____A________________________________________________________________________
ABC – Refers to a simple tight playing style.
Ace Rag - An ace with a low kicker
Ace-High - A five card hand that contains one Ace, with no straight or flush or pair
Aces Full - A full house with three aces and any pair
Act - To make a play when it is your turn.
Action - The bets or raises on a table or a particular hand.
Active Player - A player still in the current pot
Add-On – A stack of tournament chips, commonly bought at the first break. Can be
used as either a noun or verb: ‘I took the add-on’ ‘I am going to add-on’
Advertising – Making it obvious what you hold by your betting patterns
All-In – Putting all your remaining chips into the pot.
American Airlines – Two aces as hole cards.
Angle – An opportunity for profit when gambling, often devious.
Ante – A forced bet to encourage action, each player pays the same small amount into the pot before the hand starts.
____B________________________________________________________________________
Backdoor – A draw which requires 2 cards to hit after the flop – holding the A of spades on a flop with 2 spades on it you have a backdoor nut flush draw.
Backer – A sponsor, who supplies gambling funds for a cut of the profit
Bad Beat – A hand in which you were beat even though the odds were heavily in your favour.
Bankroll – The total amount of funds a player has to play with. Sometimes abbreviated as BR
Behind – When your hand is currently losing, regardless of the odds of you actually winning.
Belly Buster – A draw to a straight where only one card can be hit to complete the straight as the missing card is in the middle of the straight.
Bet – An amount of chips put into the put which other players must match (call) to continue in the hand.
Big Blind – A forced bet to encourage action, which the player to the right of the dealer must put into the pot. Abbreviated to BB.
Big Slick – Ace and a King as hole cards in hold’em.
Blank – A card that comes on the turn or river that seems to change nothing about the hand.
Blind – A forced bet to encourage action, either the big or small blind.
Blind Off – A player who is sat out in a tournament will slowly lose chips by losing his blinds, being blinded off.
Blind Raise – Raising before looking at your cards.
Blocker – One of your opponents outs that he cannot hit because it is in your hand or another opponents
Bluff – To bet with a poor hand hoping the other player(s) will fold
Board – The full 5 cards available in flop based games, comprising the flop, turn, and river.
Bot - A program that plays poker online with no (or minimal) human intervention.
Bottom Pair – The lowest pair available in a certain pot involving one card from the board and one from your hand.
Break – In tournaments play pauses for breaks. Also used to denote a lucky outcome, or lucky break.
Brick and Mortar – A brick and mortar card room is a place where live poker is played, as opposed to online card rooms.
Bring-In – A forced bet in stud, made by the player with the lowest cards showing.
Broadway – A straight from ten to ace.
Bubble – The last position in a tournament before the cash payouts, or to finish in that position.
Bullets – AA, two aces as hole cards.
Burn – The card which is taken from the top of the deck before the flop, turn and river, and not used.
Busted – Being eliminated from a tournament.
Button – A dealer button is used to denote which player is dealing.
Buy In – The cost to enter a tournament, or an amount of money to sit down with at a cash table.
____C________________________________________________________________________
Cage – The area in a casino where cash is held
Call – To match an opponents bet.
Call the Clock – When a player is taking an excessive time to make an action, other players involved in the hand may call the clock to ask a floorman or tournament director to give the player a
certain time limit to make their play.
Calling Station – A player who plays passively, and calls bets repeatedly with poor hands.
Cap – The maximum number of raises in a fixed limit game.
Cards Speak – A rule which states that cards must be face up on the table in order to play, implies that verbal declarations about the content of a hand are non-binding.
Case Card – The one remaining card of a particular rank in the deck.
Cash Plays- in a live game, an announcement that players are not required to buy chips; that bills of a certain denomination will play.
Catch – To hit a certain card to make a hand.
Chase – To call bets in the hope of hitting a certain hand.
Check – To make no bet when its your turn to act.
Check Raise – To raise after checking, when an opponent bets.
Chip Dumping – To pass chips to another player.
Chip Leader – In a tournament, the player with the most chips
Chop – To split a pot or tournament payouts.
Chop the Blinds - When only the blinds remain preflop, they can elect to chop (take their postings back), and go on to the next hand, assuming the casino allows this.
Cold Deck – A set up hand, where a player loses the pot but did nothing wrong.
Collusion – Cheating between 2 or more players.
Color Up – To remove the lower denomination chips in a tournament, and give everyone larger chips for them.
Community Cards – In flop based games, the current cards on the board, which everyone may use.
Completion - The act of increasing the minimum bring in to the full size of the structured bet, mainly in stud games.
Connectors - Cards of adjoining rank.
Continuation Bet – Betting on the flop, after raising before the flop.
Counterfeit – When playing games involving a low, if the turn or river brings one of your low cards, effectively counterfeiting your low, making it not the nuts.
Cowboys – KK, two kings as hole cards.
Crack – To beat a better hand, often AA or KK.
Crazy Pineapple – A poker game derived from Texas Hold'em, often played as a High-Low game.
Cripple the Deck - The elimination of your opponents’ outs from the deck, either by holding them in your hand, or discarding them into the muck.
