Poker Terms: You Need to KnowGlossary of Poker Terms: Poker Terms: ABC: An ABC player is somebody who plays solid starting hands and is usually predictable. In Hold ‘em, the player might only play A-A, K-K, Q-Q, A-K, and A-J. In Omaha Hi low, he might only play A-2-3-4, A-2-3-K, A-A-2-3, A-2-K-Q, and A-2-3-5. Also can mean that you hold A-2-3 in high-low or lowball game Action: A game where there are a lot of players involved in many pots. It is also the checking, betting and raising in the game. Active Player: Any player still involved in the hand. Poker terms Add-On: In some tournaments, you have the option to buy more chips at the end of the rebuy period. It is called an add-on. Advantage: Having an edge. All in: Putting all your chips in the pot, cannot make future bets. American Airlines: Pair of aces. Ante: A prescribed amount posted by all players before the start of a hand. Baby: Low card Poker terms Back Door Flush: Hitting a perfect turn and river card to make a drawing hand. For example, you have two clubs in your hand and there is only one club on the flop. You hit a club on the fourth card and another club on the fifth card to give you a flush. Bad Beat: When a player loses the hand because the other player got very lucky. For example, in No Limit Holdem, two players get all of their money in and one player is holding pocket Aces and the other player is holding pocket threes. The river card is a three giving the player with the weaker starting hand the winning hand and giving the player with the best starting hand a bad beat. Bankroll: The money you have allotted to play poker. Poker terms Belly Buster: An inside straight draw. Big Slick: Ace and king as your hold cards in Texas hold ‘em. Big Blind: A designated amount placed by the player sitting (normally) two seats to the left of the dealer button to help induce action. Blank: Card that does not improve hand. Poker terms Blind: A mandatory bet for the two players to the left of the button. There are usually two blinds – a big blind and a small blind. Blind Raise: Raising the hand before looking at your cards. Bluff: Deliberately bet a losing hand. Poker terms Board: All the community cards on the table in a Hold 'em game. It is also where players sign up to play a game. Bottom Pair: A pair with the lowest card on board. Box: Spot where the dealer is dealing. Bring-In: A mandatory bet in Stud games. The player with the lowest card showing on the first round of betting must bet. Broadway: An ace high straight, A-K-Q-J-T. Brush: Person seating the card-playing patron. Buck: Another name for the dealer button. Poker terms Bullets: Aces Bump: Means the same thing as raise. "Bump" it up. Buried Pair: Concealed pair, same value. Burn (and turn): In between each betting round, the dealer discards the top card of the deck before dealing the next card. This is done to keep players from possibly recognizing the next card to be used. Button: A small round disk moved clockwise from player to player. It is used to determine who the nominal dealer is and where the action begins. Buy: To bluff, as in "buy the pot" Poker terms Buy-in: The minimum amount of money a player must sit down with in order to play a particular game. Cage: The place where you exchange your cash for chips or vice versa. Call: To accept the previous action. If another player bets, to continue to play you must call to match the wager (or raise). Calling Station: A weak player who calls a lot, but doesn't raise or fold much. Cap: To put in the last raise permitted on a betting round. Card Sense: Playing cards intuitively. Card Shark: A professional card player. Case: The last card of a certain rank. If you flop three eights against three fives and the player makes four of a kind, he caught the case five. Catch: Receiving the cards one needs. Center Pot: The first pot in a poker hand. It is also referred to as the main pot. If a player goes all-in and there is more betting, a new pot is created on the side. Chase: To try and make a longshot hand to beat your opponents. If you flop no pair and your opponent flops a pair of eights, you are chasing if you call. You need to improve your hand in order to beat him. Check: No bet made, hold onto cards in hand. Check in the Dark: Checking before you see the next card or cards that are dealt. Check-raise: A player checks in hopes another opponent will bet. Chop: Divide the pot. In split games, there are a lot of chopped pots because half the pot is awarded to the high hand and half the pot is awarded to the low hand. Cold Call: To call more than one bet in a single