| POKER
TERM |
DESCRIPTION |
| ACES UP/OVER |
Two pair, one of
which is a pair of Aces. |
| ACTION |
Betting activity. |
| ACTIVE PLAYER |
A player who is still
in the pot. |
| ALL BLUE,GREEN,PURPLE,etc. |
Colorful names for
a flush. |
| ALL-IN |
To bet all the money
you have on the table. |
| AMERICAN
AIRLINES |
A pair of Aces. |
| ANTE |
A small bet all players
are required to make before a hand is dealt. |
| BABY
|
Any of the four non-aces
needed for the lowest possible hand (2,3,4,5). |
BACK DOOR
|
Player makes a late
hand that he wasn't originally drawing to. |
BACK RAISE
|
A re-raise. |
| BAD BEAT |
A usually unbeatable
hand that is defeated by an even better hand. |
| BANKROLL |
Current total gambling
funds available. Not to be confused with a player's
stake in a particular game. |
| BARN |
Short for a Full
Barn which is slang for a Full House. |
| BELLY BUSTER |
An inside straight
draw. Same as a Gutshot. |
| BET FOR VALUE |
Betting a completed
or partial hand that, in the long run, is expected
to win more than it loses. |
| BICYCLE |
The best possible
low hand: A-2-3-4-5. Also called a Wheel. |
| BIG BLIND |
An early forced bet,
usually a raise of an earlier blind which would
be called the Small Blind. |
| BIG BOBTAIL |
An open-ended 4-card
straight flush. |
| BIG SLICK |
In Texas Hold'em,
hole cards of A-K, suited or not. |
| BLANK |
A card that does
not add value to a hand (Bad Draw). |
| BLIND |
A forced bet to open
the pot, usually in lieu of an ante. |
| BLUFF |
A bet or raise made
with a poor hand to entice the competition to fold. |
| BOARD |
The exposed cards
in Hold'em and stud. |
BOAT
|
Short for a Full
Boat which is slang for a Full House. |
| BOBTAIL STRAIGHT |
Same as an Open End
Straight. Four cards to a straight in denomination
sequence. |
| BROADWAY |
An Ace high straight. |
| BUG |
A wild card Joker. |
| BULLET[S] |
Ace[s]. Bull(s) for
short. |
| BUMP |
Slang for Raise.
|
| BURN |
To discard the top
card of the deck prior to dealing. |
| BUTTON |
A distinctive token
placed in front of the player sitting in the theoretical
dealer's position, when a house dealer is used.
The button rotates around the table so that every
player has an opportunity to be the last to act. |
| BUY-IN |
The amount of money
used to join a game. |
| CALL |
To put in to the
pot the minimum amount of money necessary to continue
playing. |
| CALLER |
One who makes a call
bet. |
| CALLING STATION |
An passive player
that frequently just checks or calls most bets. |
| CAP |
To cap the betting
is to make the last permitted raise in a round. |
| CARDS SPEAK |
The final hand values
are determined by the face up cards and not what
the hand holder declares. |
| CASE CARD |
The fourth and last
card of a particular rank to become available. |
| CHANGE GEARS |
Changing your style
of play. |
| CHASE |
To continue in a
hand, often at poor odds against the competition. |
| CHECK n. |
The word casino employees
use for a "chip". |
| CHECK v. |
To bet zero, when
it is legal to do so. Frequently a sign of only
a fair hand. |
CHECK RAISE
|
To check initially,
then raise a bet made later on in the same betting
round. |
| CHIP |
A round token used
in place of cash at a gaming table. |
| COME HAND |
A hand that is not