Crying Call – Calling a bet when you are almost sure you are beat, and don’t really want to call.
Cutoff – The seat one to the left of the dealer button is known as the cut-off position
Dead Money - A player who has little chance to win.
____D________________________________________________________________________
Dominated Hand - A hand that is similar, but weaker than another hand, usually when both players hold a common card, e.g. AQ is dominated by AK.
Draw - A player is said to be on a draw if he has an incomplete hand, but has possibilities to complete it. Also a type of poker where players can exchange or ‘draw’ cards.
____E________________________________________________________________________
Equity – Your share of a pot according to mathematical probability.
Expectation - The return you can expect to receive over the long run, based upon the probabilities of the various outcomes.
____F________________________________________________________________________
Family Pot – A pot where a large number of the players at the table are all involved.
Fifth Street – The final community card in hold’em, or the 5th card in stud games.
Fill Up – To make a full house from two pair or trips.
Fish – A bad poker player.
Flat Call - To only call a raise rather than re-raising, despite holding a strong hand.
Flop – The first three community cards.
Flop Games – games involving community cards with the first three dealt at once.
Flush – five cards of the same suit.
Flush Draw – Four cards of the same suit.
Forced Bet – An obligatory bet made by a player.
Free Card – To get to see another community card without having to call a bet.
Free Roll – A tournament with no entry fee, or to not be able to lose a hand, only split or win.
Freeze-Out – A tournament with no rebuys, when a player loses all their chips they are eliminated.
Full House – Three of a kind and a pair of another rank.
____G________________________________________________________________________
Gap Hand - A starting hand with cards more than one rank apart.
Gutshot – A straight draw with only one rank of card to hit to make the hand.
____H________________________________________________________________________
Heads Up – Only two players left in a pot.
Hit – A card improving a players hand.
Hit and Run – in cash games to win a pot and then leave the table.
____I________________________________________________________________________
Implied Odds – The odds a pot is offering a player, including any extra chips that another player may put in.
Isolate – Betting or raising to make a pot heads up.
____J________________________________________________________________________
Jam – To bet very heavily or move all in.
____K________________________________________________________________________
Kicker – The other card in a players hole cards, when the first card makes a pair with a card on the board.
____L________________________________________________________________________
Lay Down – To fold a strong hand.
Lead – To bet first.
Leak – A facet of a players game that is costing him money.
Limp – To just call the blinds.
Live cards - Cards that are not duplicated in an opponent's stronger hand.
Loose – A style of play where a player plays a lot of hands.
Lowball – A poker variant. A draw game where the lowest five unpaired cards win, usually a straight from ace to five is the lowest possible hand.
____M________________________________________________________________________
Main Pot – In situations where there are side pots, the main pot is the one in which all bets are matched by all players involved in the hand. Also known as "centre pot".
Maniac – A really loose player, raising or betting with little thought.
Micro-limits - Games with very small stakes.
Misdeal – When the dealer makes a mistake when dealing, and the hand has to be re-dealt.
Monster – A very good hand.
Move In – To move all in.
Muck – Not showing a losing hand.
____N________________________________________________________________________
No-Limit – A betting structure where players may bet up to all their chips at any point.
Nuts – the best possible hand on a particular board.
____O________________________________________________________________________
Odds – probability
Offsuit – Cards of a different suit.
Option – When a player has posted the big blind, and other players have called, but none have raised, they have the option of raising or not.
Out – A card that will make you a wining hand.
Outdraw – To win when behind.
Overcall – Calling an bet after another player(s) has already called it.
Overcard – A card higher than either another players pair, his cards, or the board.
Overpair – A pair higher than either another players pair, his cards, or the board.
____P________________________________________________________________________
Paint - A face card, Picture card.
Pass – to fold, ending your participation in a hand.
Pay Off – To call a bet when you are pretty sure you are beat in a hand.
Picture Cards – jacks, Queens and Kings.
Play Money Games – Online, playing for practice in games with no cash involved.
Play the Board – Where the best hand a player can make is already available in the community cards.
Pocket – Hole cards.
Pocket Pair – Having two cards of the same rank as your hole cards.
Position – where you are on the table relative to the dealer button.
Post – The action of paying blinds or antes.
Pot – The chips that can be won in each hand.
Pot Committed - A state where you are essentially forced to call the rest of your stack because of the size of the pot and your remaining chips.
Pot Limit – A betting structure where the maximum raise is the amount already in each pot.
Pot Odds – The odds a pot is offering on the amount a player needs to call to enter the pot.
Preflop – any action occurring before the flop is dealt.
Protect – betting to stop people drawing for free to a better hand than you hold.
Put On - To mentally assign a hand to a player.
____Q________________________________________________________________________
Quads – Four of a kind.
Qualifier – A person who has satelited into a tournament.
____R________________________________________________________________________
Race Off – When colouring up, not all low denomination chips can be changed if not enough remain to make the next highest chip, the process of determining who gets the larger chip.
Rags – Low cards, a poor hand.
Rail – The area where watching players stand.
Railbird – A watching player who comments on hands or players.
Rainbow – Community cards where o two cards are the same suit.
