Verb

To collectively participate in highly loose and aggressive action despite each player having a negative expected value for these plays.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Example: The flop comes up 6h-7d-Ac with 4 players in the pot. Player A has 2d-Ah, making a pair of aces. Player A has the best hand at the moment, but each of the remaining players has a few outs. Player B has 4d-5c, needing a 3 or an 8 to make a straight or either running 4s or running 5s to make three of a kind. Player C has 8c-10d, needing a 9 or both a 5 and a 4 to make a straight, or running 8s or running 10s to make three of a kind. Player D has 6c-Ks, needing a 6 to make three of a kind or a King to make two pair, Kings and Sixes. None of the players B, C, or D has a very good chance of making a strong hand given both the cards they hold and the flop, so they should each be expected to fold against a large raise. If player A puts in a raise equal to the size of the pot and B, C, and D each call the raise, they are schooling. This results in frequent long-shot wins because even though B, C, and D only had a few outs each, these long shots together mean that Player A would lose if a 3, 6, 8, 9, or K came up on the turn or the river without an A or 2 also coming up.

EXAMPLE: "The fish were schooling. I kept losing on the river even though I had the best odds of winning."

APPLIES TO: Online and Land-based Venues

RELATED TERMS: Expected Value, Fish, Implied Odds, Outdraw, Pot Odds, Protect, River Rat, Suck Out