Glossary of Poker Terms Fight your way through the jargon...

To the beginner Poker may seem to have a language of its own. "I've just flopped a belly buster straight draw" or "The turn just gave me a nut flush" does not have immediate meaning to someone new to the game.  However, it's not all as complicated as it sounds.  Here is a list of some of the jargon you might want to learn.  Don't worry about learning it all though, some of it is hardly ever used.

The terms used below are mainly relavent to Texas Holdem although some are general poker terms.

Action
(1) Opportunity to act. If a player appears not to realize it's his turn, the dealer could say "Your action, sir."
(2) Bets and raises. "If a third spade hits the board and there's a lot of action, you have to assume that somebody has made the flush."

Ante
A small bet contributed by each player to start the pot at the beginning of a poker hand. Most holdem games do not have an ante; they use "blinds" to get initial money into the pot. The use of Antes or Blinds ensures that each round has money in 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. In no limit games such as No Limit Texas Holdem a player can declare that he is All-In at any point and bet all the chips he has in front of him.

Backdoor
Catching both the turn and river card to make a drawing hand. For example, if you had three hearts after the flop and the turn and river bring you two more hearts you just got a backdoor flush.

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.

Blank
A board card that doesn't seem to affect the standings in the hand, a card that does not help (or seem to help) either player.

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. In Holdem the Blind is used in place of the Ante there is a small and big blind in each hand. Blind also refers to a players position eg "John was playing in the big blind." This means that John was the player in that game who placed the big blind bet in the pot.

Board
All the community cards. In Holdem or Omaha for example there are a total of five community cards that all players must share to make their hand. The board refers only to these community cards. eg: "There wasn't a single queen on the board."

Bottom Pair
A pair with the lowest card on the flop. If you have A and 6, and the flop comes K 7 6, you have flopped bottom pair.

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 plastic disc to indicate who is the (nominal) dealer. Also used to refer to the player on the button. In Casino card rooms both online and real life players do not actually deal, but since the position of being dealer has an advantage in some situations (you get to see what everyone else does before you make your decision on that round) the deal is simulated by use of the button. The game is played as if the player with the button actually dealt the cards.

Buy
(1) As in "buy the pot." To bluff, hoping to "buy" the pot without being called.
(2) As in "buy the button." To bet or raise, hoping to make players between you and the button fold, thus allowing you to act last on subsequent betting rounds.

Calling Station
A player who calls too much, but doesn't raise or fold much. This is usually a very bad and expensive way to play poker as many of the times the 'calling station' will be beaten by a better hand.
Cap
To put in the last raise permitted on a betting round. This is typically the third or fourth raise. In limit games this prevents people from betting more than the agreed maximum for the table.

Case
The last card of a certain rank in the deck. Example: "The flop came A-8-4; I've got pocket fours, he's got pocket eights, and then the case eight falls on the river and he beats my full house."

Center Pot
The first pot created during a poker hand. This is as opposed to one or more "side" pots that are created if one or more players goes all-in. Also "main pot."

Check
(1) To not bet, with the option to call or raise later in the betting round. Equivalent to betting zero dollars.
(2) Another word for "chip", as in poker chip.

Check Raise
To check and then raise when a player behind you bets. Occasionally you will hear people say this is not fair or ethical poker. Almost all casinos permit check-raising, and it is an important poker tactic.

Cold Call
To call more than one bet in a single action. For instance, suppose the first player to act after the big blind raises. Now any player acting after him must call two bets "cold." This is different from calling a single bet and then calling a subsequent raise.

Complete Hand
A hand that is defined by all five cards - a straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, or straight flush.

Connector
A holdem starting hand in which the two cards are one apart in rank. Examples: AK, 87.

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 used to apply to pocket aces: "Third time tonight I've had pocket aces cracked."

Cripple
As in to cripple the deck. Meaning that you have most or all of the cards that somebody would want to have with the current board. If you have pocket kings, and the other two kings flop, you have crippled the deck.

Dog
Shortened form of "Underdog".

Dominated Hand
A hand that will almost always lose to a better hand that people usually play. For instance, K3 is "dominated" by KQ. With the exception of strange flops (e.g. 3-3-x, K-3-x), it will always lose to KQ.

Draw Dead
Try 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 very bad (and often expensive) situation to be in.

Equity
Your "rightful" share of a pot. If the pot contains $80, and you have a 50% chance of winning it, you have $40 equity in the pot. This term is somewhat fanciful since you will either win $80 or $0, but it gives you an idea of how much you can "expect" to win.

Family Pot
A pot in which all (or almost all) of the players call before the flop.

Fast
As in "play fast." To play a hand aggressively, betting and raising as much as possible. Example: "When you flop a set but there's a flush draw possible, you have to play it fast."

