Ace-High
En femkortshånd som inneholder en ess men ingen par. Dette slår konge høy, men taper for alle par og høyere. |
Action Card
Ett "action card" er et kort som kommer på turn eller river som vil forårsake betydelig betting for 2 eller flere spillere innvolvert i hånden. |
Ante-Post
Ante Post er et bet som settes flere uker, måneder i forveien. For eksempel vinner av ligamesterskap, Cupmestere etc. |
Aces Full
A full house with aces over any pair. |
Aces Up
Two pairs, one of which is aces. |
Action
The betting.Active PlayerA player still in the pot. |
Add-on
The opportunity to buy additional chips in some tournaments. |
Advertise
To make a bluff with the deliberate intention of being exposed as a loose player. |
Aggressiv
A player that is active on the table - betting/raising a lot. |
Airball
Airball is a term used by poker player when they have managed to miss their perceived outs in a hand. |
Ajax
Ajax is poker slang for a starting hand with one ace and one jack. It's called Ajax because Ace-Jack and the popular cleaner sound very similar. |
All-In
To bet all your remaing chips at the table. Any subsequent bets will be in a side pot and you will not be involved in this side pot. If your hand is the highest then you will win the main pot, but not the side pot. |
American Airlines
Name given to the hand AA. |
An Ace Working
An ace in hand. |
Angle
Any technically legal but ethically dubious way to increase your expectation at a game; a trick. |
Ante
A token bet required before the start of a hand. |
Ante Off
When a player is absent from the table and the antes cause them to go broke it's referred to as an ante off situation. |
Baby
A small card.Back Door Flush (or Straight)When the last two cards make a player's hand, even though he or she played on the flop for some other reason. |
Back Into A Hand
To draw into a hand different from the one you were originally trying to make. |
Backdoor
Backdoor straights and backdoor flushes are the bane of many poker players' existence. Making a backdoor hand means you've sucked out on an opponent. |
Bad Beat
This is a common term for when you have a really good hand and are beaten by a much better hand. Some poker rooms offer jackpot prizes for the best BAD BEAT hand, i.e. the best losing hand. |
Bankroll
The amount of money you have available to wager.BehindYou're behind if you don't have the best hand before the last cards have been dealt. |
Barreling
The term barreling refers to the action of firing bets into a pot on multiple streets. |
Bee Stinger
Bee stinger is a Haligonian term for the act of geting owned in a poker situation, getting sucked out on, or simply losing a poker hand. |
Belly Buster
A draw to fill an inside straight; a gut shot. |
Bet
To voluntarily put money or chips into the pot. |
Bet For Value
Betting in order to raise the amount in the pot, not to make your opponents fold. |
Bet Into
To bet before a stronger hand, or a player who bet strongly on the previous round. |
Bet The Pot
To bet the total value of the pot. |
Betting Green
Betting $25 amounts (green is a common color for $25 chips). |
Betting Interval
The period during which each active player has the right to check, bet or raise; the round of betting. It ends when the last bet or raise has been called by all players still in the hand. |
Betting Red
Betting $5 amounts (red is a common color for $5 chips). |
Betting White
Betting $1 amounts (white is a common color for $1 chips). |
Bicycle
The lowest possible hand in lowball: Ace-2-3-4-5. Also called a wheel. |
Big Bet Poker
Another term for pot-limit and no-limit poker. |
Big Blind
The forced bet in second position before any cards are dealt. Usually this is a Live Blind, which means that the player in this position can raise if no one else has before the cards are dealt. |
Big Blind Special
The slang term Big Blind Special refers to when the player on the big blind wins a big hand hand despite having poor cards because nobody raised pre-flop. |
Big Lick
The term Big Lick is a reference to a specific hand in Hold'em, 69 as a play on words from Big Slick and a reference to the sexual act of 69. |
Big Slick
The Ace-King card combination. |
Black Leg
Archaic term for crooked card-sharp. |
Blank
A card that is of no value to a player's hand. |
Blind
A forced bet that one or more players to the dealer's left must make before any cards are dealt to start the action on the first round of betting. |
Blind Raise
When a player raises without first looking at his or her cards. |
Blow Back
To lose back one's profits. |
Bluff
To bet or raise with a hand that is unlikely to be the best hand. |
Board
In flop games, the five cards that are turned face up in the center of the table; in Seven-Card Stud, the four cards that are dealt face up to each player. |
Boat
Another name for full house. |
Bottom End
When you have the bottom end of something in poker, that means you have the worst version, typically referenced to a straight. |
Bottom Pair
When you use the lowest card on the flop to make a pair. |
Bounty
A small amount of cash awarded to a player when he knocks out another player in some tournaments. |
Brick
A blank. |
Bring It In
To start the betting on the first round. |
Bring-In
The forced bet made on the first betting round by the player dealt the lowest card showing in Seven-Card Stud and the highest card showing in razz. |
Broadway
An ace high straight. |
Brush
A cardroom employee responsible for managing the seating list. |
Buck
In all flop games, a small disk used to indicate the dealer, or used to signify the player in the last position if a house dealer is used; a button. |
