Poker glossary

A collection of poker terminology

[ 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 ]

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A

Aces Up	A pair of aces with any other pair. All two pair are referred to similarly with the "highest of the two pair - up"
Action	A player's turn to act; as in, "The action is on you Sir." Also can refer to much betting and raising, "That game has a lot of action."
All-in	Betting or calling all of your remaining chips. A player may not go into his wallet for more money during a hand. If he runs out of chips, a side pot is created in which he has no interest. However, he can still win the pot for which he had the chips.
Ante	Forced bet that players must make before seeing any cards. This guarantees money in the pot for each hand.

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B

Back Door	Hand made in the last two cards. e.g. "Joe had a back door flush draw." also, "Joe back doored a flush."
Bad Beat	Losing when you have a very strong hand, usually to a very unlikely draw on the last card.
Bankroll	The total amount of money you have to gamble with.
Belly Buster	An Inside Straight draw.
Berry Patch	An easy game, with many poor players.
Blank	Poor card that has no impact on the hand. Also called a Rag.
Blind	A forced bet put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt. Blinds are put in by the players immediately to the left of the button. Also can refer to a hand that has not been looked at as in, "Joe played his hand blind."
Bluff	To bet strongly with a poor hand, as if you have strong hand in an attempt to make others fold.
Board	The community cards in a hold'em game.
Boat	A Full House
Bottom Pair	A pair with the lowest card on the flop. ie: if you have a JT and the flop is AKT - you have bottom pair.
Bring in	To open a round of betting. e.g. "Joe brought it in for $75." The 'bring in" is a term borrowed from 7 card stud which signified a mandatory bet.
Broadway	An Ace High Straight
Brush	Cardroom employee who handles the seating chart.
Bump	To Raise
Burn	To discard the top card of the deck. This is done to prevent anyone from being able to determine the next card.
Button	A white puck to indicate who is the acting dealer. Also used to refer to the player on the button. The player with the button receives the last card dealt in a round.
Buy In	The amount of chips bought before the start of play. The minimum buy-in refers to the minimum number of chips one is allowed to purchase to be allowed to play. The maximum buy-in refers to the largest number of chips a player can purchase in a game.

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C

Call	To match the current high bet.
Calling Station	A player who almost always calls and seldom raises.
Cap	In limit games there is a restriction on the number of bets allowed each round. A player caps the betting by making the last allowable raise.
Cards Speak	A rule that says the cards determine the best possible hand, not the player. If a player has a better hand than he realizes, the better hand is the one that is used.
Chameleon	Player in a game who changes and varies his style of play from wild and unpredictable to tight and aggressive.
Chase	Calling when you have not yet made your hand.
Check	To basically skip your turn to bet. This still allows you to bet later in the round should anyone else bet. This is similar to betting $0.
Check Raise	To check at first, then raise should anyone else bet. This is done as a way to lure other players into betting when you think they may fold if you bet outright.
Chop	In some poker rooms, if all players except for the blinds have thrown their hands away prior to the flop, the two remaining players have the option of taking their blinds back and proceeding to the next hand with no further action.
Coffeehousing	Excessive, often distracting talking at the table.
Cold Call	To call both a bet and a raise.
Community Card	A card dealt face up on the table that can be used by any player at the table.
Connectors	Pocket cards of sequential rank.
Counterfeit	A card that does not help you, but is likely to make an opponents hand better or equal to yours.
Crying Call	When some calls even though they are almost certain they are beat.

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D

Down to the Felt	Out of money/chips.
Drawing Hand	An incomplete hand such as four cards to a straight in which you are drawing cards, hoping to make your hand.
Double Belly Buster	A draw that includes two gut shot straight draws. e.g. You hold JT and the flop is AQ8. You shall make a straight with a 9 or K.

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E

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F

Family Pot	A pot in which all (or almost all) of the players call before the flop.
Fast	Aggressive as in, "Joe played his hand very fast."
Fifth Street	The final card in games with five community cards.
Fish	Poor player
Flop	The first three community cards.
Fold	To give up on your hand and any chance to win the pot.
Four Flush	Four cards to a flush.

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G

Gutshot

An Inside Straight Draw

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H

Heads Up	A pot that is being contested by only two players. Can also refer to a game in which only two players are involved.
High Society	The highest denomination of chips in a particular poker room.
Hole	The first two down cards in poker game. e.g. "Joe had AQ in the hole."

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I

Implied Odds	The odds you are getting from the expected calls in future betting rounds.
Inside Straight	Hand in which you have four cards to a straight, but are missing one in the interior. e.g. You have JT and the flop is AQ2. It would be said that you have an 'inside straight draw'.
Isolate	Bet or raise strongly in an attempt to make everyone fold except one other player.

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J

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K

Kicker

An unpaired card used to determine the better of two near-equivalent hands. For instance, suppose you have AK and your opponent has AQ. If the board reads AT742 you both have a pair of aces, but you have a king kicker and would win the pot.

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L

Lay Down	To fold.
Limp in	In the first round of betting, simply calling the big blind rather than raising. This allows the big blind to see the flop for free, and indicates a weak hand.
Lock	A hand that is guaranteed to win at least part of the pot
Loose	A player who stays in more hands than most and/or stays in them longer. e.g. "Joe is a loose player."

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M

Main Pot	The first pot created during a poker hand. This is as opposed to one or more "side" pots that are created if one or more players goes all-in.
Make a Hand	To complete a hand, particularly one in which you were drawing.
Maniac	A very loose and aggressive player. Rarely folds or calls. Bluffs often and raises frequently.
Mechanic	Someone who cheats by manipulating the cards while dealing.
Monster	A great, unbeatable or near unbeatable hand.
Muck	The pile of folded and burned cards in front of the dealer. Also, to throw away one's hand as in, "Joe mucked his hand."

