Downswing recovery
The process of mentally and strategically rebounding from a losing streak.
Donk lead
A leading bet from out of position, usually into a player who had previous betting initiative.
Donk play
Making an unconventional or poorly thought-out move, often seen from recreational players.
Donkey
A slang term for a weak player who consistently makes unprofitable or illogical decisions.
Donkey call
A loose or unjustified call made by a weak player, often without correct odds or reasoning.
Donkey move
Any irrational play that deviates from standard strategy, usually made by an inexperienced player.
Door card
The first exposed card in Seven Card Stud, visible to all players and used to infer hand strength.
Drop
To fold a hand, especially in games like draw poker or when facing aggressive bets.
Drop out
To exit a hand voluntarily before showdown, another way of saying 'fold'.
Dry flop
A flop with unconnected cards, offering few straight or flush draws and often favoring preflop raisers.
Dry texture
Describes a board that lacks coordination, reducing the chances of strong draws or big hands.
Dry turn
A turn card that doesn't improve potential draws or change the board texture meaningfully.
Dry river
A river card that doesn't alter the strength of hands or complete any significant draws.
Double float
Calling both flop and turn with the intent to bluff on the river.
Double check
Checking twice in a row across streets, often to induce bluffs or control pot size.
Double check-raise
A rare and aggressive line involving raising after checking twice, usually indicating great strength.
Double bluff
Bluffing in two different ways within one hand, such as misrepresenting both position and hand strength.
Downbet
Betting a smaller amount than expected, often used to keep opponents in with weaker hands or set up future barrels.
Downswing management
The emotional and strategic discipline needed to handle extended periods of losses.
Domination
When one hand has another heavily outkicked, such as AK vs AQ, giving a strong statistical edge.
Dominate the table
Taking aggressive control of the table dynamic through consistent pressure and smart play.
Deep run
Progressing far into a tournament, often close to final table or major payouts.
Deep field
A tournament with a large number of entrants, increasing variance and duration.
Deuce-to-seven lowball
A poker variant where the best low hand is 7-5-4-3-2, with no flushes or straights.
Dealer tip
Gratuity given to a live dealer, usually after winning a hand or pot.
Dealer error
A mistake made by the dealer, such as misdealing or exposing cards unintentionally.
Dead card
A card that's no longer in play, often due to being folded or exposed, affecting hand calculations.
Deal-making
Negotiating a prize split at the final table of a tournament based on chip counts or ICM.
Default range
The standard set of hands a player uses by default in a given position or spot.
Defined range
A hand range that's been narrowed through betting actions, allowing for more accurate decisions.
Degen
Short for 'degenerate', referring to a player who gambles recklessly without proper bankroll discipline.
Degen move
An overly aggressive or wild play made without regard to odds or long-term profitability.
Daily tournament
A regularly scheduled poker tournament held every day, often with low to mid-stakes buy-ins.
Day 1 chip leader
The player with the most chips at the end of the first day of a multi-day tournament.
Day 2 survivor
A player who has made it through the first day of a tournament to reach the second stage.
Deal percentage
The portion of the prize pool each player agrees to receive when striking a deal at the final table.
Deal split
A negotiated division of remaining prize money among the final players in a tournament.
Defending range
The collection of hands a player uses to call or raise when defending blinds or checking aggression.
Defending frequency
How often a player defends blinds or calls aggression based on game theory or exploitative play.
Delayed river bet
A bet made on the river after checking both flop and turn, used for deception or thin value.
Delayed bluff
A bluff postponed until a later street to improve credibility or reduce the risk of being called.
Dead zone
A tournament phase where your stack is too small to be aggressive but too large to shove easily.
Donkey bluff
A poorly timed or obvious bluff typically made by an inexperienced or overly aggressive player.
Dealers choice cash game
A casual format where players alternate choosing the poker variant for each hand.
Door card read
Reading strength or weakness based on the exposed card in Stud or similar formats.
Donk jam
An all-in shove made from out of position early in the hand, often perceived as erratic.
Domination spot
A situation where one hand is heavily favored preflop due to kicker superiority.
Degen bluff
An illogical, high-risk bluff made by an undisciplined or emotional player.
Daily schedule
A poker site or room's set list of daily tournaments and events.
Daily MTT
Multi-table tournament held daily, typically part of a consistent schedule.
Degen bankroll
A dangerously small or mismanaged bankroll prone to fast bust-outs.
Defensive range
A range designed to prevent being exploited by aggression, includes hands used to call or raise vs bets.
Dominated equity
Equity that looks promising but is frequently crushed by stronger hands.
