POKER TERMINOLOGY

BASIC POKER TERMS

Ante:
Money that each player puts up for the pot before any cards are dealt.

Blind:
A required bet made by the player in first position before the cards are dealt.

Bet:
Make a wager by putting chips into the pot.

Call:
Match a bet of another player

Raise:
Make a bet that increases the size of the total bet after another player has bet.

Fold:
Quit the hand and surrender your cards.

Check:
Decline to bet when there has been no prior bet.

Pot:
All the chips that have been bet and placed in the centre of the tabled during the course of a hand.

Hole Cards:
The cards dealt face down to each player.

Set:
Three of a kind.

River:
The last card you receive.

All in:
When a player runs out of money in the middle of a hand.

Side Pot:
A secondary pot that consists of all the money bet after a player has gone all-in.

Community Cards:
The flop, fourth and Fifth Street.

COMMON ONLINE POKER CHAT

brb:
Be right back.

fish:
The weakest player at the table who loses the most money (If you don’t know who this fish is it’s probably you)

gg:
Good game.

gp:
Good play.

gtg:
Got to go.

he he:
Cheeky acknowledgement by a player that he was lucky to win a hand.

lol:
Laugh out loud.

omg:
Oh my god.

sick:
A derogatory term insinuating that another player has won money on the back of outrageous play coupled with lucky cards, defying basic poker strategy and odds

tx:
Thanks – a cheeky comment from a player who has just won a big pot.

vnh:
Very nice hand.

wb:
Welcome back.

wtg:
Way to go.

wp:
Well played.

COMPREHENSIVE POKER LINGO

Ace High:
A poker hand where the Ace plays, there is no pair.

Aces & Spaces:
A term used in a poker game meaning a pair of Aces and three worthless cards.

Aces Up:
This is when a player has two pairs, one of which is Aces.

Act:
Your move/turn - to check, fold, raise, call etc.

Action:
To raise, reraise, check, fold, call etc all constitutes ‘action.’

Aggressive Play:
An ‘aggressive player’ is one who bets forcefully and forces others to abandon sense of comfort.

All In:
When a player puts his/her chips into a pot.

Baby:
A small card, usually meaning a 2, 3 ,4, or 5.

Back Door:
In Texas Hold’em, a ‘back door’ is when a hand is made using the turn and river cards. In other words if you have two clubs in your hand, a club falls on the flop, and further clubs arrive on both the turn and river to make your flush. This is also known as runner-runner.

Back Into:
You ‘back into’ a hand when you are intentionally in the pot to make a different hand than the one you ended up with. For example, if you flop a straight and up with a flush, you would say "I backed into a flush."

Bad Beat:
A very large slice of bad luck.

Bankroll:
This is the money you have to risk in poker. If you bankroll someone you are giving them money to play with, usually in exchange for a percent of their profit.

Belly Buster:
Slang for inside straight, gut shot or middler.

Bet:
To put money into the pot, betting is considered action.

Bet Blind:
To make a bet without looking at your hand. Usually referring to Texas Hold ‘Em before the turn or the river card.

Bicycle:
A slang term for a wheel or 5 high straight i.e. A, 2, 3, 4, 5

Big Bet:
Term used for the larger bet, in a limit game.

Big Blind:
The big blind is similar to an ante but it is a forced bet in the second position to the left of the dealer button. The big blind is a full bet and the small blind is typically half of the full bet of the first betting round.

Blank:
Slang term for a card that gives no help to your hand.

Blind Raise:
When a player raises without looking at his/her hand. Similar to betting blind.

Board:
The exposed cards, also called community cards, in many poker games such as Texas Hold’em and Omaha.

Boat:
A slang term for a full house.

Bottom Pair:
The lowest ranking pair on the board. For example, if you hold 3, 4 and the board is 3, 5, 8, J, K, you have bottom pair.

Boxed Card:
A card that is turned face up in the deck. It normally necessitates a misdeal.

