A straight flush in poker is made by holding 5 cards in rank order, all of the same suit, e.g. 5,6,7,8,9 all of spades. The strength of the straight flush is determined by the card at the top of the structure with the King-high straight flush (9,T,J,Q,K) being the strongest possible straight flush. The Ace-high straight flush in poker is technically even stronger but is given the name ‘royal flush’ as opposed to straight flush. The straight flush is one of the strongest hands in poker, losing only to higher ranked straight flushes or the royal flush.

A straight in poker is made by holding 5 cards in rank order with zero gap, e.g. 5,6,7,8,9. The strength of the straight is determined by the card at the top of the structure with the Ace-high straight (T,J,Q,K,A) being the strongest possible straight in the vast majority of poker variants. A straight beats three-of-a-kind but loses to a flush.

A straddle is an optional blind payment made before any cards are dealt. It is typically twice the size of the big blind and acts as a third blind. (So we now have, small blind, big blind and bigger blind aka straddle). This type of straddle (third blind) is referred to as the classic straddle but there are other different types of straddle.

Stealing in poker, refers to an attempt to pick up the pot on the first betting round by making a raise in late position. For example, in Hold’em, a steal is any open-raise made from either the cutoff, button or small blind. The term stealing generally carries the connotation of trying to pick up the pot with a hand that is not especially strong. However, since we can’t see our opponent’s cards, any late position open is referred to as a steal attempt.

Find the meaning of the term "stand pat" in poker and learn how it can be used as an advanced bluff line in draw games.

Stack to Pot Ratio (or SPR for short) describes the relationship between what is currently in the pot to what is remaining in the effective stacks. For example, if there is $100 in the middle and $400 remaining in the effective stacks, the SPR is would be 4. The stack to pot ratio carries important strategic implications; the lower the SPR the wider we can profitably commit all of our chips.