action. If a player bets, another raises, and you call, you have cold called. Color change (color up): Replacing color of chips for another. For example, you change five $1 chips for one $5 chip. Come Hand: A drawing hand. Come over to the top: Raise a raise. Community Cards: The common cards used by all players; the cards that are in the middle of the table during the hand. Connectors: Starting hands that work together to make a straight. Cowboy: Nickname for a king. Crabs: A pair of threes. Crack: To beat a strong hand. You often hear players say they had their pocket aces "cracked". Crying Call: Calling a bet after it’s likely already beat. Cut: To divide the deck in two sections and change the order of the cards. Dead Man's Hand: Two pair, Aces and eights. Wild Bill Hickok was shot during a poker game while holding two pair, black aces and black eights. Dead Money: Chips that are taken into the pot, but not considered part of a player's bet (normally when a player misses his blinds and posts both of them, the small blind is taken into the center of the pot and is dead). It is also used to describe a player who has little chance to win. Dealer's Choice: A game where the dealer (person who has the dealer button) names the game to be played that hand. Dog: A shortened version of "Underdog;" a player who is behind at the moment. Dominated Hand: Usually used to describe a hand where a player holds one common card with another player and the other player has a better kicker. An example of a dominated hand would be K-Q vs. A-K or A-Q. Double Gutshot: Two inside straight draws. An example of a double gutshot is a flop of 963 and a player is holding 57. If he hits a 4 or an 8, he will make his straight. Draw Dead: Trying to make a hand that will not win the pot. If you are drawing to a flush and your opponent already has a full house, you are drawing dead. Drawing Hand: Four-card straight or flush, more cards to come. Draw-out: Best hand beaten by a secondary one. Duck: Deuce nickname. Edge: An advantage. Equity: Your "rightful" share of a pot. If the pot contains $80, and you have a 50% chance of winning it, you have $40 equity in the pot. This term is somewhat fanciful since you will either win $80 or $0, but it reveals your current expected share of the pot. Even Money: Fifty percent chance of losing or winning. Expectation: The amount you can expect to gain on average for a certain play. It is also the amount you expect to make at the poker table per hour. Eye in the Sky: Overhead security cameras. Face Card: Jack, queen or king. Family Pot: A pot in which many players called before the flop. Favorite: Best chance of winning hand, just before last deal. Fifth Street: In flop games, it is the final board card. Fill Up: To make a full house. Fire: To make the first bet in a betting round. Fish: A novice player. Flat Call: To only call a bet. Floorperson: Casino employee who settles disputes, etc. Flop: First three cards turned face up after first betting round. Flop Games: Texas Hold ‘em, Omaha, Pineapple and other games that feature community cards exposed that are matched with each individual player's cards. Flush: Five cards of the same suit. Flush Draw: When a player has four cards of the same suit and is hoping to make a fifth to make a flush. Fold: To throw your hand away. Forced Bet: A required bet that starts the action. Antes and blinds are forced bets. Free Card: All players check on a round, resulting in a turn or river card that you don’t have to bet or call to see. Free Roll: When two players are tied and one player has a shot at winning the whole pot. For example, one player has A-K ♣ and the other player has A-K ♦. If there are two clubs on the flop, the player holding the A-K ♣ is free rolling. If the club does not come, the pot is split. A free roll is also a tournament in which there is not buy-in. Freeze-Out: A game where all players play until one player has all the money. Full House: Any three cards of the same rank, plus two cards of another rank. Also called "full boat" or "boat." Gallery: Observing spectators Go South: Discreetly remove/sneak chips from table Grinder: A gambler using small stakes. Gut-Shot Straight: An inside straight draw. Heads-Up: Only two players in a pot. Heads-up on the River: Two players High-Low: Lowest and highest hand splits pot. Hit: As in, "I hit the flop." It means the flop connected with or helped your hand. Hit and Run: Winning big in a short amount of time and then leaving the table. Some players see it as poor etiquette to hit and run. Hit with the Deck: To win an