Broadway:
This is slang term for a straight to the Ace – 10, J, Q, K, A

Bullets:
Slang for a pair of Aces, also known as Pocket Rockets and American Airlines.

Burn or Burn Card:
Any time a card is discarded from the top of the deck face down, it’s called a burn card. In Texas Hold’em burn cards are taken off the top of the deck and placed face down next to the flop.

Button:
The plastic disc used to determine who the nominal dealer is. Also known as the ‘dealer button.’

Buy-in:
Buy-in is the amount of money needed to sit in a live poker game or a poker tournament?

Call:
To match the current bet.

Calling Station:
A term used to describe how a player plays his/her hands. Someone that is a ‘calling station’ is in a lot of hands but doesn’t do much raising.

Case Card:
Referring to the one and only card left in the deck that has not been exposed to the players.

Check:
Checking is action and means you get a card for free if everyone else also checks.

Check Raise:
When you check, someone else makes a bet, and then you raise.

Check Blind:
Same as bet blind, but it’s a check.

Chicken:
Slang term for checking when it is your turn.

Chip:
Poker chips are small round discs usually made of clay. These substitute money in poker games.

Chop:
Chop can mean to share the blinds or pot after a split pot.

Conservative play:
A ‘conservative player’ usually bets the minimum and is quick to fold if the cards are not the best.

Community Cards:
The board cards face up on the table shared by all the players.

Crazy Pineapple:
A poker game that is a variation of Pineapple. Players are dealt three cards face down and discard one after the flop. The game is then played out like Texas Hold’em.

Cut:
When a single deck of cards is separated into two. The dealer cuts the cards after shuffling and before he/she deals the cards to the players.

Dead Man’s Hand:
Slang for a pair of Aces and 8’s all being black [meaning spades or clubs].

Dead Money:
Money that has been put into the pot by players that have already folded.

Deal:
To pass out the cards to players in a poker game.

Dealer:
The person who deals the cards to the players in a poker game.

Deuces:
Slang for a pair of 2’s also called ducks.

Discard:
To throw your cards away.

Double Belly Buster:
Two inside straight draws in one hand, if your hand is 4, 6, 7, 8, you would need a 5 or a 9 to make a straight. Also called a double gut shot.

Draw:
To receive one or more cards with intentions to improve your hand.

Drawing Dead:
A term used when you stay in a hand and cannot possibly improve enough to win the pot.

Early Position:
This is when a player has to act before most, or all, other players.

Face Card:
A Jack, Queen or King in a deck of cards. Obviously also known as a picture card.

Family Pot:
A term used when there are many players involved in the pot.

Fifth Street:
The fifth and final card in a board game. Also known as the ‘river.’

Fish:
A player that is a consistent loser in the game of poker.

Flop:
The first three community cards displayed on the board in games such as Texas Hold’em and Omaha.

Flush:
A hand containing any five cards of the same suit, like five spades or five diamonds.

Fold:
To fold is to discard your hand; to throw it in the muck.

Four of a kind:
A hand containing four cards of the same denomination. Also known as quads.

Fourth Street:
The fourth card in a board game, also known as the ‘turn’ card.

Freezeout:
A poker tournament that has no rebuys; once your chips are gone you are eliminated.

Full Boat:
Slang term for ‘full house.’

Full House:
Three of a kind plus a pair, like 10, 10, 10, K, K.

Garbage Hand:
A very bad hand fit only for the bin.

Grinder:
A tight player usually in lower limit poker games that wins smaller amounts consistently but rarely takes any chances.

Gut Shot:
Another term for an inside straight.

Heads Up:
This term is used when there are only two players contesting a pot.

High Low Split:
This is a form of poker where half the pot goes to the high hand and half the pot goes to the low hand.

Hit and Run:
This is what poker players say when a player sits in a game for a very short time, wins a big pot and leaves the game.

