R

Rack n.  A tray for securing stacks of chips.

Rags n.  Low, crummy, uncoordinated cards.  A ragged flop is one unlikely to hit anyone.  A hand like A7 is sometimes labeled ace-rag, because the seven cannot make a straight with the ace.

Rail n.  Place for spectators, named for the rail they must stand behind.  Often used in reference to going broke.  He turned over two pair and boom, I was on the rail. 

Rainbow adj.  1. A flop of three different suits.  2. A final board with no more than two of any suit, and therefore no possibility of a completed flush.

Raise v., n.  Form of bet where you put more money in the pot than the previous bettor.  Your opponent must either fold, match (call), or reraise. 

Raise for value v.  Similar to bet for value.

Raising for a free card v.  The player in last position may raise with a draw in an attempt to see more cards cheaply.  If he raises (or is simply the first to bet) on the flop, he shows strength, and other players are more likely to check after the next card.  If likes the turn card, he bets.  If not, he checks, and gets to see the river.  He thus sees both the turn and river without putting in another bet.  An advantage of late position, it takes advantage of the tendency to check to the raiser.

Rake n.  Also the drop.  A percentage taken out of the pot by the house.  See also: time game.   The rake is a fundamental consideration in winning poker, and your most relentless opponent.  If it is too high, it does not matter how good you are, you will lose in the long run.  Brick and mortar poker rooms typically charge 10% of every pot, up to a maximum of maybe $3.  The norm online is 5%.  Since the rake is capped, higher limit players pay less rake, percentage wise.

Rakeback n. A method of attracting poker players by rebating a portion of the rake, especially at internet sites. Typically, 10-30% of the rake a player has paid is returned at the end of a month. Most rakeback comes from web affiliates who drive traffic to poker rooms. The affiliate gets a cut of the rake, and passes the rest back to the player. Sometimes poker rooms themselves give rakeback to their most valued customers. An example of a provider is Party Poker Rakeback.

Read v. n.  Studying opponents to ascertain the strength of their cards.  Can you read her?  Did you get a good read?

Rebuy adj., v., n.  Type of tournament where for a set period of time, eliminated players can purchase more tournament chips and reenter the fray.

Release v.  Fold.  After a reraise, I'd have released that hand.  The term adds emotional distance.  You are simply releasing something, not giving in to aggression, crumpling under the weight, or folding under pressure.

Removal effect n.  See effect of removal.

Represent v.  Projecting holding a certain hand.  If you open raise with an ace on the board, you represent a pair of aces.

Reraise v., n.  When Steuart raises and Emma raises again, she has reraised..

Reverse implied odds n. A measure of how a hand is hurt by the danger of being drawn out on.  A hand is weakened if there is a good chance it will be beaten by cards to come. This is the opposite of implied odds — the additional bets a draw can expect to win if completed. Certain hands have bad reverse implied odds because they are likely to win a little or lose a lot.  For example, not only will a low pair likely lose against multiple draws, it also must usually call additional bets to protect against bluffs.  However, if the rivals miss, they just fold. Opponents keep betting when ahead, but muck when behind, thus hurting the pair's expectation.  Better pot odds are therefore necessary to make such a hand profitable. Usage example: There were multiple draws and two aggressive opponents. I figured my twos were ahead, but folded because of reverse implied odds. The risk of energetic raising worsens reverse odds.

Riffle adj., v.  The noisy, familiar type of shuffle.

Ring game n.  A cash game, distinguished from a tournament or one-on-one.

Risk of ruin n.  Abv.: RoR.  A mathematical calculation of the likelihood of going broke due to chance. Even a winning player can easily bust out making large wagers with a small bankroll (for example $20 bets with a bankroll of just $100). RoR is a function of the size of bets and bankroll, volatility (standard deviation) of the game in question, and the player's expectation. It is usually expressed as a percentage, as in, "you have a 5% RoR betting at those levels." A full-table limit holdem player who wins one big bet per hour has less than 1% chance of going broke with a 300 bb bankroll.  More info: BJmath.

River n.  The fifth and final community card in hold'em, dealt face up in the middle of the table, which anyone can use as part of a hand.  See turn, flop, hole cards.

Rock n.  A predictably tight person who only plays very good hands and does not take chances.  Rocks often win anyway, but since they fold easily, it is desirable to sit to their right in order to bluff them out of pots. 

Roll n.  Winning streak.  He's on a roll.

Round n.  1. A segment of betting, in between the deal of the cards.  In hold'em, the betting rounds are: preflop, flop, turn, and river.  2. One hand.  Let's play a couple more rounds.

Rounder n.  A skilled poker player, especially a professional or semi-pro.

Royal flush n.  Also just royal.  An ace-high straight flush, the highest hand in normal poker games.  See hand rankings.

Runner-runner adj.  Using the final two cards (turn, river) to complete a hand.  He flopped a pair of aces, then made a runner-runner full house.  Similar: backdoor draw.

Rush n.  A string of wins.  Superstitious players often believe the continuation of a rush can be predicted, and believing themselves on a rush, will play more aggressively or loosely.  Play the rush. Although rushes do not exist as statistical events, they can occur as mental events.  Revved up by winning, players can become more active, perceptive, and able to push the rest of the table around, especially if everyone else sees the rush too.

SEE the world's best definition of "reverse implied odds."

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