Poker Glossary

Poker Terms starting with the letter E

ear

1. (v) To bend the corner of a card so it can be recognized from the back by a cheater.¹

2. (n) A corner so bent.¹

early bet

1. (n) The first bet in a stud game, often set artificially low, that is, lower than the normal betting limits for the game, and often a forced bet, one made by, for example, in seven-card stud, the lowest face-up card showing. In a $2-$4 game, the lowest face-up card on the first round (at the point that two face-down cards and one face-up card have been dealt) might be required to make a 50-cent early bet. Sometimes called bring-in bet. Also see end bet.¹

early out

1. (n) In a cardroom, being permitted to have one's last break from work at the end of the shift, thus allowing the employee (usually a dealer) to leave early. If breaks are 20 minutes, having early out permits the dealer to get off 20 minutes before the shift is over, that is, before the other dealers are done. Often called E.O.¹

2. (n) Leaving a shift early because there is not enough business to support all the dealers. The shift boss may say, "Who wants early out?" A dealer who wants to go play (cards) may volunteer.¹

early position

1. (n) In a poker game, the first few positions to the left of the dealer, or to the left of the obligatory blinds. Compare with late position. Some claim early position, in a game with eight or more players, is the first three positions.¹

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easy money

1. (n) Easy pickings in a poker game; money won from inexperienced players.¹

edge

1. (n) The advantage a good player has in a poker game.¹

2. (n) Thievery; usually as part of the phrase take a little edge.¹

3. (v) Barely beat another hand. Sometimes, in this sense, edge out.¹

edge bet

1. (n) The bet made by the edge (age), often a forced bet.¹

eight to go

1. () Describing a (usually) no-limit game whose minimum bet is $8.¹

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eight way straight

1. (n) In the 53-card deck, the joker plus three to a straight with two "holes," so that any of eight cards makes it a straight. For example, 3-4-7-joker of mixed suits can be made into a straight by drawing any 5 or 6, of which there are eight altogether.¹

2. (n) In the 52-card deck, open-ended straight.¹

El Paso

1. (v) "I pass."¹

elevator

1. (n) A cheating move during shuffling of cards, in which the dealer offers the pack to be cut, but then restores the deck to its original sequence. ¹

2. (n) A form of widow game found only in home games, in which each player is dealt five downcards, as in draw, followed by a betting round, and then seven cards are arranged in two columns of three, with each turned face up one at a time, plus one card between the two columns (the elevator), turned up last, which can move up or down such that a player can use three across from either column, or either of the three diagonals formed when the elevator is in the middle. Each card exposed is followed by another betting round. Each player makes the best hand possible by using any combination from his five and up to three from the widow in the manner described. Some play that each player may use only two cards from his hand and must use three from the widow.¹

3. (n) The movable widow card described in definition 2.¹

4. (v) Perform the move of definition 1. Also called elevator the cut and hop the cut.¹

Elk River

1. (n) A hand with three 10s.¹

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Elmer

1. (v) Sucker. (Rhyming slang, from "Elmer Tucker.")¹

end

1. (n) A share given by a cheater to an accomplice.¹

2. (n) Any share of a poker pot. "I made a seven on the last card and I got the low end of the pot." ¹

3. (n) The bet made during the final round of betting, as, for example, $2-$4 hold 'em with $8 on the end permits a last round at double the stakes.¹

end bet

1. (n) The final round of betting, usually coming at the point all the cards have been dealt in a stud game or the last community card has been turned up in a hold 'em-type game. Some forms of poker permit a special end bet, as, for example, at a larger limit than in preceding rounds, or with more raises permitted than on earlier rounds. Also see end (definition 3).¹

end strippers

1. (n) Cards whose ends have been shaved by a thief so they can be located by feel during manipulation of the deck. These cards are somewhat shorter than ordinary cards, allowing the thief to find them easily. Compare with belly strippers, which are shaved on their sides (long edges). Also see glazed card, humps, side strippers, strippers.¹

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English poker

1. (n) Any of several poker variations, such as London lowball, or stud poker with a final draw permitted.¹

equity

1. (n) Your "rightful" share of a pot. If the pot contains $80, and you have a 50% chance of winning it, you have $40 equity in the pot. This term is somewhat fanciful since you will either win $80 or $0, but it gives you an idea of how much you can "expect" to win. ²

2. (n) Your mathematical share of a pot, based on the amount in the pot and your chances of winning it. If the pot is $100, and your chances of winning are N%, then your equity in that pot is $N. If the pot is $200, your equity is $2N. ³

3. (n) Your expected value in a pot.¹

Eubie

1. (n) In hold 'em, 8-6 as one's first two cards. Supposedly comes from the saying, "If you play these, you be broke."¹

1. (n) see expectation³

2. (n) expected value. Positive EV is sometimes written EV+, and negative EV, EV-.¹

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Evelyn

1. (n) Same as eeyo and yoleven. "How much to get in this pot?" "Evelyn."¹

even

1. (adv) Neither winning nor losing; often preceded by get. "If I ever get even, I'm never going to play again." (The rejoinder to this always is, "You were even when you sat down.")¹

exchange lights

1. (v) See lights.¹

expectation

1. (n) The amount you expect to gain on average if you make a certain play. For instance, suppose you put $10 into a $50 pot to draw at a hand that you will make 25% of the time, and it will win every time you make it. Three out of four times, you do not make your draw, and lose $10 each time for a total of $30. The fourth time, you will make your draw, winning $50. Your total gain over those four average hands is $50-$30 = $20, an average of $5 per hand. Thus calling the $10 has a positive expectation of $5. ²