yet made, such as four cards to a flush. |
| COLD CALL |
When a player with
nothing invested in the pot except an ante, calls
a raise and a re-raise as his first bet. |
| COMMUNITY
CARDS |
Cards that are available
for every player to use in making a hand. Usually
dealt face up somewhere in the middle of the table. |
| CONCEALED
PAIR |
Both of the pair
cards are face down. |
| COURT CARD |
A jack, queen or
king. |
| COWBOY |
A king. |
| CUT THE DECK |
To divide the deck,
fairly evenly, into 2 stacks. |
| CRYING CALL |
To complain when
making a call. Sometimes a tactic to keep players
in the hand. |
| DARK BET |
To bet without looking
at your hand. |
| DEAD HAND |
A hand that has been
fouled or has too many or too few cards. |
| DEAD MAN'S
HAND |
Two pair, aces and
eights. The hand Wild Bill Hickok was holding when
he was shot to death. |
| DEALER'S
CHOICE |
In home games, a
rule that permits the dealer to name which poker
game to be played that hand. |
| DEUCE |
A two. |
| DOOR CARD |
A player's first
upcard in stud games. |
| DOUBLE BELLY
BUSTER |
A two-way inside
straight. ie:, 3-5-6-7-9. Also called a Double Gutshot. |
| DOUBLE -POP |
When the second player
re-raises a raise. |
| DOWN TO THE
GREEN |
When a player has
gone all in. |
| DRAW |
To discard some number
of cards and have dealt an equal number of replacements. |
| DRAWING DEAD |
Drawing to a hand
that can not possibly win. |
| DRAW OUT |
To catch a card that
improves your situation from a losing hand to a
winning hand. |
EARLY POSITION
|
Being one of the
first players to act in a betting round. |
| EXPOSED PAIR |
An exposed pair,
as opposed to a split pair or a hidden pair. |
| FACE CARD |
A jack, queen or
king. |
| FILL |
To draw a card that
makes a five-card hand (straight, flush, full house,
straight flush). |
| FILL UP |
To fill a Full House. |
| FISH |
A player who loses
money. An old saying is "If you can't spot
the fish at the table, *you* are the fish."
|
| FISHING |
Making a small bet
to check the likely strength of opponents hands
or chasing to catch a card. |
| FLAT CALL |
To call a bet. Emphasizes
that the caller did not raise. |
| FLAT LIMIT |
A variant of fixed
limit where all bets are the same amount. |
| FLOORMAN |
The casino representative
in charge of the card room or a section of a card
room. |
| FLOP |
In Hold'em, the first
three community cards, dealt simultaneously. |
| FLUSH |
A poker hand consisting
of five cards all one suit. |
| FOLD |
To decline to call
a bet, thus dropping out of a hand. |
| FORCED BET |
In some stud games
a player may be required to make a bet to start
the action on the first card. |
| FOUR FLUSH |
Four cards to a Flush. |
| FREE CARD |
A card dealt after
all players checked in a betting round or someone
who is sitting on a very strong hand and does not
bet (slow playing), giving potential chasers a free
card to potentially hit a card that will beat the
slow player. |
| FREEROLL |
Having a lock on
part of a pot, or on the Internet it is a free tournament
to enter with real money prizes. |
| FREEZE-OUT |
A table-stakes game
that continues until a small number of players (possibly
only one) has all the money. |
| FULL BARN |
Slang for Full House. |
| FULL BOAT |
Slang for Full House.
