Tournament Strategies
After receiving pocket cards, you are immediately faced with a choice: play your cards and either raise or call the blinds, or fold.
Practice Matters
countdown
countdown The act of counting the cards that remain in the stub after all cards have been dealt, done by a dealer to ensure that a complete deck is being used. counterfeitSee main article: counterfeit. Also "duplicate". cow A player with whom one is sharing a buy-in, with the intent to split the result after play.
To "go cow"
To "go cow" is to make such an arrangement. cripple In some community card games, to cripple the deck means to have a hand that is virtually impossible for anyone else to catch up to. For example, in Texas hold 'em, if a player's hole cards are A-T and the flop is A-A-T the player has "crippled the deck"; though that player's hand is high (probably unbeatable), other players are unlikely to see any possibility for improvement and will probably fold. Such a hand generally doesn't gain much money for the player holding such a hand, however it is possible to win a large amount through slow play.