Definition of Heater

What is a "heater" as it applies to the world of poker? What does the term "heater" mean?

In the world of poker, players will encounter upswings and downswings - that's just the nature of the game.

Even Phil Ivey, who seemingly never loses money, goes through periods when he just can't win a hand.

The opposite scenario is a "heater". A "heater" is when everything is going right - hands when you are ahead are holding up, and hands where you are behind are catching up. That's a "heater".

Let's give a few examples to better illustrate the point:

Example #1.

A player is down to just 2,500 chips in the World Series of Poker. Suddenly the player goes on a "heater" and is sitting on a massive pile of over 50,000 in chips. This "heater" includes two AA vs KK confrontations (both hold), as well as a hand where our player flops the nut flush against a player who had flopped the second nut flush.

This is a "heater".

Example #2.

In 2008, Ivan Demidov made the final table of BOTH the World Series of Poker and World Series of Poker Europe main events in the same year. Demidov ended up finishing in 3rd place in the WSOPE main event, and in second place in the World Series of Poker main event.

Now, Demidov is a great player, but he also went on a massive heater in 2008 that allowed him to make the final tables of both of these events. The odds of repeating this feat of making both the WSOPE and WSOP main event final tables in the same year are absolutely astronomical, and may never be done again.

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