting round where all players have checked, thus allowing the next community card to fall without anybody putting any money in the pot
Freeroll: a poker tournament in which certain qualifying players get in for free. “Freerolling” also is an expression sometimes used to describe somebody who has won a lot of chips already and is “rolling” through the game with other people’s money.
Four-of-a-Kind: Hand containing four cards of the same rank, like J J J J.
Full House: hand with two of one rank and three of another, like 9 9 J J J
Hand: the cards a poker player holds, combined with any community cards, to make the best five card combination
Head-to Head: aka “Heads Up”
Hi/Lo: type of poker where the highest hand and the lowest hand each take half the pot
Hole Cards: cards held by a player, unseen by other players
Implied Odds:what a player thinks his actual payoff will be if he hits his hand, relative to how much it will cost to play
In Front Of: a player who acts before another player
Inside Straight Draw: a draw where only one card will complete the straight, for example a hand like 6-7- – 9-10… needs an 8 to complete
Isolate: to bet and raise so as to get heads-up against a weaker hand or weaker player
Joker: a wild card, or slang for a really lucky card that came to complete a hand against odds
Kicker:unmatched card in a player’s hand that is not used except to break ties. Example, two pair 5-5 and 8-8 with A kicker beats two pair 5-5 and 8-8 with Q kicker.
Late Position: aprox. the final third of players to act in a hand
Laydown:to fold
Limit:the most that can be bet or raised at any one time (see also, Limit Poker)
Limit Poker:poker games where limits exist for betting or raising, as opposed to no-limit poker
Limp: to just call, rather than bet or raise
Live Card:a card whose rank has not yet appeared on the board (nor presumably in another hand)
Live One: a player likely to bet wildly and probably lose like a fish (see Fish)
Lock: a hand that cannot be beaten
Lock Up My Seat: a commitment to take a seat that is waiting for you
Longshot: a drawing hand that has the odds heavily against it and probably won’t be made
Look Up: to call somebody, as in “I’m gonna look you up.”
Loose: playing style that plays a lot of hands and often goes for longshots (see Longshot)
Made Hand: already solid. Don’t need to hit a draw to have a good winning hand.
Maniac:wild, loose player who bets it up with mediocre hands just to build the pot
Middle Position: aprox. the middle third of players to act in a hand
Monster: an excellent hand that is either a lock (see Lock) or at least probably won’t be beat
Muck: fold. To throw a hand away and toss it into the Muckpile. (see Muckpile) & (see Fold)
No-Limit: a player may bet any amount of chips up to and including everything he has in front of him or her
One Pair: hand containing two cards of the same rank, like Q Q
Overcard: a higher card. So a K is an “overcard” to a Q, and a Q is over a 9
Pocket Cards: see also- Hole Cards
Position: players relative position to the player who acts last; in flop games like Hold’em and Omaha, position is usually considered relative to the button
Pot:sum total of all antes, blinds, and bets put into the center of the table during a given poker hand. It is the pot for which players are competing to win.
Preflop:before the flop
Premium Starting Hands:holding among the best starting hole cards; for example, in Hold’em premium starting hands include A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and A-K, and possibly A-Q and J-J as well. Hi/Lo games also have low premium starting hands of their own, for example holding perhaps A-2-3-5 as a starting hand in Omaha Hi/Lo
Raise:adding more chips to another player’s original bet to make it more expensive for other players to continue to play for the pot
Rake:the amount of money taken out of a pot by the house (the dealer is the house’s representative in this process) as its fee for running the game; the rake is used to pay overhead, including equipment, facilities, utilities, and staff salaries
Reraise: raising another player’s raise
Ring Game: a cash game with a full table of players, usually seven or more for Stud and nine or more for Omaha or Hold’em
River: the fifth (last) community card on board
Royal Flush: an A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit. The highest ranking hand in poker.
Satellite Tournament: a smaller stakes tourney in which the prizes are one or more entries into a more expensive major event
Set: three of a kind, consisting of a pocket pair plus a matching community card
Shorthanded: a poker game with five players or less, perhaps six or less
Showdown: final act of a poker hand
Slowplay: playing a powerful hand in a weak manner to disguise its strength and lure, or “trap,” other players into the action
Small Blind: located just to the left of the button, it is the smaller of the two forced blind bets preflop
Standard Raise: typically, three times the big blind
Steal the Blinds: bluffing to make the blinds fold
Straight: a sequence of five consecutive cards, like 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10
Straight Flush: a sequence of five consecutive cards that are all also the same suit
Suck-out:to hit a longshot draw, typically on the river
Suited Connectors: (see also, Connectors) two or more cards in sequence and of the same suit; for example: 8-9 or 10-J of Hearts
Swing:fluctuation of a player’s chip count or even overall bankroll
Straight Poker Games
Table Stakes: a player can only play with the money/chips he or she has on the table in front of him or her; the player’s bet, call, or raise is limited to the number of chips he or she currently has, and the player cannot buy, borrow, or produce more chips in the middle of a hand.
