Poker Glossary

  1. Action – Opportunity to act by making a check, call, bet, raise or fold. It is also indicative of a very active game (i.e. lots of bets and raises)
  2. Active player – Any player still remaining in a particular hand
  3. Ante – Required money invested in the pot before any cards are dealt. The ante is not to be considered part of the bet
  4. All-in – When a player bets all his/her remaining chips on a single hand
  5. American Airlines – Pocket aces
  6. B&M – Shortened term for a brick and mortar cardroom as opposed to an online cardroom
  7. Backdoor – Catching two cards in a row, on the turn and the river, to complete a hand
  8. Bad Beat – An unlucky turn of events that causes a player to lose a usually strong hand
  9. Bet – To place money/chips into the pot
  10. Bet Blind – To place a bet without looking at one’s cards
  11. Big Slick – Hole cards comprised of an Ace and a King
  12. Blind – A required bet made before any cards are dealt. There are two types of blinds – a big blind and a small blind with the small blind typically being half the size of the big blind
  13. Bluff – To bet or raise so to make other players believe that one has a better hand than he/she holds in order to win the pot
  14. Boat – Poker hand that contains a full house. Also referred to as a full boat
  15. Broadway – Poker hand that contains an ace high straight
  16. Bubble – The last non-paying spot in a poker tournament
  17. Burn – To discard the top card from the deck, face down. This is done between betting rounds before the next community card
  18. Button – A white disk also known as the dealer button serves to recognize which player sitting at the table is the dealer for that particular hand. After each hand has completed, as with standard poker rules, the button moves clockwise to the next active player. This is done, because there is an advantage to having to act last and so each player gets his fair share of early, late and middle positions
  19. Buy-in – The amount of money it costs to enter a poker tournament
  20. Call – To place money/chips equal to another player’s bet amount
  21. Calling Station – A player who usually calls other player’s bets instead of betting or raising
  22. Canine – Hole cards comprised of a King and a Nine
  23. Check – When a player’s action is not to bet when there have been no other bets made in a particular round
  24. Check-Raise – When a player initially checks and then raises in the same betting round
  25. Community Card – A face up card that may be used by all players at a table
  26. Connector – A starting poker hand in which your two hole cards are only one rank apart
  27. Cowboys – A pair of kings
  28. Crabs – A pair of threes
  29. Dead Man’s Hand – Poker hand that contains two pair; Black Aces and Black Eights. This was the winning hand that Wild Bill Hickok was shot with
  30. Deal – To give players and the board cards throughout a poker game
  31. Dealer – The nominal player, who distributes the cards during a hand of poker. Each player takes a turn dealing and is designated as such by a dealer button. Also called a button
  32. Donkey – A disparaging insult that poker players use against other players. This is not allowed in the chat area
  33. Double Up – To increase your chip stack by 100%
  34. Down Cards – A player’s cards that are dealt face down which only he can see. Also called Hole cards
  35. Draw – A situation in which a player needs one card to complete a poker hand
  36. Drawing Dead – A situation in which a player cannot statistically beat another player’s cards regardless of what cards come up
  37. Ducks – A pair of deuces
  38. Early Position – One of the three positions to the immediate left of the big blind
  39. Even Money Pot – A situation in which a player’s chances of winning a pot are about 50%
  40. Family Pot – A hand in which all the players call prior to the flop
  41. Fifth Street – The fifth face up card dealt. Also known as the river
  42. Flop – The first three community cards dealt face up
  43. Flush – Poker hand that contains five cards of the same suit
  44. Fold – Concede the pot by not calling a previous bet. A player who folds is no longer active
  45. Forced Bet – A mandatory bet that starts the action on the first round of a poker hand
  46. Four-of-a-Kind – Poker hand that contains four cards of equal rank
  47. Fourth Street – The fourth face up card dealt. Also known as the turn
  48. Free Roll -A tournament that requires no entry fee
  49. Gut-shot Straight – Poker hand in which you need one card to complete a straight draw. Also called Inside straight
  50. Hand – A player’s best five cards
  51. Heads-up – A situation in which poker is played one on one
  52. Hi-Lo – A poker game in which the pot is awarded to both the highest and lowest hand
  53. Hole Cards – A player’s cards that are dealt face down which only he can see. Also called Down cards
  54. Implied Odds – The odds that a player factors into his calculation of pot odds to account for being called if you complete your hand
  55. Inside Straight – Poker hand in which you need one card to complete a straight draw. Also called a gutshot straight
  56. Kicker – The highest unpaired card in a player’s hand
  57. King Crab – Poker hand containing a king and a three
  58. Ladies – A pair of queens
  59. Lay Down – To fold a hand
  60. Limp In – To only call the big blind before the flop
