Poker Terminology
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Poker Terms is the most comprehensive and up-to-date poker dictionary on the internet. Our database of poker lingo contains well over 1000 poker terms and has in-depth explanations of terms that simply cannot be found anywhere else. Some of our pages explain advanced poker concepts. Common Poker Terms. A full house with three aces and any pair. A five card hand that contains one Ace, with no straight or flush or a hand with no pair in it. A hand that contains two pairs, one of which is Aces. Poker Terminology. When listening to a discussion between poker players, you will notice the players using a lot of special poker terminology or abbreviations which you may not be familiar with. In our glossary, containing around 500 poker terms, you will find almost every current poker term in our strategy lessons, videos or on our forums, so.
Are you confused by all the poker terms that are used? Are you fed up of staring blankly at the screen when people use poker terms in the chat box whilst you are playing online poker?
Well here’s our beginners guide to poker terminology. Not only will you be able to play like a pro with what you learn at the Poker Professor University, but you will also be able to talk like a pro as well!
Poker Terms A-Z
Add-on – in a tournament you may have the opportunity to add to your chips by buying extra chips after the first period of play.
All-In – to place all your remaining chips into the pot.
Ante – bet made before the cards are dealt on each hand.
Bad Beat – a hand where you lose to a player against the expected odds.
Bicycle – nickname for a low straight (A-2-3-4-5).
Big Slick – the nickname for when you are dealt Ace-King.
Blind(s) – compulsory bets places before the cards are dealt by the two players sitting to the left of the dealer.
Bluff – to attempt to steal the pot by representing a hand stronger than the one actually held.
Board – the community cards showing on the table.
Boat – nickname for a full house.
Burn – to discard; the dealer ‘burns’ the top card before dealing the flop, turn and river.
Button – the dealer button which denotes the position of the player in the seat of the dealer.
Buy-In – exchange of cash for chips to sit at a table.
Call – to match the highest bet made to date.
Cash In – to leave the table and exchange your chips for cash.
Check – to make no bet at that stage when no one else has made a bet either. (sometimes indicated in live games by tapping the table)
Check-Raise – a play where you check at first and then once an opponent bets, to raise him.
Community Cards – the flop, turn and river cards dealt face up in the middle of the table.
Cowboys – nickname for when you are dealt two kings (pocket kings).
Fifth Street – the fifth and final community card (also known as the river).
Final Table – the last table in a tournament when all other players have been eliminated.
Fish – a player who stays in pots hoping to catch the right cards to create a winning hand – but against the odds.
Flush -five cards of the same suit.
Flush Draw – when you have 4 cards of the same suit and you are hoping that the subsequent card(s) will produce a fifth card to complete the Flush.
Fold – to throw away, or muck your cards.
Fourth Street – the fourth community card (also known as the turn).
Heads Up – 1 v 1 play at a table containing only two players.
High Roller – a player who competes for very high stakes.
Hole Cards – the name for the two cards dealt face down to each player and which only the player can see.
Kicker – card(s) not involved in the formation of a poker combination, but still part of the five-card poker hand.
Lay Down – to concede or give in your hand.
Limp In – to call the size of the blind without raising it.
Loose – a loose player is likely to play allot of hands and make allot of speculative plays.
Muck – to fold or discard your hand and not show your cards to your opponents.
Nuts – the best possible hand.
Outs – cards which will improve your hand to a winning status.
Overcard – higher cards than those showing in the community cards, or higher cards in the community cards than those in your hand.
Pocket Rockets – when you are dealt two Aces
Position – a player location at the table measured relative to the position of the dealer button.
Pot – the collection of chips which will be awarded to the winner of the hand.
Raise – increase the size of the biggest bet at the table.
Re-buy – in a tournament, when you lose all your chips early on, you may be offered the opportunity to pay the entry fee again for another set of starting chips.
Re-Raise – when you make a raise when a player has already raised once.
River – the fifth and final community card.
Rock – the term for a player who chooses to play with only the best hands and bets only when he is sure that he is best.
Rush – a roll or sequence of successful plays.