Raise – To increase the amount needed to enter the pot after someone has bet.
Rake – The portion of each pot taken by the card room or online site.
Rank – The value of a card, aces can rank as high or low.
Read – Knowing what cards an opponent holds by their actions or tells.
Rebuy – Certain tournaments allow one or more rebuys when a player loses all their chips, typically receiving the starting stack of chips.
Represent – To pretend that you have a certain card or hand by betting.
Reraise – To increase the amount needed to continue in the hand, after someone has already bet, and someone has raised.
Ring Game – Cash game.
River – The fifth and final card in flop based games.
Rock – A very tight player
Rolled Up – Holding three of a kind as your first three cards in seven card stud.
Royal Flush – A straight flush from ten to ace, the best hand available in poker.
Rush – A run of good cards.
____S________________________________________________________________________
Sailboats - A Pair of fours in the hole.
Sandbag – To check raise, in some home games this is frowned upon.
Satellite – A tournament where winners get entry to a bigger tournament, originating in the wsop main event satellites.
Scare Card – A card that makes the board more worrying, as it may have improved your opponents hand over yours.
Scoop – In hilo split games, to win the whole pot.
Second Pair – The second highest pair possible on the board.
See : To call.
Semi-Bluff – To bet with a poor hand, but one that has a draw, or chance of making a better hand.
Set – Three of a kind, specifically a pair in your hole cards and a matching card on the board.
Shark – A strong poker player.
Shootout – A type of tournament that consists of a series of stt’s with only the winner of each progressing.
Short Stack – The lowest stack(s) in a tournament or cash table.
Shorthanded - A poker game that is played with six players or less.
Showdown – After the last round of betting, showing your hand to see who wins the pot.
Side Pot – When one player is all in, they can only win the chips that have matched their stack, if other players are still in the hand, any extra chips that go into the pot form a side pot that only
they can win.
Sit and Go - A poker tournament with no scheduled starting time that starts whenever the necessary players have put up their money
Slow Play – Not raising with a big hand, to trap other players into betting.
Slowroll – To show your hand slowly, or to take a long time over calling, when you hold an unbeatable hand, or are obviously in front.
Small Blind – The smaller of the two blinds, a forced bet to encourage action. Made by the player to the left of the dealer.
Smooth Call - To call rather than raise an opponent's bet when holding a strong hand.
Snowmen - Pocket Eights.
Splash The Pot - To throw one's chips in the pot in a disorderly fashion.
Split Pot – when to or more players hold the same hand and the pot is split. Also in hilo games, when one player holds the best high, and another player olds the best low, the pot is split
Spread Limit - A type of game with an established minimum and maximum bet. Players may bet any amount within these limits.
Squeeze Play - Raising after a player has already raised and been called, exploiting the difficult situation the first raiser will be in, and the weak hand that the caller might hold.
Stack – The amount of chips a player has.
Stacked Deck - A deck which has been illegally arranged to give an advantage to one or more players.
Stand Pat – In draw games, to not change any cards.
Starting Hand - The first cards dealt in any poker game.
Steal – Raising to try and take the blinds or pot.
Steaming – A player on tilt, playing recklessly after losing a hand.
Steel Wheel – A five high straight flush.
Stop and Go - A play where you bet into the pot first to act, after only calling a raise pre-flop.
Straddle - An optional extra blind, usually posted by the player to the left of the big blind, which, if it is allowed, gives that player the right to last action before the flop.
Straight – Five cards, each ranked one higher than the next.
Straight Flush – A straight all in the same suit.
String Bet – In live play, putting chips into the pot in separate amounts, instead of all at once, meaning the bet or raise isn’t valid.
Suck Out – To beat the odds and hit a lucky card.
Suited – Cards of the same suit.
Super Satellite - A multi-table poker tournament in which the prize is entrance to another satellite tournament.
Sweat – Taking a long time to call, making the other player ‘sweat’.
____T________________________________________________________________________
Tell – Something that gives away the strength of your hand.
Three bet - To be the first player to put in a third unit of betting, the second raise.
Tight – Playing cautiously
Tilt – Playing recklessly after losing a hand.
Time – in online play, a short interruption of play during which the player thinks about his hand before acting on it.
To Go - The amount it takes to enter the pot.
Top Pair – The highest pair available using one card from your hand and one card from the board.
Trey - A card of rank three.
Trips – Three of a kind, specifically a pair on the board and the third card in a players hand.
Turn – The 4th community card in flop based games.
____U________________________________________________________________________
Under the gun - The playing position to the direct left of the blinds in Texas hold 'em or Omaha hold 'em, who must act first in the first round of betting.. Abbreviated as UTG.
Underdog – The player least likely, mathematically, to win the pot.
____V________________________________________________________________________
Value – When only a small bet has to be called to stay in a large pot, or when there is added money or poor players in a tournament.
Variance – The general ups and downs that occur when playing a game involving luck.
____W________________________________________________________________________
Walk – occurs when all players fold to the big blind.
Weak Ace - An ace with a low kicker
Wheel – a straight from ace to five.
Wild Card – In some poker variants, cards of a certain rank that can be used to represent any card.
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