Flop
The first three community cards, put out face up, all together.

Free Card
A turn or river card on which you don't have to call a bet because of play earlier in the hand (or a reputation which you have with your opponents). For example, if you are on the button and raise when you flop a flush draw, your opponents may check to you on the turn. If you make your flush on the turn, you can bet. However, if you don't get it on the turn, you can check as well - seeing the river card for "free."

Free Roll
For one player to have a shot at winning an entire pot when he is currently tied with another player. For instance, suppose you have Ac-Qc and your opponent has Ad-Qh. The flop is Qs-5c-Tc. You are tied with your opponent right now, but are free rolling on him, because you can win the whole pot and he can't. If no club comes, you split the pot with him - if it does come, you win the whole thing.

Free Roll Tournament
In most poker competitions or tournaments there is an entry fee. All the entry fees are combined to form the prize pool which is distributed in a predetermined way among the winners (the number of winners varies depending on tournament). However, in a Free Roll a player may be allowed to play for free but still have a chance at winning one of the prizes. For example many online poker sites have free roll tournaments in which the winner gets a free seat in a real money tournament.

Gutshot Straight
An straight filled "inside". If you have 98, the flop comes 752, and the turn is the 6, you've made your gutshot straight.

Heads Up
A pot that is being contested by only two players or at the end of a tournament when there are only two players left.

House
The establishment running the game.

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.

Jackpot
A special bonus paid to the loser of a hand if he gets a very good hand beaten. In holdem, the "loser" must typically get aces full or better beaten. The jackpot is funded with money removed from the game as part of the rake. Sometimes referred to as a Bad Beat Jackpot.

Kicker
An unpaired card used to determine the better of two near-equal hands. For instance, suppose you have AK and your opponent has A6. If the flop has an ace in it, you both have a pair of aces, but you have a king kicker. Kickers can be vitally important in holdem.

Live Blind
A forced bet put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt. The "live" means those players still have the option of raising when the action gets back around to them.

Maniac
A player who does a lot of very aggressive raising, betting, and bluffing. A true maniac is not a good player, but is simply doing a lot of gambling. However, a player who occasionally acts like a maniac and confuses his opponents is often quite dangerous.

Muck
(1) The pile of folded and burned cards in front of the dealer.
(2) At the end of a round each player must reveal their cards in turn to determine the winner. If the first player to act shows a pair of Kings and you have a pair of queens you may simply muck your hand, ie discard it face down thus resigning without revealing what you held. In online poker there is normally an option to muck a losing hand, it is generally considered a good idea to muck every time to reveal as little information about how you play as possible.

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. It is a very different game than limit poker.

Nuts
The best possible hand given the board. One of the exciting aspects of holdem is that it is possible to know you have the best hand. If the board is A A 8 4 2 and you hold A A then your hand cannot be beaten (you hold "the Nuts".) In games that do not have community cards such as seven card stud it is not always possible to know for certain that you hand is unbeatable.

Offsuit
A holdem starting hand in which the two cards are of different suits.

Out(s)
A card that will make your hand win. For example. if you hold two spades and there are two on the board you have nine outs to make a flush. There are a total of thirteen spades in a deck of cards, if you can account for four of them there are up to nine remaining in the deck which will make your flush. 

Outrun
To beat. Example: "Sophie outran my set when her flush card hit on the river."

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. On the flip side if you have KK and the flop comes A-J-9 you could be in trouble because their is an overcard on the flop. Does your opponent have a single ace in his hand?

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.

Pay Off
To call a bet where the bettor is representing a hand that you can't beat, but the pot is sufficiently large to justify a call anyway. Example: "He played it exactly like he made the flush, but I had top set so I paid him off."

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. For instance, if you have 22, and the board is 4-4-9-9-A (no flush possible), then you must "play the board" - the best possible hand you can make doesn't use any of your cards. Note that if you play the board, the best you can do is to split the pot with all remaining players.

Pocket
Your unique cards that only you can see. For example, "He had pocket sixes" (a pair of sixes), or "I had ace-king in the pocket."

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. In online poker you are generally required to post a big blind when you first join a table or your can wait until the big blind comes to you. This is done to prevent players moving every time the big blind comes around to them. You can still move but the posting removes any advantage in moving so frequently.

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. Generally speaking online players who play pot limit are a little more conservative than no limit players. That said pot limit pots can still get very high if lots of people keep max raising.

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 one out of twelve, 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. Calculating pot odds correctly is one of the keys to successful play, it is also worthy of several large articles as opposed to a couple of sentences on this page.

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." Example: "He'll always protect his blinds, no matter how bad his cards are."

Quads
Four of a kind.
Ragged
A flop (or board) that doesn't appear to help anybody very much. A flop that came down Jd-6h-2c would look ragged.

