Poker Terms

A function in online poker where when a player who wins a pot is allowed to play out the rest of the hand to see what cards might have comeA small portion of chips that players must contribute to the pot in certain games. In Texas Hold’em, this is often known as the blindsIn order to be a great online poker player, you must learn to speak the language. That’s why iHoldem offers one of the most comprehensive online Poker Glossaries available. So have a look and learn the lingo!.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W

A

• All-In
  • To bet all of your chips. If you do not have enough chips to match a bet, then side pot is created. A player is only permitted to win chips from a permitted he has contributed to.
• Ace In The Hole
  • A common term in stud poker, generally referring to when a player has an ace as one of their down cards.
• Action
  • o When one has opportunity to act. For example: “The action is on me, implying it is my turn to make a move, like bet, fold etc.” (2) In reference to general play. ie “This room has a lot of action”.
• Ante
  • A small portion of chips that players must contribute to the pot in certain games. In Texas Hold’em, this is often known as the blinds.
• Add on
  • To buy more chips before you run out of them. Many tournament will allow add ons once at the end of the rebuy period.
• Ajax
  • Slang for the starting hand Ace Jack.

B

• Bad Beat
  • When an exceptionally good hand is beaten by an even better hand. Example quads 5’s are trumped by a straight flush.
• Bet
  • To put chips into the pot without needing to. As such, other players must call your bet if they want to stay in the hand. They also have the option of raising your bet, or simply folding.
• Big Blind
  • The larger of the two blinds. It is the first full round bet. The big blind will still has the option to raise when action comes to it.
• Blackjack
  • Another slang term for a starting hand of Ace Jack.
• Blinds
  • Bets that two players left of the dealer are forced to make before any cards are dealt. Thus, they are betting their chips ‘blindly’.
• Bluff
  • When you make a bet with a weak hand in the hope that your opponents will fold to you.
• Boat
  • Also known as a full boat. See Full House.
• Board
  • All the community cards in a game of holdem – generally referring five cards that promise the flop, turn, and river..
• Broken
  • If a player who is consistently losing and has lost much of their bankroll is considered broken.
• Bottom Pair
  • A pair that uses the lowest card in the community. For example, if you have Ah-7c, and the flop comes Qc-9h-7s, you have flopped bottom pair.
• Bullets
  • Slang term for Pocket Aces.
• Broadway
  • The best straight possible. From Ace to 10.
• Burn
  • The card that is discard between each betting round, to prevent any player from seeing the upcoming card.
• Button
  • A small round disc used to indicate who the dealer is.
• Buy
  • As in “buy the pot,” which is normally a big bet that forces others to bold. It is often a bluff.
• Buy-In
  • An amount of money one must pay to enter a tournament. There will also usually some kind of house fee involved.

C

• Call
  • To match whatever the most recent bet or raise is.
• Calling Station
  • A player who doesn’t bet or raise themselves, but will usually call the bets of others.
• Candy Canes
  • Slang term for pocket 7′s.
• Canine
  • Slang term for the starting hand of King 9.
• Chase
  • When you call a bet in the hopes of hitting a hand on the turn or river, often a flush or a straight.
• Cold Call
  • A call made by a player after two players have already bet and raised the bet. This call generally implies a very good hand.
• Cold Cards
  • A player who is receiving cold cars is generally a player with some modicum of experience who happens to be having a bad run due to being dealt bad cards.
• Collusion
  • Collusion is a type of cheating where two or more players are working together to gain some form of advantage, often revealing their hands to one another.
• Community Cards
  • The 5 cards that are dealt face up on the table are referred to as community cards. All players are able to use them to make a hand.
• Cowboys
  • Slang for the starting hand KK.
• Center Pot
  • The opening pot that is created during a poker round.
• Chat
  • A conversation that goes on between players in the chat window.
• Check
  • To not place any bet all, but players after you will still have the option to bet.
• Check-Raise
  • To check first, and when another player bets, you raise over top of their bet. This can often be a very useful poker tactic.
• Connector
  • When your two pocket cards are one rank apart, eg. 7,6

D

• Dead Mans Hand
  • Slang for a Texas Hold’em starting hand of an Ace and an 8. It’s known as this for renown lawman and gambler Wild Hickock, who was shot dead with this hand.
• Drawing dead
  • You are to be drawing dead when you have no possibility of winning, regardless of what community cards may come. For example, you are trying to make a straight, but your opponent has already made a full house.
• Duck’s
  • Slang term for pocket 2′s.
• Deuces
  • Slang term for pocket 2′s.

E

• Early Position
  • Being one of the first players to act in a round of betting.
• End Bet
  • The last bet made in a round of betting.
• Equity
  • Your “rightful” share of a pot. For example, If the pot contains $200, and you have a 1 in 4 chance of winning it, you have $50 of equity in the pot.
• Expected Value
  • In probability theory, EV is the overall expected payoff of a particular event, calculated by multiplying the probability of each possible outcome by the payoff from each..