|
| FULL HOUSE |
A hand consisting
of 3-of-a-kind and a pair. |
| GRIFTER |
A cheat |
| GUT SHOT |
A draw to an inside
Straight, as in 2-3-4-6. |
| HEAD(S) UP |
Playing a single
opponent. |
| HELP CARD |
One that improves
one's hand. |
| HIGH-LOW
SPLIT |
Forms of poker in
which the pot is split between the best hand and
best lowball hand. |
| HOLE CARDS |
In stud and Hold'em,
the face-down cards dealt to each player. |
| HOOK |
A Jack. So named
because the "J" resembles a hook. |
| HOUSE CUT |
Generic term for
how the house profits from hosting the game (often
referred to as the RAKE). |
| IGNORANT
END |
The lower end of
a straight in a game that has community cards. |
| IMPLIED ODDS |
A refinement to Pot
Odds which includes money not yet, but expected
to be in the pot. |
| INSIDE STRAIGHT |
Four cards to a straight,
where only one rank will complete the hand. ( 4-5-6-8.) |
| JACKS OR
BETTER |
Draw poker in which
a pair of jacks is the minimum hand permitted to
start the action. |
| J HOOK |
A Jack |
| JAM |
A pot where several
players are raising. |
| JOKER |
A 53rd card in the
deck, distinct from the others, used as a wild card
or as a Bug. |
| KICKER |
A single high card
usually held with a pair of another denomination
in draw poker, or the highest side card that is
not part of the basic final hand.. |
| LADY |
A Queen. |
LATE POSITION
|
For a particular
betting round, a player who does not have to act
until most of the other players have acted. |
| LAY ODDS |
To give favorable
odds to an opponent. |
| LEAK |
To show one's hole
cards (often unknowingly). |
| LID |
The top card of the
deck. |
| LIMIT POKER |
A poker game wherein
the amount to be bet is fixed, or at most variable
within a prescribed minimum and maximum. |
| LIMP IN |
To call along as
cheaply as possible. |
| LINER |
A face card. (Because
you can see a line when the card is face down and
the lower right corner is lifted). |
| LIVE CARD |
In stud, a card that
has not been exposed. |
| LIVE BLIND |
The last and largest
blind bet may or may not be Live. If Live, the blind
bettor has the option of "raising" his
own blind in the event the bet is called around
to him. |
| LIVE ONE |
The best kind of
opponent, a poor player with a lot of money to lose
and in a hurry to lose it. |
| LOCK |
A hand that cannot
be beaten. Also called the NUT. |
LOOSE
|
Playing more hands
than the norm. |
| LOWBALL |
Generic term for
poker where the lowest hand wins. |
| MAIN POT |
The main pot, as
related to one or more side pots, when there are
one or more all-in player(s). The main pot is the
one in which all active players participate. |
| MANIAC |
A player who bets,
raises and reraises without much regard to the quality
of his hand. |
| MARKED CARDS |
Cards that have been
(illegally) altered so that their value can be read
from the back. |
| MECHANIC |
A cheat who can manipulate
the cards to deal himself or another player agood
hand. |
| MIDDLE POSITION |
Betting positions
approximately halfway around the table from the
first player to act. |
| MISDEAL |
A hand dealt incorrectly
that must be re-dealt. |
| MITES AND
LICE |
A hand consisting
of two pair, threes over twos. |
| MUCK |
A collection of face-down
cards near the dealer composed of discards and burn
cards. |
| MUCK |
To throw one's cards
into the muck, thus folding. |
| NICKEL |
Five dollars, usually
represented by a red casino check. |
| NO-LIMIT
POKER |
A game where there
is no maximum bet; a player can wager any amount
(perhaps above some minimum) up to whatever money
is on the table in front of him. |
| NUT |
The best possible
hand or the best possible of a given class. The
"nut flush" is the highest possible flush. |
| NUT PLAYER |
A very tight player
who plays only the best hands. |
OFFSUIT
|
Not of the same suit. |
| ON THE COME |
A situation where
the player does not yet have a complete hand. |
| ON TILT |
Playing worse (usually,
more aggressively) than usual because a player has
become emotionally upset. |
| OPEN |
Take the first bet
in a hand, especially in draw poker. |
| OPEN-ENDED
STRAIGHT |
Four cards to a straight
in denomination sequence (5,6,7,8). |
| OPENER |
The player who starts
the betting, usually in draw poker. |
| OPENERS |
Cards in a hand that
qualify a player to open the betting. |
| OPEN-HANDED |
A category of games
characterized by a part of each player's hand being
exposed. |
| OPEN PAIR |
An exposed pair. |
| OUT |
A card that will
improve your hand, often substantially. |
OVERCALL
|
To call a bet after
one or more players already called. |
| OVERPAIR |
In Hold'em, a pair
in the hole that is larger than any community card
on the board. |
| PAINT |
A face card. |
| PAIR |
Two cards of the
same rank. |
| PASS |
Opposite of bet.
