




	Recommended Reading Poker Software Glossary/Poker Lingo Poker Room Directory FAQs Links

GLOSSARY/POKER LINGO

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

A
Act, An: An intentional tell intended to give false information about a hand.
Action: A lot of bets or raises. "There was a lot of action when the board paired."
Ajax: Slang name for when your pocket cards contain an Ace and a Jack.
All-in: To have all of your chips at the table into the pot, creating a side pot for the remaining players. In a table stakes game, a player may not reach into his pocket for more money, but doesn't forfeit his chance at the pot if he doesn't have enough chips to meet a raise.
Aggressive: Description of a player who frequently raises and re-raises and rarely calls.
American Airlines: Slang for pocket aces.
Angle: An action that isn't against the rules, but still incorporates unfair tactics.
Angle-Shooting: Using unfair tactics. An angle-shooter might peek at his neighbors hole cards.
Ante: The pot. The total amount being wagered upon.
B
Backdoor: Making a hand by catching both turn and river cards. Common usage is "catching a backdoor flush" or "backdoor straight".
Backraise: A re-raise from a player who originally called.
Bad Beat: A hand that is a large favorite losing to a longshot. Pocket aces losing to pocket queens would be an example.
Bankroll: The money that you have set aside to play poker with.
Bet Odds: The odds you get as a result of evaluating the number of callers to a raise.
Bicycle or Bike: An Ace-Five Straight. Also called a "Wheel".
Big Blind: The largest blind posted pre-flop. This is usually the player sitting two seats to the left of the dealer.
Big Slick: Slang for when your pocket cards contain an Ace and King.
Blank: A card that appears to help nobody. "Then a blank fell on the turn".
Blind: A mandatory bet placed before the cards are dealt to force money into the pot, essentially a "blind bet". Blind bets replace antes in Texas Hold'em poker.
Bluff: Representing a good hand by betting, when you don't have much of a hand.
Boat: A full house.
Board, The: 1. The communal cards dealt face up in Texas Hold'em that all players can use.
2. The surface these cards are dealt onto. Typically a tabletop.
Bottom Dealing: A form of cheating where the dealer slyly deals a card from the bottom of the deck.
Bottom Pair: Making a pair with the lowest card on the board.
Burn Card: In Texas Hold'em, the cards before the flop, turn, and river that are discarded to prevent reading of marked cards. Only done in live games.
Button: A symbol to designate which player is sitting in the dealer's position.
Buy-In: The necessary amount of money needed to join a game. Also, the amount of money needed to enter a poker tournament.
Buying the Button: To bet or raise in mid to late position with the intention of making the players between you and the button fold, so that you can act last in the following rounds of betting.
C
Call: Matching a bet amount.
Call-Station: A player who is passive and loose who rarely bets or raises, but almost always calls.
Cap or Capping: The idea that there can only be a raise, a re-raise, another re-raise, and one final re-raise. That's four bets total per player, per round, at most.
Cards Speak: Your hand is the most favorable possible combination of cards, no matter how you call it.
Cash Out: Taking your money and going home.
Check: When no bets are pending, to pass your turn.
Check-Raise: The act of calling, then re-raising a raise.
Cleaned Out: Being taken for all your money, in Hold 'Em or otherwise.
Clubs: One of the four playing card suits. Formerly representing the working class
Cold Call: To call more than one bet at once as result of a re-raise.
Collusion: A form of cheating where multiple parties help each other in deciding the best course of action.
Community Cards: Communal cards dealt face up in Hold 'Em that all players can use.
Computer Hand: Name of Queen and Seven in the pocket.
Connected: Two sequential pocket cards. Examples : 10/J or 3/4.
Cowboys: Kings
D
Dead Man's Hand: Two Pair of Aces and Eights. The hand Wild Bill Hickock was holding when Jack McCall shot him in the back.
Dealer: The man or woman who handles the cards, gives out the pots, and monitors the game.
Dealer's Position: Being the last to act in a betting round. On the button.
Diamonds: One of the four playing card suits. Formerly representing merchants.
Dominated Hands: Hands that are okay to play, but tend to lose against similar non-straight/flush hands. Example: A2 is dominated because against other hands with an Ace, it loses or draws without improvement.
Dominating Hands: Primo hands that are not only good, solid hands, but have lots of room for improvement.
Draw: 1. A drawing hand.
2. A game result where multiple players split the pot as result of having equal hands.
