Poker Terms
Here is a guide to some common poker game
terms. Once you gain an understanding of poker terminology, you
will be able to play poker more effectively and with greater
enjoyment.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O |
P | Q | R | S |
T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
Aces Full: A full house
with three aces and any pair.
Ace-High: A five card hand that contains one
Ace, with no straight or flush or a hand with no pair in it.
Aces Up: A hand that contains two pairs, one
of which is Aces.
Action: Checking/Betting/Raising. A game
in which players are playing a lot of pots is considered
an "action" game.
Active Player: Any player who is still in
the hand.
Add-on: A purchase of more chips (optional)
at the end of the re-buy period in a tournament.
All-In: When a player bets all his/her chips.
American Airlines: Two Aces.
Ante: Money placed in the pot before the hand
is begun.
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Bad Beat: When a hand is
beaten by a lucky draw.
Belly Buster: A draw and/or catch to an Inside
Straight.
Bet: To place chips into the pot.
Bet the Pot: When a player bets the amount
of the pot.
Bicycle: A straight that is A-2-3-4-5.
Big Blind: A designated amount that is placed
by the player sitting in the second position, clockwise from
the dealer, before any cards are dealt. Players joining a game
in progress must post a Big Blind, but may do so from any position.
Big Slick: A hand that contains an A-K.
Blind: The bet(s) that must be made by the
two players sitting directly to the dealer's left which will
start the action on the first round of betting. The blinds
are posted before any cards are dealt. A "Blind" bet is one
that is made in the dark without looking at your cards.
Blind Raise: When a player raises without
looking at his hand.
Bluff: To make other players believe that
one has a better hand than he/she might otherwise have by betting
or raising when they do not have the best hand.
Boardcards: The cards that are dealt face-up
in a poker game for all players to see. In flop games, five
cards are dealt face-up in the center of the table. In 7 Card
Stud, four cards are dealt face-up in front of each player.
Bottom Pair: When a player uses the lowest
card on the flop to make a pair with one of his own cards.
Broadway: An Ace high straight (A-K-Q-J-10).
Bring It In: To start the betting on the first
round.
Button: Also known as the dealer button, it
is a small round disk that is moved from player to player in
a clockwise direction following each hand, to theoretically
indicate the dealer of each hand.
Buy-In: The minimum amount of money required by a player to
sit down in a particular poker game.
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Call: When a player chooses
to match the previous bet.
Call Cold: To call both a bet and raise(s).
Cap: To take the last of the maximum amount
of raises allowed per round of betting.
Cardroom: The room or space in a casino where
poker is played.
Case Chips: A player's last chips.
Cash Out: To leave a game and convert your
chips to cash.
Check: When it's a player's turn to act and
there has been no action in front of them and he opts not to
bet, he "checks."
Check-Raise: When a player first checks and
then raises in a betting round.
Chop: To return the blinds to the players
who posted them and move on to the next hand if no other players
call. It also means to "split the pot".
Collusion: When two or more players conspire
to cheat in a poker game.
Community Cards: Cards that are face-up and
used by all players.
Cowboys: Two Kings.
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Dead Man's Hand: Two pair
- Aces and Eights (Wild Bill Hickock was shot in the back while
playing this hand).
Door Card: This is the first exposed card,
or "up" card, in a player's hand in Stud games.
Down Card: Hole cards. Cards that are dealt
face down.
Doyle Brunson: It's a Holdem hand consisting
of a 10-2 Brunson won the world championship two years in a
row on the final hand with these cards.
Draw Lowball: Form of poker where each player
is dealt five cards with the option of discarding one or more
and replacing them with new ones and the low hand wins.
Draw Poker: Form of poker where each player
is dealt five cards down with the option of discarding one
or more and replacing them with new ones to attempt to make
a better hand.
Drop: Fold.
Ducks: A pair of Twos.
Deuces: A pair of Twos.
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Early Position: Position
on a round of betting where the player must act before most of
the other players at the table. It's considered the two positions
located to the left of the Blinds.
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Five-card Draw: A poker
game in which the player is dealt five cards down. They have
one draw to replace them and the best high hand wins the pot.
