We have compiled a fantastic list of poker
terminology. Use the alphabetic links to go straight
to a section, or just browse through the list!
Backdoor : Catching
both the turn and river card to make a drawing hand.
Bad-beat : When you lose despite
having had a good hand. Usually referred to when
an underdog hand goes on to beat a favored hand.
Bankroll : A player's table money,
as opposed to the money that stays in his wallet.
Belly Buster : An inside straight.
Betting-the-pot : When you bet a sum equal to the pot in
a game of pot-limit poker
Bicycle : A 5-High straight, also
known as wheel. It's the lowest possible holding
(5,4,3,2,A) in most lowball and high-low poker games.
Big Bet : "In limit games in
which the size of the maximum bet increases in later
rounds, a big bet is the largest bet size. A small
bet is the smallest bet size. So in a 5-10 hold'em
game, small bets are $5 and big bets are $10.
Big Blind : Found in Texas Hold'Em,
it is the bigger of two forced bets.
Blank : A card on the board that
has no value to you, and does not appear to be of
value to anyone else.
Blind bet : This is when a forced
bet must be made without knowing the value of the
holdings. In some poker games the first player must
make a blind bet. In most Hold'em games there are
two blind bets by the first two people to the dealers
left.
Bluff : Making a bet when you know
you have a weak hand, in the hope that the other
players will fold.
Board : The shared cards in games
like Omaha or Texas Hold'Em. Also called Community
Cards.
Bottom Pair : A pair with the lowest card on the flop. If you have
6-7, and the flop comes K-J-6, you have bottom pair.
Bounty : A value placed
on a target. In Bounty Tournaments, players receive
an award (usually a small amount of cash) for eliminating
another player.
Bring it in : The opening of betting
with a forced bet in a stud game.
Bump : To Raise.
Burn a card : The removal of the
top card in a deck before starting to deal.
Bust : To go broke, run out of money.
Button : Used in poker games when
there is a house dealer to take the place of a 'real'
dealer in the game. The button is placed in front
of the person in the game who would be the 'real'
dealer so that all players know this person bets
and acts last in the round.
Call : Matching the
amount of a previously made bet.
Calling Station : A weak or passive
player who calls a lot, but doesn't raise or fold
much.
Cap : To put in the last raise permitted
on a betting round.
Cards speak : The winner of the
pot is decided by the cards that are shown rather
than by a players verbal statement.
Catch : To "catch the cards" is
to receive the cards you want or need to make a hand.
Check : An option used by a player
before a bet has been made, to not bet and pass the
bet option to the next player. The player who has
passed still remains in the game.
Check-Raise : Only allowed in some
games. A player may check (pass) his hand and then
when it is his turn again, raise a subsequent bet.
Community Cards : The up-turned
cards in the center of the table, used by all players
to form their hands. Also called the board.
Connector : A hold'em starting hand
in which the two cards are one apart in rank. I.e.
K-Q.
Crack : To beat a hand.
Cut : To cut the cards. After the
dealer has shuffled the cards the player to the right
removes a portion of the deck and puts it to one
side. The dealer then puts the remaining part of
the deck (the bottom half) on top of the removed
cards. The purpose is to defeat cheating.
Deadwood : Discarded
cards, also known as the muck.
Dog : The underdog. Can be used
to refer to a player, or a specific hand.
Door Card : In 7-Card Stud, the
first face-up card dealt to each player.
Down cards : Cards that are dealt
face down.
Down To The Felt : To have no more
chips left.
Draw : In draw poker, cards dealt
after completion of the first round of betting.
Drawing hand : A good hand that
needs a better card to be a winner. Common in straights
and flushes.
Early Position : Being
in a position close to the start of action. Typically
the first few players on a full table.
Face card : Any king,
queen or jack.
Fish : A weak player.
Flop : In Texas Hold'Em when the
first three cards are put on the board after the
finish of the first betting round.
Flush : See
Rank of Hands
Fold : A player leaves the game
by putting their cards in the discard pile.
Four of a Kind : See
Rank of Hands
Fourth Street : Generally the fouth
card to be dealt in a poker game. In Hold'Em, the
start of the third round of betting when the fourth
card is put on the board.
