Back to some more explanation of poker terms, starting off again in the B’s.
Blank: This is a card that doesn’t help anyone. Or, as Teddy KGB would put it, “That Ace couldn’t have helped you.” Basically, if there are two players, one is going for a high straight, and another is going for a high flush, and an off-suit low card comes up, that card is considered a blank.
Blind: The blinds are the early contributions to get the pot going. And they’re forced in before the players even see their hands. The different blind spots (big and small) rotate to the left with every deal. Ante games often don’t use blinds, and vice versa. The big blind bets last and has the option to just check if nobody raised above the big blind amount.
Board: Just another way of saying the community cards in a hold ‘em game. The five cards in the middle made up the board.
Bottom pair: A semi-excitable but ultimately dangerous hand where you pair with the lowest card on the flop. If you have 10, 5 in your hand and the flop is A, J, 5, you’ve got yourself a bottom pair. Now fold.
Brick and Mortar: A term usually used to describe a retail store that you can physically walk into (remember those?), the term also lends itself to the description of a real casino. Although I tend to just call them casinos, and refer to online as that place you really shouldn’t play.
Burn: You know when the dealer is finished dealing the hold ‘em players their hands and then discards before laying the flop? That discard is called the burn. It’s a security measure to keep things fair for all players in case one catches a glimpse beforehand as to what’s coming next.
Button: Gotta keep track of the dealer somehow, mine as well do it with an actual button. While in the dealer position, you can expect to be referred to as “the button” by the real casino dealer.
And Buy-In: This is the amount it cost to enter a tournament. Everyone starts off with the same amount of chips. And while most of us end up calling it our contribution to the eventual winner, better players long before our time started calling it the buy-in. Nobody is immune from the buy-in.