Five-card Stud: A poker game in which each
player is dealt five cards, one down and four up, with betting
after 2, 3, 4, & 5 cards.
Flat Call: Calling a bet without raising.
Flop: In Hold'em and Omaha poker, the first
three community cards that are dealt face-up in the center
of the table all at one time. The "flop" also indicates the
second round of betting.
Floorman: An employee of the cardroom who
makes rulings and decisions.
Flush Draw: When a player has four cards in
his hand of the same suit and is hoping to draw a fifth to
make a flush.
Fold: To throw your hand away when it's your
turn to act.
Forced Bet: A required bet that starts the
action on the first round of a poker hand.
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Gut Shot: To draw to and/or
hit an inside straight.
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Hand: A player's best five
cards.
High-Low: Split pot games.
Hold'em: Also known as Texas Hold 'em, where
the players get two down cards and five community cards. See
our complete Hold 'em rules.
Hole Cards: These are the Down Cards in front
of the players.
House: The casino or cardroom
that is hosting the poker game.
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Inside Straight: Four cards
which require another between the top and the bottom card to
complete a straight.\ Players who catch this card make an Inside
Straight.
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Jackpot Poker: A form of
poker in which the cardroom or casino offers a jackpot to a player
who has lost with a really big hand (usually Aces full or better).
Jacks-or-Better: A form of poker in which
a player needs to have at least a pair of jacks to open the
betting.
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Kansas City Lowball: Form
of lowball poker in which the worst poker hand (2, 3, 4, 5, 7
of different suits) is the best hand. It's also known as Deuce
to Seven.
Keep Them Honest: To call at the end of a
hand to prevent someone from bluffing.
Key Card: A card that gives you a big draw
or makes your hand.
Key Hand: In a session or tournament, the
one hand that ends up being a turning point for the player,
either for better or worse.
Kicker: The highest unpaired side card in
a players' hand.
Kick It: Raise.
Kill Pot: A method to stimulate action. It
is a forced bet by someone who has just won a pot(s).
Knock: Check.
Kojak: A hand that contains a K-J.
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Ladies: Two Queens.
Late Position: Position on a round of betting
where the player must act after most of the other players have
acted (usually considered to be the two positions next to the
button).
Lay Down Your Hand: When a player folds.
Lead: The first player to bet into a pot.
Limit Poker: A game that has fixed minimum
and maximum betting intervals along with a prescribed number
of raises.
Limper: The first player who calls a bet.
Limp In: To enter the pot by calling rather
than raising. The usual concept of "Limp In" is when the first
person to speak just calls the Big Blind.
Live Blind: An instance where the player puts
in a dark bet and is allowed to raise, even if no other player
raises. It's also known as an "option".
Live Card(s): In Stud Games, cards that have
not yet been seen and are presumed to still be in play.
Live Hand: A hand that could still win the
pot.
Live One: A not so knowledgeable player who
plays a lot of hands.
Look: When a player calls the final bet before
the showdown.
Loose: Is a player who plays a lot hands.
Lowball: Is a form of draw poker in which
the lowest hand wins the pot.
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Main Pot: The center pot.
Any other bets are placed in a side pot(s) and are contested
among the remaining players. This occurs when a player(s) goes
all-in.
Make: To make the deck is to shuffle the deck.
Maniac: A very aggressive player who plays
a lot of hands.
Middle Pair: In flop games, when a player
makes a pair with one of his/her down cards and the middle
card on the flop.
Middle Position: Somewhere between the early
and late positions on a round of betting (the fifth, sixth
and seventh seats to the left of the button).
Muck: To discard or throw away your hand.
It's also a pile of cards that are no longer in play.
Minimum Buy-In: The least amount you can start
a game with.
Monster: A very big hand. In a tournament,
a player who begins to accumulate chips after having a small
stack is considered to be a monster.
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No Limit: A game where players
can bet as much as they like (as long as they have it in front
of them) on any round of betting.
Nuts: The best possible hand at any point
of the game. A hand that cannot be beat.
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Odds: The probability of
making a hand vs. the probability of not making a hand.