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.

Rake
An amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer - this is the cardroom's income. In online poker when playing for real money there is a rake that pays for the website to stay in business. Before playing online always see what the rake is. The higher the rake the greater the chances that a player will lose over time.

Rank
The numerical value of a card (as opposed to its suit). Example: "king," "eight."

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".

Rock
A player who plays very tight and not very creatively. He raises only with the best hands. A real rock is fairly predictable - if he raises you on the end, you can throw away just about anything but the nuts.

Runner
Typically said "runner-runner" to describe a hand which was made only by catching the correct cards on both the turn and the river - "He made a runner-runner flush to beat my trips." See also "Backdoor."

Scare Card
A card which may well turn the best hand into trash. If you have Tc-8c and the flop comes Qd- Jd-9s, you almost assuredly have the best hand. However, a turn card of Td would be very scary because it would almost guarantee that you are now beaten.

Second Pair
A pair with the second highest card on the flop. If you have As-Ts, and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped second pair.

Sell
As in "sell a hand". In a spread limit game, this means to bet less than the maximum when you have a very strong hand, hoping players will call whereas they would not have called a maximum bet.

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 $100 in front of you, and everybody else at the table has over $1000, 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.

Side Pot
A pot created in which a player has no interest because he has run out of chips. Example: Alan bets $6, Beth calls the $6, and Chris calls, but he has only $2 left. An $8 side pot is created that either Alan or Beth can win, but not Chris. Furthermore, any more bets that Alan and Beth make go into that side pot. Chris, however, can still win all the money in the original or "center" pot.

Slow Play
To play a strong hand weakly so more players will stay in the pot.

Split Pot
A pot which is shared by two or more players because they have equal hands.

Split Two Pair
A two pair hand in which one of each of your cards' ranks appears on the board as well. Example: you have T9, the flop is T-9-5, you have a split two pair. This is in comparison to two pair where there is a pair on the board. Example: you have T9, the flop is 9-5-5.

Spread Limit
A betting structure in which a player may bet any amount in a range on every betting round. A typical spread limit structure is $2-$6, where a player may bet as little as $2 or as much as $6 on every betting round.

Straddle
An optional extra blind bet, typically made by the player one to the left of the big blind, equal to twice the big blind. This is effectively a raise, and forces any player who wants to play to pay two bets. Furthermore, the straddler acts last before the flop, and may "re-raise."

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.

Structured
Used to apply to a certain betting structure in "flop" games such as hold'em. The typical definition of a structured game is a fixed amount for bets and raises before the flop and on the flop, and then twice that amount on the turn and river. Example: a $2-$4 structured hold'em game - bets and raises of $2 before the flop and on the flop; $4 bets and raises on the turn and river.

Suited
A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are the same suit. Example: "I had to play J-9 - it was suited."

Table Stakes
A rule in a poker game meaning that a player may not go into his pocket for money during a hand. He may only invest the amount of money in front of him into the current pot. If he runs out of chips during the hand, a side pot is created in which he has no interest. All casino poker is played table stakes. The definition sometimes also includes the rule that a player may not remove chips from the table during a game. While this rule might not be referred to as "table stakes", it is enforced almost universally in public poker games.

Tell
A clue or hint that a player unknowingly gives about the strength of his hand, his next action, etc. In the movie Rounders one of the players would eat a cookie in a slightly different way depending on weather he had a good hand or not.

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. Often, after losing a hand or big pot that a player was expecting to win he might go on tilt and thus be more vunerable.

Time
(1) A request by a player to suspend play while he decides what he's going to do. Simply, "Time please!" If a player doesn't request time and there is a substantial amount of action behind him, the dealer may rule that the player has folded. In online poker there is often a time bank which gets bigger the longer you sit at a table. If you wish to contemplate your next action you can press a time button and request time to think. There is always a finite limit on time since online a player could simply go and use the rest room and leave everyone at the table waiting for five minutes to continue their hand.
(2) An amount of money collected either on the button or every half hour by the cardroom. This is another way for the house to make its money (see "rake").

Toke
A small amount of money (typically $.50 or $1.00) given to the dealer by the winner of a pot. Quite often, tokes represent the great majority of a dealer's income.

Top Pair
A pair with the highest card on the flop. If you have As-Qs, and the flop comes Qd-Th-6c, you have flopped top pair.

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 who is not mathematically favored to win a pot. For instance, if you flop four cards to your flush, you are not quite a 2:1 underdog to make your flush by the river (that is, you will make your flush about one in three times). 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 which, given enough callers, has a positive expectation.

Variance
A measure of the up and down swings your bankroll goes through. Variance is not necessarily a measure of how well you play. However, the higher your variance, the wider swings you'll see in your bankroll.