3. To take a card from a deck of cards.
Drawing: Playing a hand to improve.
Drawing Dead: A drawing hand that will lose even if it improves.
Drawing Hand: A hand that needs improvement to win. Usually to a straight or flush.
E
Early Position: Being one of the first to act in a betting round. Usually a disadvantage.
F
False Shuffle: A form of live cheating where the deck is shuffled in a manner to prearrange the cards.
Flop: 1. n. the first three community cards dealt face up on the table.
2. v. used to describe what your hand was after the flop. "I flopped the nuts!"
Flush: Having a poker hand of five cards whose suits all match.
Fold: To give up your hand and forfeit the pot to the remaining players.
Four-of-a-Kind: A poker hand consisting of all four cards of the same type.
Free Card: The card you get as result of semi-bluffing from late or last position so that all the players check to you.
Full House: A poker hand consisting of three-of-a-kind and a pair. Worded as the three-of-a-kind being "full" of the pair. Example: Three Aces and Two Tens is verbally declared as a "full house, Aces full of Tens".
G
Grinding: Playing in a style with minimal risk and modest gains over a long period of time.
Gutshot Draw: A straight draw where only one card will complete the hand.
H
Hand: 1. The complete playing of all the cards given out in one deal.
2. The cards used by a player.
Heads-Up: When only two players are involved with a hand.
Hearts: One of the four playing card suits. Formerly representing the clergy.
High Limit: A game where the amounts wagered are high.
House, The: The establishment where a game is being held. It may be a casino in Las Vegas, a kitchen table, or an online casino's server in Antigua.
I
I Forget: What you say when someone asks, "So what did you have?"
Image: What kind of player others currently perceive you as.
Implied Odds: The odds you are getting after the assumed result of betting for the remainder of the hand.
J
Jackpot: A prize fund awarded to a player who meets a set of predetermined requirements. For example, some casinos will give a jackpot to someone who gets four-of-a-kind or higher and loses.
K
Kicker: In a tie hand between one pair, two pair, or three-of-a-kind, the remaining card(s) that make up the hand. The player with the highest card(s) wins.
Kill Game: A game where certain predetermined requirements creates higher stakes and/or create a third blind.
L
Late Position: Being one of the last to act in a betting round. Usually an advantage.
Limping: Calling a blind pre-flop without raising.
Live Hand: An active hand. One that has not folded.
Live Game: A game where you are physically near the other players.
Long Shot: Making a hand despite having few outs and/or poor odds.
Loose: Adjective to describe a player who plays lots of hands and gets involved with a lot of pots.
Low Limit: A game where the amounts wagered are small.
M
Main Pot: The first established pot before a player goes all-in and creates a side pot.
Maverick: The name of a Queen and Jack in the pocket. Suited or otherwise.
Mechanic: A player who has the ability to illegally manipulate cards for favorable results.
Middle Position: Being in between early and late position.
Mneumonics: Mental devices used to remember things. In Hold 'Em, often players have names for what pocket cards they have, like Big Slick or Maverick.
Muck: 1. v. To discard your hand, especially after an opponent reveals a better hand.
2. n. The discard pile.
N
No Limit: Considered one of the last true forms of poker, where the amount you can bet is limited by the number of chips in front of you.
Nuts, The: The best possible hand.
O
Odds: 1. The proportion by which one bet differs from that of another.
2. The ratio between the probability for and against something happening.
On the Button: Being the last player to act in a betting round. Dealer's Position.
Outs: The number of cards left in the deck that will improve your hand.
Overpair: A pocket pair higher than any of the cards on the board.
P
Pair: A poker hand comprised of two cards of the same type and three others.
Passive: Adjective to describe a player who frequently calls and rarely bets.
Pocket Cards: The two cards dealt to you at the beginning of a Hold 'Em hand that no one else is entitled to see.
Position: In a turn-based game like Hold 'Em, your rank in the order of turns. This is typically categorized into early, middle, and late position.
Pot, The: The amount of money and sum of the bets being wagered on in a game.
Pot Odds: The odds you get when analyzing the current size of the pot vs. your next call.
Pre-Flop: The space of time after you've been dealt your pocket cards and before the flop is dealt.
Q
Quarter: 1. What you need to call your friend to pick you up after you lose all your money playing Hold'em before reading up on strategy.