Offsuit: Cards of a different suit.
Omaha: A game in which each player is dealt
four down cards with five community cards. To make your hand,
you must play two cards from your hand and three from the board.
Open: To make the first bet.
Open-ended Straight: Four consecutive cards
whereby one additional (consecutive) card is needed at either
end to make a straight.
Open Card: A card that is dealt face-up.
Open Pair: A pair that has been dealt face-up.
Option: An option is a Live Blind made in
the dark before the cards are dealt. If no one raises, the "option" player
may raise the pot.
Out Button: A disc placed in front of a player
who wishes to sit out a hand(s) but remain in the game.
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Paints: Face or picture
cards (Jack, Queen and King).
Pair: Two cards of the same face or number
value.
Pass: To fold.
Pay Off: To call on the final round of betting
when you may or may not think you have the best hand.
Picture Cards: Face cards (Jack, Queen and
King).
Play Back: To raise or re-raise another player's
bet.
Playing the Board: In flop games when your
best five card hand is all five of the community cards.
Pocket: The down cards or hole cards.
Pocket Rockets: A pair of Aces in the pocket
or hole.
Position: Where a player is seated in relation
to the dealer, therefore establishing that player's place in
the betting order.
Post: When you post a bet, you place your
chips in the pot. (You must post the Blinds.)
Pot: The money or chips in the center of a
table that players try to win.
Pot Limit: This is a game where the maximum
bet can equal the pot.
Prop: A person hired by the cardroom to work
as a shill.
Push: When the dealer pushes the chips to
the winning player at the end of a hand. It's also when dealers
rotate to other tables.
Put Down: To fold a hand.
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Quads: Four of a kind.
Qualifier: In High-Low games, it is a requirement
the Low hand must meet to win the pot.
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Rack: A tray that holds
100 poker chips in five stacks of twenty chips each.
Rail: The rim of a poker table or a barrier
outside a poker area.
Railbird: Someone who hangs around a poker
room who watches the games and/or is looking to get into action.
Raise: To increase the previous bet.
Rake: Chips taken from the pot by the cardroom
for compensation for hosting the game.
Rank: The value of each card and hand.
Rap: When a player knocks on the table indicating
that he/she has checked.
Razz: 7 Card Stud where the lowest five cards
win the pot.
Re-buy: The amount of money a player pays
to add a fixed number of chips to his/her stack in a tournament.
Re-raise: To raise a raise.
Ring Game: A "live" game that is not a tournament.
River: This is the last card given in all
games. In Hold'em and Omaha, it is also known as 5th street.
In Stud games, it is also known as 7th street.
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Satellite: It is a mini-tournament
to gain an entry into a larger tournament.
Scoop: To win the entire pot.
Seating List: A waiting list. A player would
put his or her name on this list if there were no seats at
the table at which they wish to play.
Second Pair: In flop games, when you pair
the second highest card on the board.
See: To call.
Shills: Shills are paid props who help start
and maintain poker games.
Showdown: At the end of the final betting
round, it's when all active players turn their cards face-up
to see who has won the pot.
Side Pot: A separate pot(s) which is contested
by remaining active players when one or more players are all-in.
Speed Limit: A pair of fives.
Split: Tie.
Stack: A pile of chips.
Stay: When a player remains in the game by
calling rather than raising.
Steel Wheel: A five high straight (A-2-3-4-5)
of the same suit.
Straddle: A straddle is a Blind bet which
is usually double the size of the Big Blind, and that player
may raise when the action gets to him.
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Thirty Miles: Three tens.
Tight: A player who doesn't play many pots.
A tight game is one that doesn't have much action.
TOC: Tournament of Champions.
Top Pair: In flop games, when the player pairs
one of his down cards with the highest card on board.
Treys: A pair of threes.
Trips: Three of a kind.
Turn: In flop games, this is the fourth card
dealt. It is the third round of betting.
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Up Card: A card that is
dealt face-up.
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Walking Sticks: A pair of
sevens.
Wild Card: A card that can be played as any
value.
Worst Hand: A losing hand.
WSOP: World Series of Poker.
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