Satellite – a qualifying event for a big poker tournament.
Second Pair – a pair formed by the second highest card on the board.
Set – 3 of a Kind or ‘Trips’.
Short Stack – when you have less than the average amount of chips.
Short Handed – a poker table containing fewer players than normal.
Showdown – when a bet is called after the river card and all players must show their hand to decide who wins the pot.
Side Pot – a secondary pot, formed because one player is all-in and cannot bet any more into the pot contested by the remaining players.
Slow-Play – to give the impression of weakness or uncertainty by checking or calling bets rather than raising them.
Straight – five cards in sequence (5-6-7-8-9).
Suited – cards are the same suit.
Tell – an indication, often subconscious or unrecognized by the player himself, by which the other players may gain an insight into the strength of a player’s hand.
Tilt – usually a sign of frustration or anger, a player may go ‘on tilt’ by playing too many hands of poor quality and subsequently giving his chips away.
Top Pair – a pair formed by the highest card on the board.
Turn – the fourth community card.
Whale – a gambler or poker player of enormous wealth for whom big losses are not important.
Well that’s just a start and I’m sure there are plenty of poker terms that have been missed. Why don’t you add any others that you know in the comments below.
The game of poker has its own slang or “poker talk.” If you are new to poker, learning the poker slang will greatly improve your knowledge of the game.
From the small blind to the straight flush, here is a poker glossary of the important poker terms to know.
Act: check, bet, raise, or fold
Action: whose turn it is, as in “Action is on you.” Also, slang for gambling, as in “He loves action.” Or a lot of betting, like “The 2/4 game at Pala has a lot of action.”
Active Player:player still in competition for a pot
Add-on: additional chips that may be purchased to “add on” to your chip stack, usually at the end of the Re-buy period, though some tourneys allow add-ons earlier and some tourneys even allow for multiple add-ons (and/or Re-buys)
All-in: a player bets all of his or her remaining chips
Bad Beat: when a player has the best of it and the odds are heavily with him or her, but gets beaten in the hand by a long-shot draw
Bankroll:the money a player has set aside to gamble with
Behind: a player who acts after another player in a betting round
Benjamin: a hundred-dollar bill (Benjamin Franklin’s portrait appears on a U.S. $100 bill)
Best of It: the player who has the odds on his or her side
Bet:money initially wagered and put into the pot (during a given betting round, subsequent betting action beyond an initial bet is termed a “raise”)
Big Blind: the larger of two forced “blind hands” in community card games like Hold’em and Omaha; the big blind is generally located two to the left of the “dealer button”
Big Hand: a really good hand
Big Slick: Ace-King hole cards (see Hole Cards)
Blank: community board card that looks like it is harmless or couldn’t really help anybody
Bluff: a bet or raise that appears to represent a good hand, when in fact the bettor has a mediocre or at best a drawing hand
Board:(see also, Community Cards) the playing surface and the community cards on the “board” that are shared by all players in games such as Hold’em and Omaha. Players use the community cards to complete their hands.
Boat:full house (aka “full boat”). three of one card, two of another. ex. JJJ99
Brick and Mortar: a casino with a physical world spatial existence (as opposed to merely online or cyberspace); some casinos, like Pala, have both a brick and mortar and an online existence.
Broadway: ace-high straight
Bubble: in a tournament, one place away from making it to the money
Busted: broke. Lost all chips and out of the tournament.
Button:(aka Dealer Button), disc that denotes which player is the “dealer” for that hand. Button position is dealt the last card and is last to act in each betting round
Buy-In:the amount of chips a player must buy in order to enter a card game. For tourneys, the buy-in is a set amount of money for a set amount of starting chips. For cashgames, buy-ins are generally expressed as minimums, but can have an optional limited or unlimited range beyond the minimum as well.
Buying the Pot: to win a pot with a bluff or semi-bluff that forces other players out
Call:to put in the amount that another player bet: “I call”
Calling Station: you bet and bet and he calls and calls; generally a weak player who calls too much but doesn’t usually bet or raise.
