Glossary

Poker Glossary

Poker is full of words, and sometimes it's almost impossible to understand what poker players go on about if you don't have a poker glossary at hand. We'll try to keep the glossary up to date. If you miss something here, give us a hint and we'll add it to the list!

A

Action

A players turn to act

A game with lot of aggressive play is called an action game.

Ante

A forced bet all players have to post prior to the hand. Most common in stud and draw games

All-In

A player who pushes in all of his chips by calling, betting or raising.

B

Backdoor

When a player caches a hand with help from both the turn and the river. Someone who holds As Qs on a board showing Js 9h 7h has a backdoor flush draw.

Bad beat

An unfortunate loss when the odds were strongly in your favor. These situations create bad-beat stories, something no one likes to hear.

Big blind

The large forced bet mostly used in community-card games like Hold’em and Omaha.

Big slick

Nickname for the Hold’em starting hand Ace-King.

Blank

A community card that most likely didn’t help any player.

Blind

A forced bet, usually posted by the two players after the button. Mostly used in community-card games

Boat

Full house. The hand that will beat your nut flush when you get all-in on the turn and the board pairs on the river.

Bottom pair

When you have paired the lowest card on the board. Example: As 4h on a board showing Ks Js 4c.

Broadway

A straight from ten to ace.

Bubble

The places in a tournament just below the “money”. If 10 players get a piece of the prize pool, and you finish 11th, you ended up “in the bubble”.

Burn

The act of discarding the top card of the deck before exposing community cards.

Button

The disc that indicates which player is the dealer – or at least sits in the dealer’s position.

Buy-in

A tournament-entry fee

Bring money to a cash-game, or add an already existing stack.

C

Call

Put in money equal to the latest bet or raise.

Calling station

A loose and passive player type that calls a lot but rarely bets and raises.

Cap

The last permitted bet often used in fixed-limit games.

Case

When someone has only one out, that card is called the case jack, deuce, seven etc. Common when a set is up against another set in hold’em.

Check

When you’re in a hand, and no one has made a bet yet, you can check. You don’t wager anything but are still in the hand and the action gets back to you if someone else makes a bet.

Check-raise

When you check, someone else bets, and you raise. This usually indicates a strong hand.

Cold call

To call more than a single bet.

Connector

A hold’em starting hand where the cards “are consecutive in rank. Example: JT

Crying Call

A call made by someone who thinks he holds an inferior hand.

Cut off

The position to right of the button.

D

Dead money

Money owned by a bad poker player.

Money in a pot contributed by a player no longer in the hand.

Dog

See “underdog”

Doomswitch

Alleged button that the poker site presses to jinx your game (more than usual.) Typically after you withdraw money from the site.

Draw

A hand that needs one or more specific cards on the board. Example: you hold JT and the flop is KQ2. You have a straight dra and either 9 or A gives you the nuts.

Draw dead

A hand that can’t possibly win the pot no matter what

F

Family pot

A pot where all, or close to all, players at the table participate in.

Fast play

Same as aggressive play – lots of bets and raises.

Fish

A poor poker player.

Flop

The first three community cards in Hold’em and Omaha etc.

Freeroll

A tournament with no buy in.

When two players have the same hand but one has additional outs, the second player is freerolling. Example: Player #1 As Qs, Player #2 Ah Qh, Board Kh Jh Ts 7c.

G

Gap hand

A non-consecutive starting hand. Example 86 (one-gapper), 96 (two-gapper).

Gutshot straight

A straight draw that needs a card of a specific rank to fill up.

H

Heads-up

A game or a pot with only two players.

I

Implied odds

Odds based on possible future bets. You might call on the flop although you’re not offered the sufficient pot-odds. You think that if you hit your hand, you’re opponent is going to pay you off. If that’s true, you might have sufficient implied odds.

K

Kicker

An unpaired card in a poker hand. Say that one player has AAQQT, and another player has AAQQK, the second player wins due to a higher kicker (K).

L

Limp

To call pre flop.

Live

A card that gives you a winning hand if it pairs. When AK is up against AQ, the queen is the second player’s live card.

M

Maniac

A crazy player who plays over-aggressively with big bets and bluffs.

Muck

The pile of discarded cards in the middle of the table or the act of folding.

Monster

A super-strong hand

N

No-Limit

A betting structure in which players can bet and raise any amount at any moment (bets must be bigger than the big blind or prior action).

Nuts

The best possible hand. Example: As Js on a Ks Ts 8c 5h 2s board.

O

Off suit

A starting hand with two cards of different suit

Out

A card that gives you the winning hand. Example if you have a nut-flush draw on the turn, you have 9 outs to make the nuts.

Over pair

A pockt pair of higher rank than the highest community card.

P

Play the board

When you only play the community cards in Hold’em. Say that the board is A A A A K, then all players play the board.

Pot Committed

When the pot is so large that you have to go to the river, although you might not have the best hand at the moment.

Pot limit

A betting structure in which you can bet as much as the current pot. When you raise a bet, you can raise the total amount of the prior bet plus the pot size after that.

Pot-odds

The amount of the money in the pot compared what you have to pay to continue with the hand. Say that the pot is $100 and someone bets $100, you have to call $100 in a pot of $200. The pot-odds are therefore 1:2.

Q

Quads

Four of a kind

R

Rainbow

A flop where all three cards are of different suit.

Rake

The cut that the casino deducts from the pots. In online games, the rake is usually up to 5% of the pot up to $3-$5.

Rebuy

When you lose all chips and buy new ones. In rebuy tournaments, the number of times you’re allowed to do this might be restricted.

Ring Game

Cash game

River

The fifth and last community card in Hold’em and Omaha etc.

Ruck

A tight and solid player.

Runner-runner

When you hit a backdoor draw (see backdoor)

S

Satellite

A tournament without cash prizes, instead the winners are awarded seats in bigger tournaments.

Second pair

When the you have paired the second highest card on the board.

Semi bluff

When you bet without a real hand but have outs to make something good. For instance, when you bet with JT on a QK2 board. You can win in two ways: either by bluffing the opponents out of the pot or by catching a nine or an ace.

Set

Three of a kind using a pocket pair and a pair on the board.

Showdown

When the hand is over and players expose their hole cards.

Side pot

When three or more players with different amount of chips go all in, there will be one more side pots created. Example: Player #1 has $50 and moves all in, Player # pushes in his last $100, and player #3 calls both players. Now there will be one pot with $150, which all players can win, and one pot with $100, which only player #2 and #3 can win.

Slow play

Play a monster hand timidly to lure in opponents.

Small blind

The smaller of the two forced bets in hold’em, posted by the player to the left of the dealer.

Split pot

A pot divided by two players who hold identical hands.

Straddle

An optional blind in cash games, usually posted by the player to the left of the big blind. Instead of acting first pre-flop, the “straddler” is last to act.

String bet

When a player makes a bet in two or more motions. This is not allowed.

Suited

A Hold’em starting hand where the cards are of the same suit

T

Tell

A physical act that reviles a player’s strength.

Tilt

An emotional state where a player has lost control of his game.

Top pair

When you have paired the highest card on the board.

Trips

Three of a kind with a pair on the board and a card of the same rank in the hole.

Turn

The fourth community card in Holdem and Omaha etc.

U

Underdog

When the odds are against you. Say that you have a flush draw and someone has two pair, you’re a 2: 1 underdog.

W

Wheel

Straight from ace to five