Ignorant end, idiot end
The ignorant or idiot end of a straight is always the lower end of the straight that a person draws to, or completes. In a flop game, if a player is drawing to a hand that is towards the lower end of the sequence that s/he wishes to complete, then s/he is said to be drawing to the idiot end of the straight.
Similarly, if the player manages to complete the hand with the lower end cards in a flop game, then s/he is said to have competed the idiot end of the hand or straight.
For e.g. In a game of Texas Hold’em, if a player gets 8-9 and the flop shows 10-2-A, then the player has an 8-9-10 after the flop game. At this point, if the player draws to catch a 6 and a 7 on the turn and river, then s/he is said to be drawing to the idiot end or ignorant end of the hand.
At the same point, i.e. in a flop game, if the player gets 5-6-7 as the flop, then again s/he is said to have completed the idiot end of the straight.
The reason the hand is called an idiot end or ignorant end is simply because even after the flop game, there are two opportunities for other players to catch the higher end of the same straight. So while the player has an 8-9 and is drawing to a 5-6-7-8-9, another player with a 6-7 or 7-8 or 8-9 may be drawing to a 6-7-8-9-10 or a 7-8-9-T-J or a 8-9-T-J-Q; all of which are higher than the original first player’s hand.
Therefore the lower end of a straight is always known as the idiot’s end.
Previous Term: Horse, Next Term: Implied pot odds, implied odds