Case Card: last card of a given rank left in the deck… the other three are already out
Chasing: hoping an upcoming community card will “hit” to complete a so-far unmade hand
Check: to not bet when it is your turn. can say “I check” or tap on the table in a live game
Check and Raise: to check initially, but then make a raise if another player bets after your initial check
Poker Terminology Raise
Chop:in tournament play, the last remaining players decide to split up the prizepool rather than play to the end; or, in a hand, where the end result is a tie and the pot is split up and distributed evenly to the tied players.
Poker Terminology Sheet
Community Cards:(see also, Board) the community cards on the “board” that are shared by all players in games such as Hold’em and Omaha. Players use the community cards to complete their hands.
Connectors:(see also, Suited Connectors) two or more cards in sequence; for example: 89 or 10J
Counterfeit:In Omaha Eight or Better, when the board pairs one of your low cards
Cracked: to lose a hand you were initially favored to win, as in “My Aces got cracked!”
Crying Call: a very reluctant call
Dealer:player or staff member who deals the cards out to players; however, see also, Button
Dead Man Hand: A famous hand that consists of the black eights and the black aces
Deep Stack:a tournament in which players begin with an amount of chips that is relatively high in relation to the blind or ante.
Dog:underdog. Not favored to win.
Dominated: a hand that is beaten due to shared cards. for example, A-8 is “dominated” by A-K
Draw: hand that needs additional cards to become a winning hand
Drawing Dead: when there are no cards left in the deck that will make a draw hand into a winner
Draw Poker: each player gets a set amount of cards and then can replace some of his or her cards with others dealt out from the remainder of the deck
Duck: a deuce, a 2
Early Position: approx. first third of players to act in a hand
Face Down: cards, like the hole cards, that are unexposed to other players
Face Up: exposed card that everybody can see
Fast Play: aggressive style emphasizing a lot of betting and raising
Favorite: based on odds alone, most likely hand to win
Fish: a novice or poorly-skilled player, expected to lose money
Flop: first three community cards dealt face up on the board
Flush: hand containing five cards of the same suit
Fold:to get rid of one’s cards, and in doing so forfeiting the right to any part of the pot.
Four-Flush: having four of the five cards needed for a flush… and hoping for the fifth
Free Card: a betting round where all players have checked, thus allowing the next community card to fall without anybody putting any money in the pot
Basic Poker Terminology
Freeroll: a poker tournament in which certain qualifying players get in for free. “Freerolling” also is an expression sometimes used to describe somebody who has won a lot of chips already and is “rolling” through the game with other people’s money.
Four-of-a-Kind: Hand containing four cards of the same rank, like J J J J.
Full House: hand with two of one rank and three of another, like 9 9 J J J
Hand: the cards a poker player holds, combined with any community cards, to make the best five card combination
Head-to Head: aka “Heads Up”
Hi/Lo: type of poker where the highest hand and the lowest hand each take half the pot
Hole Cards: cards held by a player, unseen by other players
Implied Odds:what a player thinks his actual payoff will be if he hits his hand, relative to how much it will cost to play
In Front Of: a player who acts before another player
Inside Straight Draw: a draw where only one card will complete the straight, for example a hand like 6-7- – 9-10… needs an 8 to complete
Isolate: to bet and raise so as to get heads-up against a weaker hand or weaker player
Joker: a wild card, or slang for a really lucky card that came to complete a hand against odds
Kicker:unmatched card in a player’s hand that is not used except to break ties. Example, two pair 5-5 and 8-8 with A kicker beats two pair 5-5 and 8-8 with Q kicker.
Late Position: aprox. the final third of players to act in a hand
Laydown:to fold
Limit:the most that can be bet or raised at any one time (see also, Limit Poker)
Limit Poker:poker games where limits exist for betting or raising, as opposed to no-limit poker
Limp: to just call, rather than bet or raise
Live Card:a card whose rank has not yet appeared on the board (nor presumably in another hand)
Live One: a player likely to bet wildly and probably lose like a fish (see Fish)
Lock: a hand that cannot be beaten
Lock Up My Seat: a commitment to take a seat that is waiting for you
Longshot: a drawing hand that has the odds heavily against it and probably won’t be made
Look Up: to call somebody, as in “I’m gonna look you up.”
