Poker Glossary

We have put together a great Poker Glossary for you to be knowledgeable on all things poker!

A

Action

Refers to betting, especially gambling (loose bets). The more betting in a game the more action there is.

Advertise

To give off signals that you’re a particular type of player. Usually involves making a loose play to induce later betting into your strong hands.

All- in

Committing your entire stack to a bet. When you’re all- in, all of your chips go in the middle.

American Airlines

A starting hand of pocket aces.

Ante

Amount you are required to put into the pot before a hand is dealt.

B

Backdoor

Two cards in a row that make a hand. For example, spades on the turn and river that fill in a flush would be a backdoor flush.

Bad beat

Loosing a hand unluckily. Usually involves a heavy commitment of chips when winning by a large margin, only to be beaten by an unlikely combination of cards.

Bankroll

Amount of money that you’ve set aside specifically for poker.

Bet

Starting the betting off after a new card is dealt. If you’re first to act after the flop for example, you can either bet or check.

Bellybuster

Another term for an inside straight.

Big Slick

Ace King starting hand.

Bicycle

A straight A-5. The best possible low hand in Omaha Hi Lo (also known as Wheel).

Big blind

The larger of the two forced bets required before any cards are dealt in Texas hold ‘em and Omaha. The person playing two places after the dealer posts the big blind that then must be at least matched by every other player in order to stay in the hand for that round of betting.

Blind

Antes paid by the two players to the left of the dealer.

Bluff

A bet that suggests a player has strong cards when, in fact, he doesn’t.

Board

The community cards dealt to all players face-up in the middle of the table in Texas hold ’em, Omaha and Stud poker.

Broadway

An ace high straight.

Bubble

The last spot in a tournament that doesn’t pay.

Bullets

A starting hand of pocket aces.

Button

A physical disc that moves around the table to indicate who is dealing.

Buy-in

The cost of getting into a game. Tournaments have set buy-ins while cash games have minimum buy-ins (meaning that you must purchase at least the minimum buy-in worth of chips to sit down at that table).

C

Call

Matching a previous bet in a round of betting.

Calling station

A type of loose player that calls far too many hands.

Chasing

Staying in a round of betting when you are unlikely to have the best hand but are hoping for a community card that will make your hand good.

Check

If no one has bet before you in a round and you do not wish to bet either then you can check which passes the action onto the next player. This still allows you to play later in the round should anyone else make a bet.

Check-raise

When a player initially checks but then raises after another player makes a bet. This is usually an indication of a strong hand.

Cold call

To call more than one bet. For instance if one player makes a bet and then a second player raises, if you call that raise you are said to be cold calling.

Community cards

The five cards dealt into the middle of the table that all the players can use.

Counterfeited

To make your hand weaker because of a community card that is turned over that duplicates a card you have.

Cowboys

A starting hand of pocket kings.

D

Dead man’s hand

Two pair of A-A-8-8 made famous because legendary lawman Wild Bill Hickok was shot whilst holding this hand.

Deal

The act of handing out the cards to each player.

Doubling up

A player who doubles the amount of money or chips they have by winning a hand.

Drawing dead

When a player is in the position that no matter what cards are turned over they cannot win the hand.

E

Early position

One of the first players to act in any betting round. Considered to be a weak position.

F

Felted

Our very own Phil “the Unabomber” Laak coined this phrase for losing all your chips.

Fifth Street

The fifth and final community card.

Fish

A weak or inexperienced player is sometimes referred to as a fish.

Flop

The first three community cards that are dealt for all players to see, all of which are turned over at the same time.

Flush

A poker hand made up of five cards of the same suit.

Fold

When you throw away your cards, losing any chance to win the pot.

Fold equity

The marginal additional value you have in your hand from getting your opponents to fold their equity in the pot. You can calculate your fold equity using by calculating your equity in the pot, and by estimating the breadth of the range of hands with which your opponent would call.

Four of a kind

A hand containing four cards of the same value (e.g. 10-10-10-10).

Fourth street

The fourth community card turned over in Hold ’em and Omaha (Turn).

Freeroll

A tournament that is free for a player to enter.

G

Gutshot

Another term for an inside straight.

H

Hand

A player’s best five cards.

Heads-up

When two players are left to battle it out for a pot or the last two players left in a poker tournament.

Hold ’em

An abbreviation of Texas Hold ’em (see definition below).

Hole cards

The starting cards that each player receives that no one else sees. In Hold ’em, a player gets two hole cards and in Omaha a player starts with four hole cards.

I

Inside straight draw

When only one card can complete a player’s straight. For instance if a player has a hand containing 4-5-7-8 then the 6 is the only card that will make a straight.

Implied odds

Pot odds that take into account what is probable in the future rounds of betting.

K

Kicker

The highest card held in a player’s hand that is not paired. For instance if your starting hand was A-K and the board came K-Q-9-4-2, then you would have a pair of kings with an ace kicker.

Kojak

A starting hand of K-J.

L

Ladies

A starting hand of pocket queens.

Late position

The best position at the table. The dealer and players to the right of the dealer are considered to be in late position and are the last players to act in any round of betting.

Leak

A hole, or flaw, in your game that causes you to consistently loose chip by getting involved in situations that, over time, are losers.

Limit poker

A variety of poker where the value of bets allowed in each round has a fixed limit.

