Domination

Also: dominated hand, dominated

When two hands share a card and one has the better kicker, the weaker hand is dominated: it wins only about 25–30% of the time and is in deep trouble when both pair the shared card.

Example. A-Q against A-K pre-flop wins around 26% of the time — it is dominated.

Domination is the hidden danger of hands like A-J, K-Q and Q-J against tight raisers, whose ranges are heavy in A-K and A-Q. A-K dominates A-Q; K-Q dominates K-J. Domination is also why 3-betting light with suited aces is popular: those hands are dominated but have straight and flush outs to compensate.

Related terms

Full glossary

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The side card that decides a hand when two players hold the same pair or trips. Ace-king beats ace-queen on an…

Reverse implied odds

The money you stand to lose on later streets when you make your hand but the opponent makes a better one. Hand…

Range

All the hands a player could plausibly hold given how they have played so far. Thinking in ranges rather than …

Backdoor draw

A draw that needs both the turn and the river to complete — for example three cards to a flush on the flop. Ba…

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The ace-high straight, A-K-Q-J-10, and by extension any of the five cards from ten to ace ('broadway cards'). …

Combo draw

A hand with two draws at once, most commonly a flush draw plus a straight draw. Combo draws often have more eq…

Draw

A hand that is not yet made but can become strong if the right card comes: four cards to a flush (a flush draw…

Full house

Three of a kind plus a pair, ranked by the three of a kind first. Nicknamed a 'boat'. It beats a flush and los…