To check, if checked to. To fold, if bet to. |
| PAT HAND |
Holding or being
dealt a complete hand. |
| PAY OFF |
Calling a bet with
little expectation of winning, unless the opponent
is bluffing. |
| PAY STATION |
A player who rarely
folds, thus who frequently calls better hands and
loses. |
| PICKED OFF |
To get called when
you are bluffing. |
| PIGEON |
An easy player. |
| POCKET |
Starting hole cards
in stud and Hold'em. |
| POCKET ROCKETS |
A pair of aces in
the hole. |
| POSITION |
One's location in
the betting sequence, relative to the players still
in the hand. |
| POT |
The total amount
of money bet so far in a hand. |
| POT LIMIT |
A game where the
maximum bet is determined by the size of the pot
at the time. |
| POT ODDS |
The amount of money
in the pot divided by the amount of money you must
bet in order to call. |
| PREMIUM HANDS |
The best possible
hands. |
| PROPOSITION
PLAYER /PROP |
An employee of the
gaming establishment whose primary purpose is just
to play and help keep enough players at a table.
The prop player does not participate in wins or
losses. |
| PUCK |
A token denoting
the dealer position. See Button. |
| PUPPY FEET/
PUPS |
Club flush or just
the suit of Clubs. |
| QUADS |
Four of a kind. |
| QUALIFIER |
A minimum standard
that a hand must meet in order to win. Usually applied
to the lowball side of a high-low split pot. |
| QUARTERED |
To divide half a
pot between two tying hands in split pot games.
|
| RAGS |
Board cards that
are small to medium, not suited and not in sequence. |
| RAIL |
A barrier dividing
the card playing area from a public area. |
| RAILBIRD |
A spectator behind
the rail. |
| RAINBOW |
Small groups of cards
with no two in the same suit. |
| RAISE |
To wager more than
the minimum required to call, forcing other players
to put in more money as well. |
| RAISER |
One who raises. |
| RAKE |
The usually small
percentage of money taken from each pot and given
to the house in return for hosting the game. |
| RAT-HOLE |
To take money or
chips off the table during play. |
| READ |
To determine whether
an opponent has a good, medium or bad hand by observing
his personal behavior. |
REPRESENT
|
Implying, by one's
betting style, that one has a particular hand. |
| RERAISE |
To raise after an
opponent has raised. |
| RIBBON CLERK |
A small time gambler. |
| RING GAME |
A standard game where
players can come and go as they choose. |
| RIVER |
The last card dealt
in a hand of stud or Hold'em. |
| ROCK |
A very tight, solid
poker player |
| ROLLED UP |
In seven-card stud,
being dealt three of a kind in the first three cards. |
| ROYAL FLUSH
|
An ace-high straight
flush, the best possible hand in regular poker. |
| RUNNER-RUNNER |
A hand made using
both of the last two cards dealt. |
| RUSH |
A winning streak. |
| SANDBAG |
Playing a strong
hand as if it were only a fair one. |
| SCOOP |
To win all of the
pot in a split pot game. |
| SEE |
To call a bet, as
in: "I'll see you". |
| SEMI-BLUFF
n. |
To bluff with a come
hand that figures to win if it hits. |
| SET |
Trips or Quads. In
Holdem, a pair in your hand with one (or two) on
the board. |
| SHARK n.
|
A good/crafty player
often posing as a fish early in the game. |
| SHILL |
An employee of the
gaming establishment whose primary purpose is just
to play and help keep enough players at a table.