Loose: playing style that plays a lot of hands and often goes for longshots (see Longshot)
Made Hand: already solid. Don’t need to hit a draw to have a good winning hand.
Maniac:wild, loose player who bets it up with mediocre hands just to build the pot
Middle Position: aprox. the middle third of players to act in a hand
Monster: an excellent hand that is either a lock (see Lock) or at least probably won’t be beat
Muck: fold. To throw a hand away and toss it into the Muckpile. (see Muckpile) & (see Fold)
No-Limit: a player may bet any amount of chips up to and including everything he has in front of him or her
One Pair: hand containing two cards of the same rank, like Q Q
Overcard: a higher card. So a K is an “overcard” to a Q, and a Q is over a 9
Pocket Cards: see also- Hole Cards
Position: players relative position to the player who acts last; in flop games like Hold’em and Omaha, position is usually considered relative to the button
Pot:sum total of all antes, blinds, and bets put into the center of the table during a given poker hand. It is the pot for which players are competing to win.
Preflop:before the flop
Premium Starting Hands:holding among the best starting hole cards; for example, in Hold’em premium starting hands include A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and A-K, and possibly A-Q and J-J as well. Hi/Lo games also have low premium starting hands of their own, for example holding perhaps A-2-3-5 as a starting hand in Omaha Hi/Lo
Raise:adding more chips to another player’s original bet to make it more expensive for other players to continue to play for the pot
Rake:the amount of money taken out of a pot by the house (the dealer is the house’s representative in this process) as its fee for running the game; the rake is used to pay overhead, including equipment, facilities, utilities, and staff salaries
Reraise: raising another player’s raise
Ring Game: a cash game with a full table of players, usually seven or more for Stud and nine or more for Omaha or Hold’em
River: the fifth (last) community card on board
Royal Flush: an A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit. The highest ranking hand in poker.
Satellite Tournament: a smaller stakes tourney in which the prizes are one or more entries into a more expensive major event
Set: three of a kind, consisting of a pocket pair plus a matching community card
Shorthanded: a poker game with five players or less, perhaps six or less
Showdown: final act of a poker hand
Slowplay: playing a powerful hand in a weak manner to disguise its strength and lure, or “trap,” other players into the action
Small Blind: located just to the left of the button, it is the smaller of the two forced blind bets preflop
Standard Raise: typically, three times the big blind
Steal the Blinds: bluffing to make the blinds fold
Straight: a sequence of five consecutive cards, like 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10
Straight Flush: a sequence of five consecutive cards that are all also the same suit
Suck-out:to hit a longshot draw, typically on the river
Suited Connectors: (see also, Connectors) two or more cards in sequence and of the same suit; for example: 8-9 or 10-J of Hearts
Swing:fluctuation of a player’s chip count or even overall bankroll
Table Stakes: a player can only play with the money/chips he or she has on the table in front of him or her; the player’s bet, call, or raise is limited to the number of chips he or she currently has, and the player cannot buy, borrow, or produce more chips in the middle of a hand.
Three-of-a-Kind: three cards of the same rank held in a given hand, ex.: QQQ. see also, Trips
Tournament: a competition in which all players start with the same amount of chips and play continues until one player holds all the chips
Trap: to underplay or slowplay powerful hand so as to lure other players into betting
Trips: three of a kind
Turn: the fourth community card on board, following the flop
Two Pair: a hand that contains two different pairs, like QQ and KK in the same hand
Under the Gun: the first player to act in a round of poker; preflop, under the gun is to the immediate left of the button
Value Bet: betting a hand that is perhaps not a sure thing but that over time will win more than it loses
Wheel: (aka “Bicycle”) a five-high straight: A – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
Wired: to have a pair in the hole from the start
Now that you are familiar with all of the poker terms you can start playing poker online! Sign up today for a poker tournament to win real money!