Poker Terminology

Poker Shorthand

A common format for starting to describe how a hand played is to list all the cards involved using a form of shorthand which paints the reader an accurate picture of how the cards fell; your opponent hit a set on the flop and you outdrew them on the river by making a straight flush.

d diamonds
h hearts
s spades
c clubs

For example:

Your Hand: KdQd
Rival Hand: 7c7h
The Board: Jd10d7s/3c/9d

Other Poker Terms

There is plenty more relevant information you can provide about a hand than just the cards though:

Blind Level / Table Limit - Tells us how deep into a tournament the situation happened or how high the stakes were along with the maximum buyin.

No of Players at the table - Shows us whether the game was shorthanded or longhanded.

No of active players - Details whether the hand was played heads up or in a multiway environment.

Positioning - Informs us the starting hand requirements for all players when cross referenced against the cards they held.

Stack sizes - Tells us who is playing shortstack poker and who is capable of deepstack play.

Table image - Provides us with the rough perception players had over certain opposition.

Relevant chat - Indicates an opponents possible frame of mind, although caution is advised as opponents are likely to try and decieve.

Plenty of other minor details can be worth recording, for example the time of day may be relevant if you suspect an opponent likes to play drunk in the early hours of Sunday morning; the percentage of players seeing the flop in ring games tells us how loose a table was playing; any previous player notes might be worth including to help the reader build a more accurate picture of how they would have played the hand, based on the information provided. See our guide on player note taking in poker for more info on this.