2. What your opponent will need to call his or her friend after playing you after you read up on strategy.
R
Raise: Putting in the first bet in a round.
Rake: Money taken by the house to compensate for expenses.
Rank of Suits: An uncommon ranking system to determine who wins in a game with no draws. The cards in your final five-card hand are evaluated. The winner is decided by the highest pocket card involved with that hand. The player with the better rank wins. In order the ranks are Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. If the players still have the same hand, the highest pocket card is the winner, if it is still a tie then the highest ranked pocket card wins.
Ratholing: The illegal action of taking money off the table and putting it somewhere else.
Re-raise: Putting in another bet on top of a previous raise or raises.
Reading: Analysis of a player based on how they play, mannerisms, and tells.
Ring game: A normal game, as opposed to a tournament game or a non-money game with your uncles.
River: The fifth and last community card dealt face up in a Hold 'Em game.
Rock: A passive, tight player.
Royal Flush: The highest ranking hand. Having a straight 10 to Ace of all the same suit.
Run, Going on a: The act of playing with more money than is typical or reasonable for you to play.
Rush: A winning streak
S
Sandbagging: Holding back and calling despite the fact that you have a very good hand, usually to disguise strength, provoke bluffs, and to check-raise.
Semi-Bluff: Betting with a mediocre or drawing hand
Set: Having a pocket pair that matches one of the cards on the board.
Short Buying: Purchasing chips after your initial purchase. Usually the minimum for a short buy-in is less than the initial buy-in.
Short-Handed: An adjective used to describe a game with few players.
Showdown: The final phase after all betting has ended and players reveal their cards.
Side Pot: Bets made into a new pot after a player has gone all-in.
Signaling: A system used by colluding players to let each other know what they hold.
Slow Playing: Playing deceptively with a strong hand by checking and calling with the intention of raising once the pot is larger.
Small Blind: The smaller or the two blinds posted prior to the dealing of cards. This is usually by the player sitting directly to the left of the dealer.
Soft Seat: A seat or game which is favorable because of the lack of skill at the table.
Spades: One of the four playing card suits. Formerly representing nobility.
Splashing the Pot: An illegal move where chips are placed in a haphazard way. Such as being tossed directly into the pot before being counted.
Spread Limit: A betting structure where you can bet any amount within a certain range.
Stash: A poker player's "gamblin' money".
Steal Raise: A raise by someone in late position in an attempt to reduce the number of players and/or steal the pot.
Steamrolling: Re-raising to make a player(s) call two bets instead of one.
Straddle: Posting an extra blind when one sits to the left of the big blind.
Straight: A poker hand with five sequential cards. In Hold'Em, Aces can be high or low.
Straight Flush: A poker hand comprised of five sequential cards all of the same suit.
String Bets: Saying "I'll call your bet....and I'll re-raise!", instead of just "Raise" or "Re-raise". Generally not allowed because of ethics involving angle shooting.
String Calls: An illegal call like saying "I've got a pair of Jacks.", then after your opponents have revealed their hands or just simply reacted to that, saying "Oh, and I've also got a pair of sevens, too" or a similar situation.
Suit: A characteristic of a playing card. The card being either of Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, or Spades.
Suited: Usually used in reference to your pocket cards when they are of the same suit.
T
Table, The: 1. The surface on which poker is played.
2. A term used in reference to the players at a table. "A tight table."
Table Stakes: The rule that you can only play a hand with the money you have at the table.
Tell: An action that gives clues about the cards someone is holding.
Three-of-a-Kind: A poker hand consisting of three cards of the same type.
Tight: Adjective to describe a player who selects hands very carefully and folds easily.
Tilt, On: Behavior as a result of losing, usually negative.
Top Pair: Having a pair with the highest card on the board and one in the pocket.
Top Two Pair: Having both your pocket cards match the highest two cards on the board.
Turn: The fourth community card dealt face up in a Hold 'Em game.
U
Under the Gun: Being the first person to act, being in the earliest position.
Underpair: A pocket pair of lower value than the lowest card on the board.

PARTNER SITES: POKER BONUS CODES

Play Online Poker