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Many poker terms have made it into everyday life, much like the "all-in" definition on the home page we used to describe how we named All In Performance Prospects. The following list defines a few more terms. Glossary courtesy of "Winning Low Limit Hold'em" by Lee Jones, edited for space |
Action - (1) Opportunity to act. If a player appears not to realize it's his turn, the dealer will say "Your action, sir." (2) Bets and raises. "If a third heart hits the board and there's a lot of action, you have to assume that somebody has made the flush."
Ante - A small portion of a bet contributed by each player to seed the pot at the beginning of a poker hand. Most hold'em games do not have an ante; they use "blinds" to get initial money into the pot.
All-In - To run out of chips while betting or calling. In table stakes games, a player -may not go into his pocket for more money during a hand. If he runs out, a side pot is created in which he has no interest. However, he can still win the pot for which he had the chips. Example: "Poor Bob. He made quads against the big full house, but he was all-in on the second bet."
Backdoor - Catching both the turn and river card to make a drawing hand.
Bad Beat - To have a hand that is a large underdog beat a heavily favored hand. It is generally used to imply that the winner of the pot had no business being in the pot at all, and it was the wildest of luck that he managed to catch the one card in the deck that would win the pot.
Big Blind - The larger of the two blinds typically used in a hold'em game. The big blind is normally a full first round bet. See also "blind" and "small blind."
Blank - A board card that doesn't seem to affect the standings in the hand.
Blind - A forced bet (or partial bet) put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt. Typically, blinds are put in by players immediately to the left of the button.
Board - All the community cards in a hold'em game - the flop, turn, and river cards together.
Bottom Pair - A pair with the lowest card on the flop.
Burn - To discard the top card from the deck, face down. This is done between each betting round before putting out the next community card(s). It is security against any player recognizing or glimpsing the next card to be used on the board.
Button - A white acrylic disk that indicates the dealer. Also used to refer to the player on the button.
Calling Station - A weak-passive player who calls a lot, but doesn't raise or fold much. This is the kind of player you like to have in your game.
Cap - To put in the last raise permitted on a betting round. This is typically the third or fourth raise.
Case - The last card of a certain rank in the deck.
Check - To not bet, with the option to call or raise later in the betting round. Equivalent to betting zero dollars.
Check Raise - To check and then raise when a player behind you bets.
Community Cards - Cards that are presented face-up in the middle of the poker table and shared among players in games like Hold'em and Omaha. These are also referred to as board cards or "the board".
Connector - A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are one apart in rank. Examples: KQs, 76.
Counterfeit - To make your hand less valuable because of board cards that duplicate it. Example: you have 87 and the flop comes 9-T-J, so you have a straight. Now an 8 comes on the turn. This has counterfeited your hand and made it almost worthless.
Crack - To beat a hand - typically a big hand. You hear this most often applied to pocket aces: "Third time tonight I've had pocket aces cracked."
Dog - Shortened form of "underdog."
Draw Dead - Trying to make a hand that, even if made, will not win the pot. If you're drawing to make a flush, and your opponent already has a full house, you are "drawing dead." Of course, this is a bad condition to be in.
Favorite - A poker hand which is the statistical favorite to win.
Flop - The first three community cards, put out face up, altogether.
Fold - To forfeit any chance of winning the current pot in poker. To lay down your hand or throw your hand in instead of calling or raising a bet.
Foul - A hand that may not be played for one reason or another. A player with a foul hand may not make any claim on any portion of the pot. Example: "He ended up with three cards after the flop, so the dealer declared his hand foul."
Gutshot Straight - A straight filled "inside."
Heads Up - A pot that is being contested by only two players.
Hit - As in "the flop hit me," meaning the flop contains cards that help your hand. If you have AK, and the flop comes K-7-2, it hit you.
Hole Cards - Cards dealt face-down to a player - most commonly used when describing the first two player cards in Hold'em and the first four player cards in Omaha.
House - The establishment running the game. Example: "The $2 you put on the button goes to the house."
Implied Odds - Pot odds that do not exist at the moment, but may be included in your calculations because of bets you expect to win if you hit your hand. For instance, you might call with a flush draw on the turn even though the pot isn't offering you quite 4:1 odds (your chance of making the flush) because you're sure you can win a bet from your opponent on the river if you make your flush.
Inside Straight Draw - Seeking one specific card value to make a straight. For instance, a player holding 9-5 with a board of 2-7-6 can make a straight with any eight. This is also known as a gutshot straight draw.
Muck - The pile of folded and burned cards in front of the dealer. Example: "His hand hit the muck so the dealer ruled it folded even though the guy wanted to get his cards back." Also used as a verb. Example: He didn't have any outs so he mucked his hand."
No-Limit - A version of poker in which a player may bet any amount of chips (up to the number in front of him) whenever it is his turn to act.
Nuts - The best possible hand given the board.
Offsuit - A hold'em starting hand with two cards of different suits.
Open-Ended Straight Draw - Seeking one of two card values to make a straight. For instance, a player holding 9-8 with a board of 2-7-6 can make a straight with either a ten (6-7-8-9-T) or with a five (5-6-7-8-9).
Out - A card that will make your hand win. Normally heard in the plural. Example: "Any spade will make my flush, so I have nine outs."
