called in the same betting round bad beat To lose a hand where one hand is considerably ahead of the eventual winning hand. See main article: bad beat. balance Playing very different hands in the same way, with the aim of making it more difficult for an opponent to gain useful information about the cards a player has. bank Also called the house, the person responsible for distributing chips, keeping track of the buy-ins, and paying winners at the end of the game. bankroll The amount of money that a player has to wager for the duration of their poker career; to fund someone's participation in a game. Compare with staking. bankroll management Choosing the correct stakes and game type to avoid exhausting a bankroll during downswings behind Not (currently) having the best hand; money on the table but not currently in the pot, which can be bet later in the hand; money in play but not visible as chips in front of a player bet Any money wagered during the play of a hand The opening bet of a betting round In a fixed limit game, the standard betting amount betting structure The complete set of rules regarding forced bets, limits, raise caps, and such for a particular game. See main article: betting. big bet The larger of two bet amounts in a fixed limit game. See main article: big bet. big bet game A game played with no limit or a pot limit betting structure big blind The larger of two forced bets in certain types of poker. See main article: blind. big blind special A hand won by the big blind playing very weak pocket cards because there was no raise pre-flop big full The best possible full house in community card games. A stronger hand than the underfull. big stack A stack of chips that is relatively large for the stakes being played. Also called deep stack. Also the biggest stack at the table. Compare with short stack. blank A card, frequently a community card, of no apparent value. Compare with rag, brick, bomb. blaze A non-standard poker hand of five face cards that outranks a flush bleed To consistently lose chips through bad play, possibly resulting from tilting blind A type of forced bet. See main article: blind. In the dark blind defense To call or raise an opponent's raise when in the big blind,