For example, if there are two possible outcomes from an event (say, flipping a coin), one of which pays $4 and the other of which pays nothing, your EV for the event is $2 (in the long run, if this event happened many times, you would average $2 per event.

In poker, one generally associates an EV with a particular action. One’s EV from calling a bet, for example, is the sum of all possible outcomes from calling the bet multiplied by the probability of each.

Note: Since a bet costs money to make, the payoff of some outcomes – and therefore the EV itself – may be negative.

• Exposed Card
  • A card whose face has been shown either by accident or by a deliberate action. Players are generally not allowed to do this in a game, and various games will have different rules about how to handle such a situation.
• Extra Blind
  • A blind that a player must put in if they are just entering or returning to game.

F

• Family Pot
  • A pot in which all or nearly all of the players call before the flop is shown.
• Fast Play
  • To play a hand aggressively, raising and betting as much as possible.
• Fold
  • A player must fold if he does not wish to match a blind or a bet another player has made. A player should fold when they believe there is no possible to win the hand, or the EV is not in their favour. When folding a player has to option to show both, one, or none of their cards.
• Fish
  • A player who has little skill, and is practically giving his money away.
• Fish Hooks
  • Slang term for the starting hand JJ.
• Flop
  • The first three community cards, usable by all players.
• Four Flush
  • When four cards of a particular suit are on the board, it would give every player with one card of that suit a flush.
• Fourth Street
  • Often known as the turn card, it is the 4th community card dealt.
• Free Card
  • A turn or river card that you do not have to pay to see because of everyone in the hand checked.
• Free Roll
  • A type of tournament where there is no buy-in or fee to enter, but there is a real payout to the winners.
• Freezeout
  • A tournament that does not allow any re-buys. The game continues until one player has all the chips.

G

• Grinder
  • A semi-professional player who can make a living out of playing poker.
• Gutshot
  • Another term for a chance of hitting an inside straight draw. For example a player is holding 8,9,10,Q for a straight and need a J.

H

• Heads-Up
  • A game where only two people are playing, or a pot that is only contested by two players as everyone else has folded out.
• High Card
  • A given round of poker in which no active player makes any sort of hand, then the person with the highest card wins.
• House
  • The casino or establishment putting on the game and running it.
• Hole Cards
  • The two cards that are dealt to each player at the start of every hand.

I

• In the money
  • When a player reaches a place in a tournament where they will collect some sort of winnings, they are said to have placed ‘in the money’.
• Inside straight
  • Also known as gutshot straight, an inside straight is when a player has 4 cards necessary for a straight but missing one of the cards on the interior.

J

• Jackpot
  • A very large cash pay out. A jackpot is usually won in side games, but can also be won in poker tournaments as well as with bad beats.
• Jackson 5
  • Slang term for the starting hand J5.
• Joker
  • A 53rd Card used mainly in games of Draw Poker. The Joker can be utilized as any card, for example to complete a straight or flush.

K

• Kicker
  • An unpaired card in your hand. The kicker is often used to determine the best hand if two people have the same pair.
• Kitty
  • A pool of money taken in small amounts from pots, which is used to buy things like refreshments and food at certain home games.

L

• Laydown
  • When a player folds a good hand. For example, when a person lays down two pair because they think their opponent has a flush.
• Limit Poker
  • Limit poker is when the game is played with specified betting limits. You are only able to bet as much as the limit allows.
• Limp In
  • A player is said to limp in he does not bet, but simply calls the big blind to see a flop.
• Luck Out
  • When you take someone down with a good hand by hitting your hand on the turn or river.

M

• Micro-Limit
  • Poker cash games that are played with a very small limit. This is not a game that could be played in the casino, since the limits are generally less than .25/.50.
• Middle Pair
  • A pair made using one of your hole cards where there are under and over cards on the board. For example, if you have a 8 as a hole card and the flop comes J 8 4, then you are said to have a middle pair.
• Middle position
  • In a full table, the middle position is the 4th, 5th, or 6th player to act. It is not as good as late position but better than early position.
• Minimum Buy In.
  • The minimum amount of money you can buy into a game for.
• Micro-Limit
  • Internet poker has games with very small limits such as 2c 4c blinds. These are referred to as micro limits.
• Muck
  • The pile of folded and/or burn cards, or as a verb meaning to fold and add your cards to that pile.
• Multi Way Pot
  • A pot where there are many players still playing, also known as a family pot.

N

• No-Limit
  • A style of poker where there is no limit to the size of bet a player is allowed to make.
• Near Nuts
  • When you nearly have the best hand that is possible. You might have a full house, which near the nuts, but someone could have four of a kind, which may be the true nuts.
• Nuts
  • The Nuts is when you have the best hand possible, and cannot be beaten.
• No Limit
  • A type of betting structure common to Holdem games. There are no betting limits and a player can go all in if they choose.

O

• Offsuit
  • A holdem hand where the two hole cards are of different suits.
• Over card
  • A card in your hand that is higher than any on the board.
• Over pair
  • Same as an over card, but with a pocket pair.
• Open Ended Straight Draw
  • When a player has 4 out of the 5 cards needed to make a straight ,and the cards that they have are the middle ones. For example, if a player has 2,3,4, and 5, then they need an Ace or a 6 to complete the straight.