unusual amount of hands. Hold Out: Cheating—player removes card(s) from deck. Hold Over: Consistently have higher cards than another player. Hole Card: Unexposed cards. Hollywooding: Being dramatic to attempt deception. House: The casino or cardroom that is holding the game. Huge Dog: When the odds are strongly to your disadvantage. Implied Odds: The times when you can make a call where the pot is insufficient, yet you figure that in rare cases where you hit your hand, you will win more than what’s already contained in the pot – a no limit game. A powerful hand can win your opponent’s entire stack. In the Air: A phrase that is used at the beginning of many tournaments to let players know the cards are being dealt; as in, "Sit down and take your seats, the cards are in the air." Isolate: To raise with the intention of thinning the field of opponents down to one. Kicker: An unpaired card in your hand often used to determine the winner between two like hands. A pair of sevens with an ace kicker beats a pair of seven with a nine kicker. Kill-Pot: A pot in which the betting round is double the normal round. If one player scoops the whole pot and if it is above a specified amount (dictated by the house), the next pot will be a kill. In some casinos, a kill pot is created when a player wins two consecutive hands. Laydown: Deciding you are beat and folding your hand. Lead: To be ahead in the hand. It is also used to describe the player who is doing the betting. As in, "He led out with his pair of tens." Leak: The thing that causes player to lose all or some of his poker bankroll. Sports betting, slot machines, playing poker for too many hours when losing (trying to get even), and drugs are a few examples of leaks. Limp In: Opening bet (usually with a weak hand) Live Blind: A voluntary blind. Live Cards: Undealt cards. Live One: Player with small winning chance but who is involved in a lot of hands. Lock: A hand that is guaranteed to win. Longshot: Weak hand, needs luck to win. Loose: A player who plays a lot of hands. Maniac: A player betting and raising without regard to cards in hand; a very loose and aggressive player. Main Pot: The pot where all bets were matched by all players involved in the hand. If a player is not able to match a bet (because he is all-in), then a side pot is created. Marker: An IOU to the casino where you are playing for poker chips. Misdeal: A hand that is dealt incorrectly and must be re-dealt. Monster: A strong hand that is likely to win the pot. Move In: To put all of your chips into the pot. Muck: To fold a hand. It is also the pile of folded and burned cards in front of the dealer. Nines Up: Higher pair nines of two pair. No-Brainer: A simply great hand! No-Limit: A game where you can bet all of your chips during any betting round. Nuts: Best possible hand at any given pot time. Odds: The ratio of the probability of making a hand vs. the probability of not making a hand. Offsuit: Cards of different suits. On Tilt: Irrational playing decisions. Option: When a player posts his blind, he has the "option" of either checking or raising. Out: A card that will help your hand. Usually one that will make your hand a winner. Outdraw: To make a better hand than your opponents by drawing a card. Overcall: To call a bet after one or more players has already called. Overcard: A card that is higher than any other card on the board. If a player is holding K-Q with a flop of 8-6-4, he is said to have two overcards. Overlay: Bet at favorable odds. Overpair: A pair higher than any other card on the board. Paint: Picture cards. Palm: Cheating by concealing card/chip in hand. Pass: To not play a hand if it has been bet or to check if it has been checked to you. Pay Off: To call a bet when you don't think you have the best hand, but the pot is large enough to justify a call. Picture Cards: Any card that has a picture on it. Kings, Queens, and Jacks are picture cards. Pigeon: Weak player. Pit: Area where the casino games are located. Play the Board: When the best five cards are the community cards on the board. An example of this is if one player is holding pocket threes and the other player is holding pocket fours and the board is A-9-9-8-8. Playing Soft: Playing weak, no pressure, no raising or bluffing. Pocket: Cards dealt face down; the two hole cards in Hold ‘em or the first two cards in Stud; the cards only you can see. Pocket Pair: Two pocket cards that are the same rank. Pop It: To raise. Position: Your place at the table; the order of betting within a particular betting round. Normally, it is better to be in late