Dealer talk
Informal table chatter from the dealer, which may reveal tone but shouldn't affect play.
Delayed shove
A shove made on a later street rather than immediately, sometimes to induce calls.
Deep run equity
The potential value of your stack in a tournament based on your chances of reaching big payouts.
Dry board texture
A board lacking draws or connectivity, often favoring continuation bets from the preflop aggressor.
Deep field ICM
ICM considerations in large-field tournaments where final table bubbles carry huge variance.
Double or nothing
A sit-and-go format where half the field gets paid an equal share and half get nothing.
Diminishing fold equity
The reduction of fold equity as stack sizes shrink and opponents become more committed.
Donk lead river
A river bet made from out of position that wasn't preceded by previous aggression, often polarizing.
Dark bet
A dark bet is made before seeing the next card, typically used to confuse opponents or signal strength.
Dark raise
A dark raise is a preemptive raise made without full information, often used for intimidation or misdirection.
Deal
A deal can refer to both the distribution of cards and an agreement to split a tournament prize pool.
Dealer
The dealer is responsible for dealing cards, managing the pot, and enforcing rules in live poker games.
Dealer button
The dealer button is a rotating position that determines the order of action and who posts the blinds.
Dealer's choice
A poker variant where the player on the dealer button chooses the game to be played each round.
Dead blind
A forced blind posted without the right to act, often due to missed blinds or seat changes.
Dead hand
A hand that is forfeited due to a rules violation, misdeal, or because it was mucked prematurely.
Dead money
Chips in the pot from players who are no longer contesting the hand, increasing the equity for active players.
Dealt in
Refers to a player receiving cards and participating in a hand after posting any required blinds or antes.
Deuce
A deuce is a two, the lowest-value card in the deck, often important in lowball games and straight draws.
Deuce to seven
A lowball format where the best possible hand is 7-5-4-3-2, with straights and flushes counting against you.
Disconnect protection
A feature that protects online players from losing chips due to connection issues by automatically folding.
Donk
Slang for an inexperienced or poor poker player, often used derogatorily to describe someone making illogical plays.
Donk bet
A bet made out of position into the preflop aggressor, often signaling a weak or medium-strength hand.
Double belly buster
A draw that gives two different inside straight outs, often disguised and more powerful than it appears.
Double board
A hand played with two separate boards where the pot is split between the best hands on each board.
Double up
When a short-stacked player wins an all-in and doubles their chip count, crucial in tournament survival.
Downswing
A prolonged period of bad luck or losses in poker, often requiring mental resilience and bankroll management.
Draw
A hand that is not yet made but has potential to improve to a strong hand like a straight or flush.
Drawing dead
When a player's hand cannot possibly win, regardless of the remaining cards to be dealt.
Drawing hand
A hand that requires improvement to win, such as four cards to a straight or flush.
Drawing odds
The mathematical probability of completing a draw, critical for evaluating whether to continue in a hand.
Dry board
A flop with uncoordinated cards that offers limited draw potential, favoring continuation bets.
Dry pot
A side pot that no player can win directly, typically due to an all-in main pot situation.
Dry raise
A raise made with no prior betting action, typically interpreted as strength and used for deception.
Ducks
A nickname for a pair of twos (2♠2♦), considered a low but sometimes playable pocket pair.
Dumping chips
Intentionally losing chips to another player, often associated with cheating or collusion.
Duplicate hand
A repeated hand layout often seen in training or analysis software to review identical decisions.
Dwan effect
Named after Tom Dwan, this refers to the aggressive, unpredictable play that changes table dynamics.
Dynamic board
A board texture likely to change hand strengths significantly with future community cards.
Dynamic range
A player's range that includes many strong and weak hands, making them difficult to read.
Delayed c-bet
A continuation bet made on the turn instead of the flop, often used for pot control or deception.
Deep stack
A large chip stack relative to the blinds, allowing for more postflop play and maneuvering.
Deep stack strategy
Tactics used when playing with deep stacks, involving more nuanced betting and implied odds.
Defend the blinds
Calling or raising from the small or big blind to protect your forced investment in the pot.
Defensive bet
A small bet made to discourage larger bets from opponents while retaining some control of the hand.
Delayed turn bet
A bet on the turn after checking the flop, often signaling medium strength or a disguised hand.
Dominated hand
A hand that is significantly weaker than another, sharing one card and having lower kicker strength.
Dominated range
A range of hands that is largely weaker than the opponent's, resulting in negative expected value.
Double barreling
Firing a second bet on the turn after betting the flop, often used as a bluff or semi-bluff.
Double suited
In Omaha, a hand with two pairs of suited cards, increasing flush draw potential.