  61. Limit Poker – Variation of poker in which the bet amounts are preset
  62. Main Pot – The initial pot where betting started prior to a player(s) going all-in
  63. Maniac – A loose, aggressive player who likes to raise a lot of pots
  64. Marginal play hand – A hand that is statistically weak and probably should not be played according to the odds
  65. Missed Blind – A mandatory bet that is not posted
  66. Muck – To discard or throw away your cards
  67. No Limit Poker – Variation of poker in which there are no preset betting amounts
  68. Nuts – The best possible poker hand given the face up cards
  69. Off Suit – A term used to describe a hand with cards that are of different suits
  70. Open-ended Straight – Poker hand in which two different cards can be used to complete a straight draw. The two cards being on either end of the four connected cards
  71. Open Seat – A seat at a game that is currently available for any player to sit in
  72. Out(s) – A number of cards that are needed to complete a winning hand
  73. Overcard – A card that is higher than any card on the board
  74. Overpair – A pair of pocket cards which are higher than any community cards on the board
  75. Pocket Pair – A pair of pocket cards
  76. Post – To place money/chips in the pot
  77. Pot – The money/chips where all bets go for players to win
  78. Pot Limit Poker – Variation of poker in which the maximum bat that a player can make is the amount of the pot at the time of the bet
  79. Pot Odds – A calculation that is used to decide if it is worth calling a bet to remain in a hand. Pot odds are calculated by dividing the size of the pot by the amount of money it costs to call a bet.
  80. Qualify Low – Make a hand that is eligible to win half the pot in a high-low split game
  81. Quads – Poker hand that contains four cards of equal rank
  82. Rabbit Hunting – Looking for the cards that would have come up after all players have folded their hands. This is considered bad etiquette.
  83. Raise – To increase the previous bet
  84. Rake – Money/chips taken from the pot to compensate the site for hosting the game
  85. Rathole – When a player is up in a particular poker session and then takes money/chips from the table and returns to play with a smaller bankroll
  86. Railbird – Someone who looks on or watches a poker game after he has busted out or can’t afford the stakes. It is bad etiquette to use the chat function in a game if you are a railbird
  87. Read – To make your best guess at what your opponent’s hand is
  88. Represent – To pretend and play as if you have a strong hand when certain cards are shown on the board
  89. Reraise – To raise against an existing raise
  90. Ring Game – A real money game of poker at a regular table as opposed to a tournament game that is player with a preset number of chips
  91. River – The fifth face up card dealt. Also known as fifth street
  92. Runner – A poker hand that is made only by hitting the correct cards on the turn and the river
  93. Satellites – Ten handed qualifying mini tournaments in which players put up a much smaller amount than the buy-in to a regular tournament in hopes of winning a seat to the much larger tournament
  94. Seat position – The position of a player in relation to the dealer’s button
  95. Set – Poker hand that contains three cards of equal rank. Also call trips
  96. Show – To expose one’s cards
  97. Shuffle – Mixing cards prior to the deal
  98. Short Stack – A relatively small amount of chips compared with the other players at the table
  99. Showdown – The point in a particular hand when all players remaining in the hand turn their cards over to determine the best five card hand
  100. Slowplay – Intentionally underbetting a strong hand in order to lure other players into calling
  101. Side Pot – The pot(s) from all side bets. Any player(s) All-in can not win any side pots that they did not invest in.
  102. Sitting Out – A player leaving the table or being timed out is “Sitting Out”. In a live game, if a player sits out, there is a time limit for a player to remain out at which time he will be removed from the game
  103. Smooth-Calling – Intentionally calling other players bets with a strong hand in order to lure other players into the pot
  104. Snowmen – A pair of eights
  105. Split Pot – A pot which is shared and won by two or more players
  106. Suck Out – A winning hand that is made by a player who catches a lucky card on the river
  107. Suited Connectors – A starting poker hand in which your two hole cards are only one rank apart and are of the same suit
  108. Tell – A hint or giveaway that a player unknowingly gives as to the strength of his hand
  109. Tilt – Term for a player that is playing wildly and recklessly by playing far too many hands because they have become emotionally unbalanced
  110. Top Pair – Poker hand in which you combine one of your hole cards with the highest exposed card on the flop
  111. Under the Gun – The position to the immediate left of the big blind
  112. Value Bet – A bet that you would like an opponent to call instead of fold because you believe the chances are better that you will win rather than lose the hand
  113. Variance – The positive or negative swings in ones bankroll. This is not necessarily a measure of a player’s skill level but it is a good indicator of a player’s style
  114. Village People – Poker hand containing four queens