Overcard - A card higher than any card on the board. For instance, if you have AQ and the flop comes J-7-3, you don't have a pair, but you have two overcards.
Overpair - A pocket pair higher than any card on the flop. If you have QQ and the flop comes J-8-3, you have an overpair.
Play the Board - To show down a hand in hold'em when your cards don't make a hand any better than is shown on the board.
Pocket - Your unique cards that only you can see. For instance, "He had pocket sixes" (a pair of sixes), or "I had ace-king in the pocket."
Pocket Pair - A hold'em starting hand with two cards of the same rank, making a pair.
Post - To put in a blind bet, generally required when you first sit down in a cardroom game. You may also be required to post a blind if you change seats at the table in a way that moves you away from the blinds.
Pot-Limit - A version of poker in which a player may bet up to the amount of money in the pot whenever it is his turn to act. Like no-limit, this is a very different game from limit poker.
Pot Odds - The amount of money in the pot compared to the amount you must put in the pot to continue playing. For example, suppose there is $60 in the pot. Somebody bets $6, so the pot now contains $66. It costs you $6 to call, so your pot odds are 11:1. If your chance of having the best hand is at least 1 out of 12, you should call. Pot odds also apply to draws. For instance, suppose you have a draw to the nut flush with one card left to come. In this case, you are about a 4:1 underdog to make your flush. If it costs you $8 to call the bet, then there must be about $32 in the pot (including the most recent bet) to make your call correct.
Protect - (1) To keep your hand or a chip on your cards. This prevents them from being fouled by a discarded hand, or accidentally mucked by the dealer. (2) To invest more money in a pot so blind money that you've already put in isn't "wasted."
Quads - Four of a kind.
Rainbow - A flop that contains three different suits, thus no flush can be made on the turn. Can also mean a complete five card board that has no more than two of any suit, thus no flush is possible.
Raise - To increase the amount of the current bet.
Rake - An amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer. This is the cardroom's income.
Rank - The numerical value of a card (as opposed to its suit). Example: "jack," "seven."
Represent - To play as if you hold a certain hand. For instance, if you raised before the flop, and then raised again when the flop came ace high, you would be representing at least an ace with a good kicker.
Ring Game - A regular poker game as opposed to a tournament. Also referred to as a "live" game since actual money is in play instead of tournament chips.
River - The fifth and final community card, put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fifth street." Metaphors involving the river are some of poker's most treasured cliches, e.g., "He drowned in the river."
Runner - Typically said "runner-runner" to describe a hand that was made only by catching the correct cards on both the turn and the river. Example:"He made a runner-runner flush to beat my trips." See also "backdoor."
Second Pair - A pair with the second highest card on the flop.
Semi-Bluff - A powerful concept first discussed by David Sklansky. It is a bet or raise that you hope will not be called, but you have some outs if it is. A semi-bluff may be correct when betting for value is not correct, a pure bluff is not correct, but the combination of the two may be a positive expectation play.
Set - Three of a kind when you have two of the rank in your hand, and there is one on the board.
Short Stack - A number of chips that is not very many compared to the other players at the table. If you have $10 in front of you, and everybody else at the table has over $100, you are playing on a short stack.
Showdown - The point at which all players remaining in the hand turn their cards over and determine who has the best hand - i.e. after the fourth round of betting is completed. Of course, if a final bet or raise is not called, there is no showdown.
Slow Play - To play a strong hand weakly so more players will stay in the pot.
Small Blind - The smaller of two blind bets typically used in a hold'em game. Normally, the small blind is one-third to two-thirds of a first round bet. See also "big blind" and "blind."
Smooth Call - To call. Smooth call often implies slow playing a strong hand.
Split Pot - A pot that is shared by two or more players because they have equivalent hands.
String Bet - A bet (more typically a raise) in which a player doesn't get all the chips required for the raise into the pot in one motion. Unless he verbally declared the raise, he can be forced to withdraw it and just call. This prevents the unethical play of putting out enough chips to call, seeing what effect that had, and then possibly raising.
Suited - A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are the same suit. Example: "I had to play J-3 - it was suited."
Tell - A clue or hint that a player unknowingly gives about the strength of his hand, his next action, etc. May originally be from "telegraph" or the obvious use that he "tells" you what he's going to do before he does it.
Tilt - To play wildly or recklessly. A player is said to be "on tilt" if he is not playing his best, playing too many hands, trying wild bluffs, raising with bad hands, etc.
Top Pair - A pair with the highest card on the flop.
Top Set - The highest possible trips.
Top Two - Two pair, with your two hole cards pairing the two highest cards on the board.
Trips - Three of a kind.
Turn - The fourth community card. Put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fourth street."
Under the Gun - The position of the player who acts first on a betting round. For instance, if you are one to the left of the big blind, you are under the gun before the flop.
Underdog - A person or hand not mathematically favored to win a pot. See also "dog."
Value - As in "bet for value." This means that you would actually like your opponents to call your bet (as opposed to a bluff). Generally it's because you have the best hand. However, it can also be a draw that, given enough callers, has a positive expectation.
Glossary courtesy of "Winning Low Limit Hold'em" by Lee Jones, edited for space