P

• Pay Off
  • To call a bet when you have a strong hand, but think your opponent might have an even stronger hand.
• Pocket
  • The two cards that you are dealt.
• Pocket Pair
  • When your two pocket cards make a pair.
• Pot-Committed
  • When you are forced to bet the remaining chips you have, based on how much you have left, and what is in the pot.
• Pot-Limit
  • A version of poker where you may bet up to what is in the pot at the time of betting.
• Pot Odds
  • The amount of money in the pot compared, to the amount you have to put in the pot to continue playing.
• Probe Bet
  • A bet by a player post flop when they did not lead the betting pre-flop. Used to probe and check what others’ betting responses will be.

Q

• Quads
  • Another term for four of a kind.

R

• Rainbow
  • A flop that contains a card from three different suits.
• Rake
  • The amount of money that taken out of every pot for the house/server. This is their income.
• Raise
  • When another player bets, you have the increase the bet further, which is known as rising.
• Rabbit Hunt
  • A function in online poker where a player who wins a pot can play out the rest of the hand to see what might have happened.
• Rank
  • The value of a card, as opposed to the suit of a card.
• Rag
  • A worthless card that will not assist you. Example “I’m holding Ace-rag.” For example, if you are holding Ah3s, and there is no potential for a straight on the board, the 3s is considered a rag.
• Rebuy
  • A rebuy allows you to buy back into a tournament after you’ve already lost all your chips. Tournaments will offer many, one, or sometimes no rebuys (known as a freezeout).
• Represent
  • To play as if you were holding a certain hand.
• Ring Game
  • A regular cash poker game as opposed to a tournament.
• River
  • The fifth and final community card to be dealt is known as the river.
• Rock
  • A player who plays very conservatively, rarely betting or bluffing.
• Rounder
  • An expert player who travels around to seek out high-stakes games. The term became more popular with the 1998 movie ‘Rounders’, starring Matt Damon.
• Royal Cards
  • Any card with a face on it. Also known as picture cards, the royal cards are Kings, Queens, and Jacks.

S

• Satellite
  • A tournament that doesn’t award cash to its winners, but instead awards them a seat in a larger tournament.
• Second Pair
  • A pair using the second highest card on the flop.
• Semi-Bluff
  • This is a bet or raise that you hope will not necessarily be called, but you still do have a relatively good chance of winning if it is called.
• Set
  • Another term for three of a kind.
• Showdown
  • The point at which all players remaining in the hand turn their cards over to determine who has the best hand.
• Shark
  • Another term for a professional player, who likely makes a considerable amount from poker, or at least wins a lot.
• Shootout
  • A poker tournament format where the last remaining player at each table progresses on to play the remaining players of the other tables. Tables are not balanced as in a traditional poker tournament.
• Short Stack
  • A player who has a small amount of chips in comparison to the average at the table. One must watch out for these players, as they are often more aggressive as a result of their more desperate situation.
• Short Handed
  • A poker game that is played with 6 or less players instead of a full table with 9 or 10 players.
• Smooth Call
  • To call the bet rather than raise it.
• Splash the Pot
  • To throw chips into the pot in a way that disrupts the game.
• Side Pot
  • A pot created on the side when one player has gone all in, but have been unable to call the full bet that was made.
• Slow Play
  • To play a strong hand but pretend you have a weal one, so more players will stay in the hand and bet.
• Small Blind
  • The smaller of the two blind bets, generally have the value of the blind in a typical holdem game.
• Split Pot
  • A pot that is shared by two or more players because their hands are of equal value.
• Stop-and-Go
  • A type of play where you simply call a raise, but then come out betting when the next card is shown.
• Straight Flush
  • When a player is holding a straight and all the cards belong to the same suit. An 10, J, Q, K, A of the same suit is the best hand in Holdem poker, also known as the Royal Flush.
• Suck Out
  • When a player calls with a losing hand, and then get the card they needed on the river to make a winning hand.
• Suited
  • When your two pocket cards belong to the same suit.

T

• Tell
  • A hint or clue or piece of information a player unknowingly gives out through his actions or body language regarding the strength of his hand.
• Tilt
  • To play wildly or recklessly. A player is said to be “on tilt” if he is not playing his best. This often happens when a player’s emotions get the better of them.
• Top Pair
  • A pair using the highest card on the flop.
• Trips
  • Another term for three of a kind.
• Turn
  • The fourth community card to be dealt is the turn card.

U

• Under the Gun
  • The position of the player who acts first in a round of betting.
• Underdog
  • A person or hand that is not mathematically favored to win a pot.
• Up the Ante
  • To increase the stake of a game that is being played.

V

• Value Bet
  • A bet made by a player who would like the bet to be called because they have a good hand.
• Variance
  • The up and down swings that a player’s bankroll goes through is known as the variance.

W

• Wheel
  • A 5-high straight: A, 2, 3, 4, 5.