position with others acting before you because you can gain information before it's your turn to act. Post: To put up your blinds before the hands are dealt. Pot: The total amount of money to be won or lost during a hand. Pot Limit: Games where the maximum bet that can be made is the size of the existing pot. Pot Odds: The money that you could possibly win, as compared to the amount of money invested it will take to win it; ratio of size of pot to size of player’s called bet. Presto: The nickname of the Hold ‘em hand pocket fives. Producer: A poor player with lots of cash. Prop (Proposition) Player: A person who is employed by the casino to help start games. They also help keep games going if they are in danger of breaking. Although props are paid by the house, the money they use at the table is their own. Protect: To bet so the other player have less of a chance to outdraw you. If they outdraw you, they have to pay to do so. Puppy Feet: Suit of clubs. Quads: Four of a kind. Qualifier: In High-Low split games, the qualifier is the requirement that must be met in order to be eligible for the pot. In Omaha High-Low split, three cards on the board must be eight or lower without it being paired for a low hand to be possible. Race Off: During tournaments, smaller denominations of chips are exchanged for larger chips. Any odd chips are "raced off". This is done by placing all odd chips for each player in front of them. A card is dealt for each chip and the highest cards receive the higher denomination of chips. (If there are ten $5 chips, then the players with the two highest card each receive one $25 chip.) Rack: A place to store your chips while walking from the cage to the table or vice versa. Racks can hold 100 chips in five stacks of 20. Rags: Cards not helpful to your hand. In Texas Hold ‘em, 7-2 are the worst "rag" starting cards. Rail: The place where you can watch poker being played. It is a barrier (sometimes imaginary) dividing the playing area from the public area. Railbird: A player who quits and hangs out. Usually used as a derogatory term. Rainbow: In flop games, a flop where there are no cards of the same suit. In Omaha games (where you are dealt four cards), all four hole cards are different suits. Raise: To increase the amount of the previous bet. The increase is determined by the type and the limit style of the game. Raise on the Come: To raise early, anticipating the best hand. Rake: The cardroom percentage take. Rank: The numerical value of the cards. Read: To look at or listen to someone and be able to determine what their cards might be. Rebuy: To purchase more chips. Red Bird: A red $5 chip. Represent: To bet in a way that it looks like you have a certain hand. If you are holding A♦ (with no other diamond) and the flop brings two diamonds, you might be able to represent a flush draw. If the flush card comes on one of the later streets, you might be able to pick up the pot on a bluff. Ring Game: Playing a game at the regular poker tables as opposed to in a tournament. River: The last card in Hold ‘Em or Seven card stud. Another term for the river card is "Fifth Street," but it is not used as much. Rock: A very tight player. A rock is a player who doesn't create much action at the table and if they are involved in the hand, they are usually the favorite. Rolled Up: First three cards the same rank, in stud. Royal Flush: The highest straight flush (A-K-Q-J-T). Runner: Normally said, "runner-runner" to describe a hand in which the turn and the river card help a player's hand. Rush: Winning several hands in a row. As in, "The player was on a rush for two hours." Sandbag: To deceive regarding a good hand, with later raising intention. It usually means the same as slowplaying. Satellite: A mini-tournament to win your way into a larger tournament. Scare Card: A card which may turn the best hand into a loser. If you have a set on the flop, but there are two clubs. A scare card would be another club. Scoop: In split pot games, to win the entire pot rather than splitting. Second Pair: A pair with the second highest card on the flop. Semi bluff: Attempt to bluff with a weak hand with the possibility of making best hand by the river. Set: Three of a kind where the player is holding a pocket pair in the hole with one on the board. Set Under Set: Two players begin with a pair and both flop three-of-a-kind. Shoot It Up: To raise Shootout: A tournament where the players continue play on their original starting table until there is only one winner per table. The winner from each table then plays each other for the prize