Set

Also: set over set, trips vs set

Three of a kind made with a pocket pair and one matching board card. It is stronger and better disguised than 'trips', which use one hole card and two board cards.

Example. Holding 7-7 on a K-7-2 flop, you have a set of sevens.

The distinction matters: with a set you hold two of the three cards, so opponents rarely put you on it and there is no shared kicker problem. 'Set over set' — two players both flopping sets — is the classic cooler in hold'em.

Related terms

Full glossary

Trips

Three of a kind made with one hole card and a pair on the board. It is weaker than a set because anyone holdin…

Set mining

Calling a raise with a small or medium pocket pair purely hoping to flop a set (three of a kind), which happen…

Cooler

A hand where two players both hold very strong holdings and the money is going in no matter what — kings again…

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…

Broadway

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…

Domination

When two hands share a card and one has the better kicker, the weaker hand is dominated: it wins only about 25…

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…