Poker Terminology: ‘Coin Flip’
A ‘coin flip’ in poker is essentially a spot where the two hands pitted against one another have an equal chance to win the pot. A classic coin flip scenario features a small pair (such as sixes) against two overcards. Even these hands aren’t quite an exact 50/50 split (the small pair is maybe a 1-2% favorite), but on average they work out to about the same, hence the term.
Coin flips become important more often in tournament poker, where later in the rounds the blinds become large enough that people will push with any pair and call with hands like AK AQ, resulting in the 50/50 run for all the money.
Another name for the coin flip is a ‘race’ or ‘racing,’ as it is essentially the same as going to head through five community cards to see who will reach the finish line as the winner.
Tighter, wiser poker players don’t like to get into coin flip situations if they don’t have to, especially in earlier stages of a tournament, as they would rather involve themselves in hands where they are a more certain favorite to win the pot. But at some point, everybody will find themselves in the race spot: in poker it’s almost unavoidable.