pool. Short-handed: Short of a full game. Short Stack: A player who has less chips than the other players on the table is said to be playing on the short stack. Shot-taker: Player who wins by cheating. Showdown: The point at which all players show their cards to determine the winner. Side Pot: A pot that is created when one or more players are all-in. Slowplay: To wait to raise, holding a great hand. If a player flops a straight, it might be correct to slowplay in order to maximize the chips won on the pot. Slowroll: To wait and show the winning hand after another player already thinks he won the pot. It is poor table etiquette to slow roll. Small Blind: The forced bet put up by a player to help create action in the game. The small blind is posted by the player to the immediate left of the dealer button and it is usually 1/2 of the limit of the game. In a $10-20 game, the small blind is $5. Snowmen: Two or more eights. Splash Around: To bet wildly on losing hands. Splash the Pot: Throw the chips in, carelessly. Split Pot: A pot that is shared by two or more players. Spread limit: A type of game where the players have to bet between the minimum and maximum on each round. In Vegas, it is not uncommon to find a $2-6 spread limit Hold ‘em game. Stack: The amount of chips you have in front of you. It is also 1/5 of a rack. In a rack of chips, there are five stacks of 20. Stand Pat: To not draw any cards. Steal: To win the pot strictly on a bluff. Steam: Throw money away in an emotional upheaval. A player who is on tilt is often said to be steaming. Steel Wheel: A straight flush, A-2-3-4-5. Stop-loss: The ceiling amount you can lose in one session. Straddle: An optional extra blind (twice the amount of the big blind) normally put up by the player to the immediate left of the blinds. The player who straddles has the last opportunity to act before the flop. Straight: Five cards of consecutive rank. Straight Flush: Five cards of consecutive rank and of the same suit Street: Each betting round. String Bet: A bet in which a player doesn't get all of his chips into the pot in one motion. If a player can not get all of chips into the pot in one motion, then he must verbally declare the raise, otherwise it is a string raise and the raise will not be counted. Structure: The details of the betting, including the antes, the blinds, and the amount that can be bet on each street. Stuck: Losing money. Suck Out: Getting your money in with the worst hand, but winning the pot because you caught a lucky card. Suited: A Hold ‘em starting hand in which both cards are of the same suit. Sweat: A person sitting behind a player or watching a player from the rail is said to be "sweating the player" if he/she is rooting for them. Table Stakes: Amount of money or chips a player puts on the table. Tap Out: To go broke, lose all your chips. Tell: A clue or hint that a player gives about their hand, verbal or nonverbal. Tight: A conservative player who only plays with monster hands. Tilt: To make bad decisions out of frustration. Normally, tilt play is too loose and very aggressive because the player wants to win back money that he has previously lost. Time: A player calls for "time" when he is taking longer than a second or two to act on his hand. It is also the collection taken by the house, called a time charge. To Go: The amount it takes to enter the pot. In a $10-20 game, it is $10 to go if there is no raise. If there is a raise, then it is $20 to go. Toke: A tip, usually given to the dealer after winning a pot. Tournament: An event where a group of players sit down with the same number of chips and continue play until only one player has all of the chips. In tournaments, there is a buy-in for each player and all of the money is added up and divided into a prize pool. Usually nine players get paid for every 100 entries. Trips: Three of a kind with two of them on the board. If a player is holding A-J and the board is J-J-8-4-3, he is holding trips. Turn: The fourth community card in a flop game. Under the Gun: First player to act after low card or big blind. Underdog: A person or hand who is not the mathematical favorite to win. It is also called "dog." Unit: In limit games – equal to the size of the highest bet. Value: The amount of return you get on your investment. Variance: The statistical measure of how your results will be dispersed. Wheel: The lowest possible straight (A-2-3-4-5) — also called a “bicycle.” Wired Pair: In Hold ‘em, a pair in the hole. In Stud, it is a door card that pairs the hole card.
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