A shill is staked to the game by the house as his
compensation. |
| SHORT-STACKED
adv. |
Playing with a only
a small amount of money. |
| SHOWDOWN |
The point at the
end of the hand where all active players reveal
their cards and the pot is awarded to the winner(s).
|
| SIDE POT |
When an active player
runs out of money during the course of a hand, the
remaining players participate in a second or Side
Pot for the rest of the hand. Additional side pots
are possible if several players run out of money
at different points in a hand. |
| SLOWPLAY |
To play a hand unaggressively
and risking as little as possible. |
| SMALL BLIND |
In games with two
blinds the first blind is the Small Blind because
it is usually one-half (or less) the amount of the
big bland. |
| SNAPPED OFF |
To get a good hand
beat. |
| SOLID PLAYER |
A strong, all around
player. |
| SPLIT OPENERS |
In draw poker, to
discard one or more openers, usually to draw to
a straight or flush. |
| SPLIT PAIR |
A pair in Stud with
one card up and the other down. |
| SPLIT POT |
A pot that is split
between two or more hands. |
| SPREAD |
For a casino to offer
a particular game. |
| STACK |
The amount of money
(the stack of chips) a player has on the table. |
| STACKED DECK |
A deck that has been
arranged to give one player a huge advantage. |
| STAKE |
The amount of a player's
BUY-IN, or the amount of money they are willing
to play with in a given session. |
| STAND OFF |
To call a raise.
"Opener raises, I stand off". |
| STEAL |
To win the pot by
bluffing. |
| STEAL POSITION |
The next to last
or last position. |
| STEAM |
Playing wildly, calling
and raising a lot. |
| STREETS |
Fourth Street, Fifth
Street etc. In stud, the fourth card dealt to a
player, the fifth card etc. |
| STRING BET |
An unethical and
often illegal means of raising whereby a player
puts a call-size stack of chips into the pot and,
after observing the reactions of the players, then
goes back to his stack and puts out more. |
| STUCK adj. |
A significant amount
of money lost. |
| STUD |
Any of several poker
games in which some of each players' cards are exposed. |
| SUICIDE KING
n. |
King of Hearts. So
named because in the drawing the king appears to
be stabbing himself in the head. |
| SUITED |
Two or more cards
all the same suit. |
| TABLE CHARGE |
A fee paid for playing. |
TABLE STAKES
|
A standard rule whereby
during a hand players can only bet the money they
have on the table. |
| TAP |
In no-limit games,
to wager all of one's money in one bet. |
| TAPPED OUT |
Out of money. |
| TELL |
Any personal mannerisms
that reveal the quality of one's hand. |
| THREE OF
A KIND |
Three cards all the
same rank. |
| THREE FLUSH |
Three cards of the
same suit. |
| TIED ON |
When your hand is
good enough to play it to the end. |
| TIGHT |
A style of play that
entails playing fewer hands than average. |
| TIGHT PLAYER |
A person who plays
on the premium hands. |
| TOKE |
Gambling term for
"tip". Comes from the term "Token
of appreciation". |
| TOP PAIR |
In flop games, having
a hole card that matches the highest card on the
board. |
| TOP TWO PAIR |
In flop games, having
hole cards that make the highest possible two pair
hand. |
| TREY |
A three. |
| TRIPS |
Three of a specific
kind, as in "Trip sixes". |
| TURN |
The fourth community
card in Hold'em. |
TWO FLUSH
|
Two suited cards. |
| UNDERDOG |
Before all the cards
are dealt, a hand that does not figure to be the
winner. |
| UNDER THE
GUN |
The position that
has to act first in a round of betting. |
| UPHILL |
To chase or try to
outdraw a better hand. |
| WALK |
A pot won by the
last blind when no one opens. |
| WHEEL |
A-2-3-4-5. The best
possible low hand. Also called a "Bicycle". |
| WILD CARD |
A joker or standard
card that, by player agreement and/or dealer's choice,
can be used to represent any card desired. |
| WIRED PAIR |
A pair in the hole.
In 5-card stud, a door card that pairs the hole
card. |
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