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N

No-Limit	A version of poker in which a player may bet any amount of chips when it is his turn to act.
Nut flush	Highest possible flush
Nuts	The best possible hand, given the cards on the board.
Nut Straight	Highest possible straight.

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O

Odds	The probability of making your hand.
Off Suit	Cards with different suits, usually referring to hole cards.
On Tilt	Betting wildly or making poor bets. Usually after a bad beat.
Open	Make the first bet in a round.
Open Ended	A hand with four cards of consecutive rank. A straight can be completed by drawing the fifth card at either end. e.g. If you have a JT and the flop comes 982, then you can complete a straight with a 7 or a Q. You have an open ended straight draw.
Outs	Any remaining card that will give you the winning hand.
Overcard	A hole card higher than the highest card on the board. e.g. If you have AK and the flop comes 963, you have two overcards.
Overpair	A pocket pair higher than any card on the flop. e.g. If you have QQ and the flop comes 963, you have an overpair.
Over the Top	To raise a player who has just raised.

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P

Paint	Face Card
Pat Hand	In draw games, being dealt a made hand.
Play the Board	To show down a hand in hold'em when your cards don't make a hand any better than what is shown on the board.
Pocket	First two down cards in poker game. e.g. "Joe had QQ in the pocket." or "Joe had pocket queens."
Pocket Pair	Two cards of the same rank in the hole.
Post	To put in a blind bet, often required when you first sit down in a cardroom game or change seats.
Pot Limit	A limit on the maximum allowable raise. The limit is the amount currently in the pot.
Pot Odds	The ratio of the amount of money in the pot to the amount it will cost you to call the current bet.
Protect	To keep your hand or a chip on your cards. This prevents them from being fouled by a discarded hand, or accidentally mucked by the dealer.
Put	To guess what someone is holding. If someone starts betting when an ace flops, you might "put" him on an ace.

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Q

Quads

Four of a kind.

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R

Rabbit Hunting	Looking through the muck for undealt cards after a hand.
Rag	Poor card that has no impact on the hand.
Railbird	Spectator at a poker game. Often someone who is broke and used derogatively.
Rainbow	A flop containing three different suits.
Raise	To increase the amount of an opponent's bet
Rake	Set amount or percentage that the house claims from each pot.
Rank	The numerical value of a card.
Rat-holing	The practice of taking money off the table after winning some pots. Usually done covertly as this practice is not allowed in casino's.
Read	To be able to guess a person's hand based on their actions. See also: Put
Represent	To have the appearance of a certain hand. e.g. If the flop brought three hearts - a heavy bettor might be said to be representing a flush.
Ring Game	Standard non-tournament poker game. Also called a live game.
River	The last card dealt in a game.
Rock	A tight and passive player who folds often and doesn't play a lot of hands.
Rock Garden	A game consisting of many rocks.

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S

Sandbag	To play a strong hand as if it is weak in an effort to lure opponents into betting. See also: Slow Play
Scare Card	A card on the board that could mean a monster hand for someone.
Second Pair	A pair with the second highest card on the flop.
See	To Call
Semi-Bluff	To bet a hand which does not figure to be the best hand at the moment but which has good odds to improve to become the best hand.
Set	Three of a kind when you have two of the rank in your hand, and there is one on the board.
Short Stack	Having less chips than a typical player at the table.
Show Down	When all cards have been dealt and betting is complete, player hands are revealed in a showdown.
Side Pot	If a player goes all-in, and there are two or more bettors with more chips that call, they may continue to bet. Their future bets are placed in a separate pot.
Slow Play	When you have a strong hand, to represent that you have a weak hand, to encourage others to bet.
SNG	Sit n Go. Small (usually one table) tournament with no set start time. Players sit down and the tournament starts as soon as there are enough players.
Splash	Tossing your chips into the pot during a bet or raise before anyone can verify the amount.
Split Pot	A pot which is shared by two or more players because they have equivalent hands.
Spread Limit	A betting structure in which a player may bet any amount in a range on every betting round.
Steal the Pot	To make a strong bet without a strong hand based on the appearence that no one else has a good hand, causing everyone to fold.
Straddle	An optional extra blind bet, typically made by the player one to the left of the big blind, equal to twice the big blind. This is effectively a raise, and forces any player who wants to play to pay two bets. Furthermore, the straddler acts last before the flop, and may "re-raise."
String Bet	A raise in which a player doesn't get all the chips required for the raise into the pot in one motion. Unless he verbally declared the raise, he can be forced to withdraw it and just call.
Suited	Cards of the same suit
Suited Connectors	Sequentially ranked hole cards in the same suit. e.g. 9h8h

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T

Table Stakes	A rule in a poker game meaning that a player may not go into his wallet for money during the play of a hand. He may only invest the amount of money in front of him into the current pot. If he runs out of chips during the hand, a side pot is created in which he has no interest.
Tapped	When a player runs out of chips they are said to be tapped. Also Tapioca or Tap City.
Tell	Something a player will do that gives away the strength of his hand.
Tilt	To play wildly or recklessly.
Toke	A tip given to the dealer by the winner of a pot.
Top Pair	A pair with the highest card on the flop.
Trips	Three of a kind when you have one of the rank in your hand and there are two of the rank on board.
Turn	The fourth community card. Also known as "fourth street."

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U

Under the gun

The position of the player who acts first on a betting round.

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V

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W

Wired	Pocket cards of the same rank.
W.S.O.P	The World Series of Poker. Annual series of poker tournaments held at Binions Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. The final event is a No Limit Texas Holdem tournament with a buy in of $10,000.

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X

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Y

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Z

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