Limp-in

When a player just calls the big blind in the first round of betting rather than raising. Usually indicative of a weak hand.

Live hand

Any player who is yet to fold is said to have a live hand.

Loose

A style of play in which the poker player gets involved in a lot of hands with not particularly strong starting cards.

M

Monster

A very strong hand.

Muck

The pile of cards in the middle of the table that people throw away or discard.

N

No-limit

A variety of poker whereby a player’s bet is only limited by the amount of money they have in front of them.

Nuts

If you have ‘the nuts’ you are holding the best possible hand.

O

Odds

The chances of something happening or the potential return from a bet. Either can be expressed as a fraction (2-1), decimal (.5) or percentage (50%). In poker players are primarily concerned with the odds of certain cards showing up on the board compared to the odds paid on bets (combined, these are called Pot odds).

Off-suit

A Hold ’em starting hand with two cards of different suits.

Omaha

A game similar to Texas Hold ’em except each player is dealt four hole cards along with five community cards. Players make the best available hand using two of their hole cards and three from the board.

Open-ended straight draw

A four carded sequence that can be turned into a straight by cards of two different values. For instance, if you have 5-6 as your starting hand and the flop comes 4-7-J then either a 3 (3-4-5-6-7) or an 8 (4-5-6-7-8) will give you a straight.

Outs

The number of cards that remain unseen that could develop your hand into a winner. For instance, if you require one diamond to complete your flush after the flop you have nine outs.

Out draw

A situation where a player in a losing situation ends up winning a pot as favourable cards appear on the flop, turn and river.

Over card

A card you hold that is higher than any of the community cards. For instance, if you hold K-J and the flop comes 2-5-9 you have two over cards.

Over pair

A pocket pair you hold in your starting hand that are higher than any of the community cards on show. For instance, if you hold J-J and the flop comes up with 2-5-9 you are said to have an over pair.

P

Pocket pair

Two cards of the same value in your starting hand, such as 9-9.

Position

Where a player is seated in relationship to the dealer which determines the order in which you bet. Late position is regarded as advantageous as it is the last position to act on each betting round.

Pot control

The practice of controlling (or attempting to control) the size of a pot with betting.

Pot limit

Poker game whereby each player can only raise by the amount of money the pot contains.

Pot odds

A way of working out the value of making a poker bet. It’s the ratio between the amount of money in the pot and the amount of money required to bet to stay in the hand.

Q

Quads

Four of a kind.

R

Rainbow

When the three community cards (flop) are all of different suits.

Raise

To increase the amount of another player’s bet.

Rag

Low, worthless card that doesn’t improve your hand.

Read

When you can work out the strength of a player’s hand from their actions.

Re-raise

To raise again in the same round of betting after a player has already raised.

Ring game

A standard poker game as opposed to a tournament.

River

The fifth and final community card.

Royal flush

The best hand in poker consisting of A- K- Q- J- 10 of the same suit.

S

Sandbag

Another term for slow- playing (see below).

Satellites

Mini tournaments that feed winning players into larger poker tournaments at a reduced buy- in.

Set

Three of a kind made from a starting hand containing a pocket pair.

Showing down

After the final round of betting this is the stage where all the players still involved show their hands to determine who wins.

Short stack

When a player has relatively few chips left compared to the rest of the table they are referred to as the short stack.

Side pot

A pot created when one of the players go all in and then other players continue to bet with more money than the all-in player had. Only players who add money to the side pot can win the side pot.

Slow – play

Playing a strong hand as if it were weak in order to trap opponents.

Small blind

The smaller of the two required bets required before any cards are dealt. The person playing immediately after the dealer posts the small blind.

Split pot

When two or more players have the same value hand, the pot is split equally between these players.

Stealing the blinds

To make a bluff in the in the first round that forces all other players to fold – including the blinds.

Straight

A poker hand containing five consecutive cards of any suit such as 6d- 7h- 8d- 9s- 10c. An ace can be either high or low but the ace high straight is the strongest straight.

Straight flush

Similar to a straight but with this hand all five cards are of the same suit.

Suited

A poker starting hand that has two cards of the same suit.

Suited connectors

A poker starting hand that has two running cards of the same suit (e.g. 10h-Jh).

T

Tells

Mannerisms or inadvertent habits a player has that give an indication of the strength of their hand.

Texas hold ’em

The most commonly played game of poker, where each player has two hole cards that only they see and five community cards that all players can see. Players make the best five- card hand from the seven cards available to them. There are four rounds of betting, the first after each player sees their hole cards, then after three community cards are dealt for all to see (the flop) then after the fourth card is dealt (the turn) and finally after the last community card is shown (the river).

The turn

The fourth community card turned over (aka fourth street).

Three-of-a-kind

A hand containing three cards of the same value (e.g. 10-10-10).

Tight

A conservative player who plays only premium hands.

Tilt

A player who becomes reckless because they are upset is said to be ‘on tilt’. The most common cause of tilt is losing a big hand and/or because of a ‘bad beat.

Trips

Three of a kind.

U

Underdog (or ‘dog’)

In poker the underdog is the player least favoured to with the hand. For example, pre flop Q-J is an underdog to K-K.

Under the gun

The first person to act in each betting round.

V

Value bet

A bet that you should make as pot odds suggest you will make you money in the long term.

W

Wheel

A straight A-5, the best possible low hand in Omaha Hi Lo (bicycle).

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