Hold’em:
Shortened name for the game of Texas Hold’em

Hole Cards:
Hole cards are the down cards or, in Texas Hold’em, pocked cards.

Horse:
A poker game where 5 different forms of poker are played, one per rotation or round. H is for Hold’em, O is for Omaha Hi Lo, R is for Razz, S is for Seven Card Stud, E is for Eight or Better.

House:
The establishment running the game.

Implied Odds:
Pot odds taking into account potential profit from further betting should ‘make’ you hand.

In the Middle:
You are caught in the middle if you position is in between a bettor and a raiser.

Inside Straight:
Four cards to a straight where the one card you need to complete the straight is in the middle of the run.

Joker:
This is a card that usually plays as a wild card, Jokers are not used in the poker rooms but sometimes in private home games.

Kicker:
The side card to a pair. For example if you hold A, J and the board shows A,3,5,7,7 your hand is two pairs (Aces and 7’s) with a Jack kicker.

Lady:
A name for the Queen in a deck of cards.

Last Position:
The last one to act in any particular round.

Late Position:
This is when a player is one of the last to act in any particular betting round.

Limp or to Limp-in:
Is to enter a pot by calling rather than raising.

Limit Poker:
A structured poker game where there are fixed betting amounts as opposed to a No Limit or Pot Limit game.

Little Blind:
The little blind is similar to an ante but it is a forced bet in the first position to the left of the dealer button. The little blind is half the amount of the big blind and is commonly referred to as the ‘small blind’.

Lowball:
A poker game played out like Five Card Draw where the best low hand takes the pot.

Main Pot:
This is the pot which includes the chips of any all-in players. Any further betting results in a side pot between the remaining players.

Middle Position:
The betting position a player is in at a poker table, somewhere in the middle, not early or late position.

Misdeal:
A misdeal is declared when the dealer deals the cards out of order, deals someone out of the hand that should have been in or forever other reasons.

No Brainer:
This is poker slang for a hand that anyone could have played or an obvious call.

No Limit:
A poker game in which you can bet or raise any amount, including going all in anytime you want.

Nuts:
This is a poker term meaning the best possible hand.

Odds:
Mathematical probability expressed as a percentage. Very important for a poker player to know when considering pot odds.

Off Suit:
Usually refers to hole cards that are of different suits.

Omaha:
A poker game where the players are dealt four cards face down. Similar to Texas Hold’em, players must use two of their four cards and two from the board.

One Card Out:
When only one card (a case card) in the deck can improve your hand.

Open Ended Straight:
This is a four card straight where you need a card on either side to complete your hand. Also called an ‘up and down straight.’

Outs:
This means the number of cards that will improve your hand or make you hand a winner. If you have an open ended straight, there are eight cards in the deck to make you a winner – so you have 8 outs.

Over-Pair:
A pocket pair that is bigger than the highest card showing on the board.

Pair:
Two Cards of the same denomination or rank.

Pineapple:
A poker game where the players are dealt three cards face down and have to discard one before the flop. The game is then played out like Texas Hold’em.

Pocket Rockets:
Slang for a pair of Aces. Also known as American Airlines and bullets

Position:
This is where a player is sitting in relation to the other players at the poker table.

Post:
This is an amount put into the pot before the cards are dealt. Putting up an ante, big blind or little blinded are all forms of posting.

Pot:
This is the money gathered in the middle of the table, including the blinds, all bets, raises etc.

Pot Limit:
A poker structure in which the player can bet or raise only up to the size of the pot.

Pot Odds:
The amount of money in the pot versus the amount of money it will cost you to continue in the hand. This is a mathematical solution that will decide whether or not a call is worth it in the long run. A probability versus potential return scenario.

Pre-flop:
Means ‘before the flop.’

Prop Player:A poker player that is employed by the house. One who is paid to play in the game to keep it from breaking up.

Quads:
Slang for four of a kind.