Free Ride : All players pass in
the round and no bets are made.
Full House : See
Rank of Hands
G
Grinder : A cautious player
whose strategy is to win a little money each
day.
Gutshot Straight : An inside-straight.
Four cards that could make a straight, but are
missing the middle number. E.g. 7,8,10,J (missing
the 9).
Heads Up : A pot that is being contested
by only two players.
High : Used in Stud poker. The holder
of the highest ranked card on the board makes the
first bet.
High Hand : In High poker it is
the highest-ranking hand for a given game.
High-Card : See
Rank of Hands
Hole Cards : A player's personal
cards, dealt face down.
House : The establishment running
the game.
Inside Straight : Four
cards that could make a straight, but are missing the
middle number. E.g. 7,8,10,J (missing the 9).
Joker : A wild card included in
the poker deck. Not used in most games.
Kicker : An unmatched card used
to break ties. For example one player has A-A-K and
one has A-A-J. The King would be a higher kicker
assuming no other cards helped either player.
Limit : The maximum amount allowed
for a bet to be made or raised.
Live Blind : A blind (forced bet)
that can be raised when it is the blind's term to
play. Also called last option.
Lowball : A form of Draw or Stud
Poker game where the lowest hand wins.
Maniac : A player who does a lot
of aggressive raising, betting, and bluffing on many
hands.
Muck : To muck ones cards is to
fold and throw them in the discard pile (to muck).
Also used to describe the pile of folded and burned
cards in front of the dealer (the muck).
No-Limit : A version of poker in
which a player may bet any amount of chips (up to
the number in front of him) whenever it is his turn
to act.
Nuts : The best possible hand in
a game. Term is widely used in Texas Hold'Em.
Offsuit : Cards of different suit.
For example 6s 7d.
Open : The first bet on the first
round.
Open-ended straight : In your hand
you have four cards in sequence, which could make
a straight by having a correct card at either end.
E.g. 7, 8, 9, 10 can be a straight with either a
6 or a Jack.
Out : A card that will improve or
make your hand win.
Overcard : A card higher than any
card on the board.
Pair : See
Rank of Hands
Pass : Also known as a check. This
is the option used by a player before a bet has been
made, to not bet and pass the bet option to the next
player. The player who has passed still remains in
the game.
Pat hand : Used in draw poker. When
you are dealt a made hand such as a straight or flush.
No draw needed.
Play the Board : To use all the
community cards in Hold'Em. Neither pocket card improves
the community cards.
Pocket : In Texas Hold'Em poker,
the two cards which have been dealt face down to
the player.
Position : A player's seat in relation
to the blinds or the button.
Pot : All the money and chips bet
during a deal.
Pot Limit : A limit set on a bet
where the most you can bet in a single bet is the
total value of the pot. Sometimes noted as PL.
Pot Odds : The odds offered by the
pot to a player for a bet.
Proposition Player : A proposition
player, or "prop," is a player who is paid
by an establishment to play poker, usually in order
to keep games going when they get shorthanded, or
to get games started. Props are paid a small salary,
but they gamble with their own money.
Protect : To keep your hand or a
chip on your cards. This prevents them from being
fouled by a discarded hand, or accidentally picked
up by the dealer.
Quads : Four of a kind.
Rack : A tray used by a player or
dealer to hold chips.
Rag : A low card that has no apparent
effect on the hand. Can also be used to define a
card that does not help another card.
Rail : Usually considered the area
directly behind the table boundaries. For example, "Joe
was watching from the rail".
Railbird : One who is
on the rail, usually making comments about play on
the table.
Rainbow : A flop that contains three
different suits, thus no flush can be made on the
fourth card. Can also mean a complete five card board
that has no more than two of any suit, meaning no
flush is possible.
Raise : When a bet is made that
is bigger that the previous bet made.
Rake : In public cardrooms, this
is the amount the house keeps from a pot, usually
a fixed percentage.
Re-buy : A tournament format that
permits putting up more money, usually the same amount
as the original buy-in, in exchange for additional
chips. Re-buys are also allowed in some tournaments
to players who fall below a certain point. Most re-buy
tournaments have a limited time period for re-buys
(i.e. the first two hours), or a fixed number of
permitted re-buys.