Three-of-a-Kind: three cards of the same rank held in a given hand, ex.: QQQ. see also, Trips
Tournament: a competition in which all players start with the same amount of chips and play continues until one player holds all the chips
Trap: to underplay or slowplay powerful hand so as to lure other players into betting
Trips: three of a kind
Turn: the fourth community card on board, following the flop
Two Pair: a hand that contains two different pairs, like QQ and KK in the same hand
Under the Gun: the first player to act in a round of poker; preflop, under the gun is to the immediate left of the button
Value Bet: betting a hand that is perhaps not a sure thing but that over time will win more than it loses
Wheel: (aka “Bicycle”) a five-high straight: A – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
Wired: to have a pair in the hole from the start
Now that you are familiar with all of the poker terms you can start playing poker online! Sign up today for a poker tournament to win real money!
Broadway - An ace high straight, AKQJT.Broadway Straight Poker
An ace high straight is nicknamed “Broadway,” and is also sometimes referred to as “Main Street.” This term can be used to describe an ace high straight made in any game, but it is most commonly used in the discussion and analysis of Omaha games.In an Omaha game, players are typically dealt a four card starting hand. Omaha is a flop game, which means community cards are used. These community cards consist of a three card flop, followed by a turn card and a river card. Players are required to form their best five card hand by using exactly two cards from their four card starting hand and exactly three cards from the community cards on the board. The game can be played either as a high-lo game or as a high only game, and may be either Limit or Pot-Limit (or occasionally No-Limit).
Given that in an Omaha game, each player has nine cards from which to form his hand, both made hands and draws tend to run very big. It is not uncommon for more than one player to make a full house on the same hand, and four of a kind is much more common than it is in a Hold’em or Stud Game. Despite this fact, much of Omaha strategy and game theory revolves around the straight draw. This is especially true for Pot-Limit play and the high only version of the game. There are several reasons for this.
In a Hold’em game, the object is of the game is to make a hand that is likely to be stronger than those of your opponents. It is nice to make the nuts, but most of the time it is not necessary to win the pot. Sometimes you will make the nuts and end up losing to a player who outdraws you, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Omaha is different. If you make a habit of drawing to non-nut hands, you will get crushed. In fact, many nut draws that you would be happy to take in a Hold’em game should be thrown away in Omaha. One reason for this is because in an Omaha game, you are in danger of being freerolled against.
In an Omaha game, it is not uncommon for multiple players to hold or draw at the same nut straight. If you hold the nut straight but do not have any outs to make a bigger hand, like a flush, a full house, or a higher straight, your opponent who also holds the nut straight may be freerolling against you. This means that even if you hold the nuts, you may be in grave danger. If you are playing Pot-Limit, getting freerolled can cost you your entire stack. Your concern about getting freerolled shouldn’t start when you make the nuts. It’s also a consideration for your hand selection and your draw selection.
When you play Hold'em, your straight draws usually have either four or eight outs. In Omaha, four and eight out straight draws are considered weak. Having a four card hand allows you to “wrap” around straight draws, by covering a run of cards. If a card that falls within your wrap hits the board, you will have made a straight. In Omaha, a wrap on an ace high straight draw is called a “Broadway Wrap.” If you held A ♠ K ♠ T♣ 9♣, and the flop was Q♣ J♠ 6♦, you would have flopped a Broadway wrap with two back door flush draws. You can see how well this hand would fare against an eight out straight draw, for example T♠ 9♦ 7♣ 7♥. It is the possibility for huge wraps, which can have a better probability of hitting than missing, that make straight draws so powerful in Omaha. Imagine that you held Q♥ J♥ 8♠ 7♣, and the flop came T♣ 9♦ 5♠. You would have flopped a twenty card wrap with two cards to come. In this situation, you make a straight with any K– Q–J –8 -7-6. This is a huge draw.
Straight draws play such a prominent role in Omaha games, not only because of the sheer power they possess, but also because they often can be a favorite in situations where large pots are built. This is especially true for Pot-Limit play, where drawing hands have enormous value. The classic example of a straight draw being a favorite in a big pot situation would be when you have a full wrap against a dry top set on the flop.
Another reason straight draws can win big pots is because they are almost always present, and can be difficult to read and defend against. In Pot-Limit play, when a flush draw appears on the flop, or the board pairs, it can kill the action. The nut flush draw is a very powerful draw to flop, and players are wary about putting money in the pot when there is a distinct possibility it is out there. Players are also wary of the nut full house when the board pairs. But the straight wrap is almost always present. You only need to have two cards within two ranks of each other on the board to produce the possibility for a strong wrap. For example imagine that the board contains an 8 and a 6. If a player held T-9-5-7, they would have an extremely strong straight draw. Even a four card gap on the board can produce a nine card wrap. So long as the board does not pair and the flush draw is not made, the straight draw is powerful and ever present.
Usage: I Made Broadway, 13 Card Broadway Wrap, 16 Card Broadway Wrap
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