Rack:
A plastic tray used in the land-based casinos the hold your playing chips.

Rag:
A card that does not fit into your hand in any useful way and is unlikely to help any player.

Railbird:
A person standing on the rail watching a poker game, normally this is an ex-player who is now broke.

Raise:
Placing a higher wager into the pot over the original bet therefore increasing the stakes.

Rake:
This is the money taken from players or pots (as a small percentage) for the house for hosting the poker game.

Razz:
A Seven Card Stud poker game played for the low (ace to five) only.

Read:
To read someone is to know how they play, notice their tells, betting patterns etc.

Rebuy:
This refers to a poker tournament where a player can rejoin, once all their chips have been lost, for the cost of a new

Reraise:
To raise after someone has already made a raise.

River:
The fifth and final community card in board games like Texas Hold’em and Omaha.

Rock:
This is a slang term for a very tight poker player, someone who plays very few and only premium hands.

Rolled Up:
This is a term used in a Seven Card Stud game when the first three cards are three of a kind.

Round:
A round of hands is one full rotation around the table. IF there are 10 players at a poker table, the round is over when all 10 players have held the button.

Royal Flush:
A hand containing and Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace in the same suit. This is the highest possible hand in poker.

Scoop:
This term is used in high-low games, meaning a player won the high and low, so that player scooped the entire pot.

Seven Card Stud:
A very popular poker game where each player is dealt 7 cards, the first two are face down, the next four are face up and the final card is dealt face down.

Shorthanded:
This refers to the amount of players in a given poker game, usually less than six players is considered a shorthanded game.

Side Pot:
This is a separate pot aside from the main pot where the active players that still have money may partake, the all in player is not involved in the side pot.

Slow Play:
To under bet a strong hand, or just call a bet when you have a strong hand in order to trap other players.

Smooth Call:
This is the call of a bet when, in actual fact, this hand is strong enough to raise. When a player ‘smooth calls’ it’s usually to trap other players so more money is put into the pot. The phrase is also known as ‘flat call.’

Steel Wheel:
Slang term for a straight flush to the five. A, 2, 3,4, 5 of the same suit.

Stone Cold Nuts:
The absolute best hand (unbeatable)

Straight:
Five cards not in the same suit in an unbroken sequence like 3h, 4s, 5s 6h, 7h.

Straight Flush:
Five cards in the same suit in an unbroken sequence like 4h, 5h, 6h, 7h, 8h.

Stud:
Stud is a type of poker game; Five Card Stud and Seven Card Stud are stud games.

Suit:
There are four ‘suites’ in a deck of cards – Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, or Spades.

Table Stakes:
This usually implies that a player in a particular poker game may only bet money they have on the table at the beginning of a hand and cannot take money out of his/her pocket.

Tell:
A ‘tell’ is a mannerism that you inadvertently display and repeat that gives information away. How strong your hand is, if you are bluffing, or prepared to pass if raised etc.

Three Of A Kind:
A hand containing three cards of the same denomination.

Tight:
A tight player is one that plays very few hands and makes very few moves/bluffs.

Tilt:
To play wildly or recklessly following a bad beat.

Tournament:
A poker tournament is when all players start with the same amount in chips for a set entry fee playing until just one player remains.

Trey:
Slang term for a 3.

Trips:
A term often used to refer to three of a kind.

Turn:
The fourth community card in a board game such as Texas Hold’em.

Underdog:
A person or hand who is not mathematically favoured to win a pot.

Under the Gun:
This is the first player to act following the blinds.

Value:
The chance you will win a hand making a bet or call worthwhile.

Wheel:
This is a straight to the five. A, 2,3,4,5

Wild or Wild Card:
A card that may be used to substitute for any other card in the deck, such as a joker.

Winning Hand:
A winning hand is a hand that takes the pot in a poker game.

Wired Pair:
A wired pair is any pair in the hole in a Seven Card Stud game.