2. (n) The amount you expect to make at the poker table in a specific time period. Suppose in 100 hours of play, you win $527. Then your expectation is $5.27/hr. Of course, you won't make that exact amount each hour (and some hours you will lose), but it's one measure of your anticipated earnings. ²

3. (n) Expectation is the rate of profit (or loss) you would expect to make if there were no variance, or on average over a very large number of trials. A positive expectation poker player is one who, due to an advantage in poker skill over his/her opposition, will earn money in the long run. A negative expectation poker player is someone you want at your table. ³

4. (n) The average profit or loss of a particular bet, in the long run. Also called return. For example, in no-limit lowball with three blinds of $5, $5, and $10, after someone opened for $20, you called with 3 2 A joker K. A player went all in for another $60, and the opener folded. You call, draw one card, and catch a 10, which loses to the raiser's pat hand of 8 7 3 2 A. Your having lost this particular pot is immaterial to your expectation on calling the $60 raise. You can figure this out exactly for this situation once you see the other player's cards. Prior to your calling the raise, there is $140 in the pot ($20 from the opener, $20 from you, $20 in blinds, $80 from the raiser). You are getting effective odds here of 140-to-60, or 2.33-to-1. You could have won with any 4. 5, 6, 7, or 8. Of the 43 unseen cards, there remained three 8s, three 7s, four 6s, four 5s, and four 4s, that is, 18 cards beat the pat 8, and 25 don't. More than half of the time (58.14% of the time) you lose this bet, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't call the raise. The odds against you are 25-to-18; this can also be expressed as 58.14-to-41.86. You can use these numbers to figure out your expectation. In every 100 times that this situation comes up, 58.14 times you lose your $60 call; that comes to $3488.37. In every 100 times, 41.86 times you win $140; that comes to $5860.40. Your net profit for the 100 times is $2372.03. Divide that by 100 to find the expectation for each call. That comes to $23.72. Your expectation, then, on the $60 call is $23.72. Had you folded, you would have lost $20. The average difference in this exact situation between folding and calling the raise is a $43.72 positive expectation. In situations that result in a net loss, you have a negative expectation. (The calculations neglected the cards in the hand of the player who opened. If you do not see those cards, you cannot take them into account for the calculation. Sometimes they worsen your expectation; sometimes they improve it.)¹

5. (n) Average hourly winnings (for a winning player, or losses, for a losing player), calculated by adding up your winnings over a time long enough to eliminate short-term statistical aberrations and dividing that by the number of hours played. For example, in 1000 hours of play, your meticulously kept books show that you won $17,853; your expectation is $17.85 per hour. If you continue to play in the same games and limits, you can reasonably expect that expectation to continue. Of course, you may have some hours in which you lose hundreds of dollars, and others in which you win that much, but over the long run it should average out. Also see variance.¹

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expected value

1. (n) expectation (definition 1) expressed as a dollar amount. For example, if your chance of winning a $100 pot is 50%, your expected value in that pot is $50. Also, equity. Sometimes shortened to EV.¹

exposed card

1. (n) Any card dealt face up, as any of the upcards in a stud game. ¹

2. (n) A card that inadvertently appears face up during the deal in a draw game, or that gets accidentally turned face up. Cardrooms have various rules for dealing with such accidental exposures, such as ruling the card dead (that is, not legally playable), dead at some times but not others, and so on. For example, in draw poker (high), an exposed card during the initial deal is often not declared dead, but is dead at any time during the draw. In lowball, during the initial deal, sometimes any exposed card 6 or higher is declared dead, but any card A through 5 can be kept by the player to whom it is dealt; during the draw, usually any exposed card is deemed dead. In stud and flop games, downcards inadvertently exposed by the dealer are usually ruled dead.¹

exposed pair

1. (n) In stud games, any open or visible pair, as opposed to a hidden pair; two cards of the same rank in the face-up position in one player's hand.¹

extra blind

1. (n) A blind put in by a player just entering the game, returning to the game, or otherwise changing his position at the table. See also "blind" and "post." ²

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extra outs

1. (n) Cards that improve a hand in more ways than the self-evident outs. Both terms (outs and extra outs) are usually used with reference to a hand that needs to improve to win the pot (because it is currently beat by some other hand). For example, in seven-card stud, on sixth street you have A K 7 5 4 3, while another player has J J Q Q 9 10, two pair. You can't win unless you improve, which you see as making the flush, so you count the remaining hearts as the number of outs you have. Perhaps you didn't notice that you can also make an inside straight, by catching any 6. This gives you four extra outs. If you make the flush, your opponent needs to make a full house to win; if you make the straight, he can win with a full house, but he, too, has extra outs, because any 8 or K makes him a higher straight.¹

eyes

1. (n) In hold 'em, a pair of aces, particularly when they constitute a player's downcards. Also called eyes of Texas.¹

eyes of Texas

1. (n) eyes.¹

Sources

The Official Dictionary of Poker
by
Michael Wiesenberg

Winning Low Limit Holdem
by
Lee Jones

Serious Poker
by
Dan Kimberg