strategy
Brick
Also: blank
A card that changes nothing: it completes no draw, pairs nobody obviously, and leaves the hand ranking exactly where it was. The opposite of a scare card.
Example. The river bricked off and his flush draw was worth exactly nothing at showdown.
Bricks are the cards on which the player with the best hand can keep betting for value with no new fear, and on which a missed draw has to decide between giving up and firing one more barrel. Because a brick does not help the bluffing range either, big bets on brick turns and rivers are polarising: they tend to be either very strong hands or pure bluffs with nothing to lose.
In Omaha the word gets used more loosely, since with four cards there are few truly blank runouts.
Related terms
Full glossaryFrequently asked questions
Is a brick the same as a blank?
Yes, the two words are used interchangeably for a card that helps neither player's draws.