Represent : To play as if you hold
a certain hand.
Re-raise : To raise someone's raise.
Ring Game : A regular poker game
as opposed to a tournament. Also referred to as a "live",
or "money" game.
River : The last card dealt. Most
often referred to in Hold'Em, it is the fifth and
final community card, put out face up, by itself.
Also known as "fifth street".
Rock : A player who plays very tight,
and not very creatively.
Rounder : A knowledgeable player
who earns his living at the poker table.
Royal Flush : An Ace-high Straight
Flush. The highest possible standard poker hand.
See Rank of Hands.
Runner : Typically said "runner-runner" to
describe a hand which was made only by catching perfect
cards on both the turn and the river. See Backdoor.
Scare Card(s) : Cards which look
powerful to an opponent.
Scoop : In High-Low games, to win
both the high and the low portions of a pot.
See (Seeing) : Also known as Call
a bet. (I see your 50 dollars)
Set : Three of a kind when you have
two of the rank in your hand, and there is one on
the board.
Shill : A shill is similar to a
proposition player, except a shill plays with the
establishment's money instead of his/her own.
Shootout : A tournament format in
which a single player ends up with the entire prize
money, or in which play continues at each table until
only one player remains. Also called "Winner
Take All".
Short Stack : A number of chips
that is not very many compared to the other players
at the table. If you have 50$, and everybody else
at the table has $500, you are playing with a short
stack.
Showdown : At the end of a game
where all players compare their hands and determine
a winner.
Shuffle : Mixing the cards before
beginning a hand.
Shy : Not having enough chips or
money to fully call a bet. Owing of money to the
pot. Also called "light".
Side Pot : A pot created when a
player goes all-in with less than the current bet.
That player is eligible for only a portion of the
other bets, up to the amount he/she has placed in
the pot.
Slow Play : To play a strong hand
weakly so more players will stay in the pot.
Small Bet : In limit games in which
the size of the maximum bet increases in later rounds,
a small bet is the smallest bet size. A small bet
is the smallest bet size. So in a 5-10 hold'em game,
small bets are $5 and big bets are $10.
Splash The Pot : To toss one's chips
into the pot in a disorderly way. Discouraged because
it can be used as a way to hide the true amount actually
wagered. Against the rules in many establishments.
Split Pot : A pot which is shared by two or more players because
they have equivalent hands.
Stack : A player's chips.
Straight : See
Rank of Hands
Straight-Flush : See
Rank of Hands
String Bet : A bet or raise in which
a player does not get all the chips required for
the bet into the pot in one motion. This prevents
the unethical play of putting out enough chips to
call, observing what effect that had, and then possibly
raising.
Suck Out : To win a hand by hitting
a very weak draw, often with poor pot odds.
Suit : The four suits in a deck:
Spades, Diamonds, Clubs and Hearts.
Suited : A hold'em starting hand
in which the two cards are the same suit.
Sweat : To sweat someone is to watch
them play in order to lend your support.
Table stakes : A betting limit.
A player can only bet what he has set out on the
table. No more money can be brought out until the
game is over.
Tap : Betting the full amount of
an opponent's stack thereby forcing him to go All-In
if he decides to call the bet.
Tell : Body language of a player
that gives away what he is holding.
Three of a Kind : See
Rank of Hands
Tight : A conservative player; playing
conservatively.
Tilt : Erratic, emotional play resulting
in bad decisions and lost money. A player who just
got bad-beat might go "on tilt."
Toke : A small amount of money given
to the dealer by the winner of a pot. Tokes represent
a good portion of a dealer's income.
Trips : Three of a kind.
Turn : The fourth community card
in Hold'Em. Put out face up, by itself. Also known
as "fourth street."
Two-Pair : See
Rank of Hands
Under the gun : The player who is
on the dealer's left, who must bet first in the betting
round.
Wild Card : A declared card or cards
that can have any value that a player wants it to
have.
Wired : Also known as back-to-back.
A holding of a pair in five-card stud when the pair
was formed with the first two cards dealt.
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