Bug
A Joker that can be used to make straights and flushes and can be paired with Aces, but not with any other cards. |
Bullet
An Ace. |
Bullets
A pair of Aces. |
Bump
To raise. |
Bump
The slang term Bump refers to a player that wishes to raise a bet. |
Buried Pair
In stud games, a pair in the hole. |
Burn
To deal off the top card, face down, before dealing out the cards (to prevent cheating); or to set aside a card which has been inadvertently revealed. |
Bust
A worthless hand that has failed to improve as the player hoped; a busted hand. |
Bust a Player
To deprive a player of all his chips; in tournament play, to eliminate a player. |
Bust Out
To be eliminated from a tournament by losing all your chips. |
Busted
Broke, tapped. |
Busted Flush
A hand with only four of five cards in a flush. |
Button
In all flop games, a small disk used to signify the player in the last position if a house dealer is used; a buck |
Buy the Button
Buying the button describes two completely different things in poker - a procedure that involves posting both of the antes. Second, a limit hold 'em move. |
Buy-In
The miniumum amount of money required to sit down in a particular game. |
Cage
The cashier, where you exchange cash for chips and vice versa. |
Call
To match, rather than raise, the previous bet. |
Call Cold
To call a bet and raise at once. |
Calling Station
A player who invariably calls, and is therefore hard to bluff out. |
Cambodia
Cambodia is a bizarre hand nickname that originated in NYC for the hole cards 74o (74-suited is known as 'Cambodian Slick'). |
Canine
The term Canine is slang for a specific hand for a hand in holdem when someone is dealt any combination of K9. |
Cap
In limit games, the limit on the number of raises in a round of betting. |
Card Dead
Card dead is a way for a poker player to state that he is 'running bad' by noticing that he has not recently received many playable poker hands. |
Card Room
The room or area in a casino where poker is played. |
Cardrack
Cardrack is a poker slang term that means someone is experiencing a hot run of cards. Being a cardrack is sort of the opposite of being 'card dead.' |
Cards in the Air
'Cards in the air' is an expression used to indicate that dealing has or will begun in a poker tournament, i.e. 'cards in the air at noon.' |
Cards Speak
Cards speak is a regulation in poker games that outlines the fact that an exposed hand will always 'play' or be considered 'live.' |
Care Bears
Care Bears is a term used by the unlikeable Eric Molina at the 2006 WSOP to take the place of curse words so that he would not get penalized for swearing. |
Case Card
The last card of a denomination or suit, when the rest have already been seen. |
Case Chips
A player's last chips. |
Cash In
To leave the game and convert one's chips to cash, either with the dealer or at the cage. |
Cash Out
To leave a game and cash in one's chips at the cage. |
Catch
Catch is referenced in poker as when you hit a card you need on a draw or when you call someone and expose their failed bluff attempt. |
Caught Speeding
Slang for caught bluffing. |
Chameleon
The term chameleon is a reference to a player that changes and varies their style of play from wild to tight at a moment's notice. |
Chase
To stay in against an apparently stronger hand, usually in the hope of filling a straight or flush |
Check
To abstain from betting, reserving the right to call or raise if another player bets. Also another name for a chip. |
Check In The Dark
To check before looking at the card or cards just dealt. |
Check-Raise
To check and raise in a betting round. |
Checked Around
The term Checked Around describes when a hand is in a multi-way pot and all players in the hand check on a given street. |
Cheese
A very substandard starting hand. |
Chino
Chino is a verb that describes the fine art of borrowing money from poker players with no specific way of repaying the loan. |
Chip and a Chair
Chip and a chair is an expression that is somewhat similar to 'it's not over until it's over:' You can come back to win a poker tournament even with one chip. |
Chip Race
In a tournament you come to a point where you no longer need the lowest value of chips. |
Chirp
Chirping is what happens after someone wins a pot and suddenly becomes talkative. It is a representation of the mood swings that exist in a poker game. |
Chop
To return the blinds to the players who posted them and move on to the next hand, if nobody calls the blind |
Chop the Blinds
When one wants to chop the blinds, it means the hand only has the small and big blinds left and they both decide to kill the hand and take back their blinds. |
Cinch Hand
An unbeatable hand; nuts. |
Clamp
Having your opponent in a clamp indicates that your hand is so much stronger than his, it will require nearly super-human strength to escape and win the hand. |
Closed Hand
A hand in which all cards are concealed from the opponents. |
Closed Poker
Games in which all of the cards are dealt face down |
Coffee Housing
An attempt to mislead opponents about one's hand by means of devious speech or behavior. |
Cold
If a player says his cards have "gone cold," he's having a bad streak. |
Cold Call
To call a raise without having already put the initial bet into the pot. |
Cold Deck
A fixed deck. |
Color Up
To exchange one's chips for chips of higher value, usually to reduce the number of chips one has on the table |
Combo Draw
A combo draw is a hand that has multiple draws to different hands such as both a straight and a flush. |
Come
Playing a worthless hand in the hope of improving it is called "playing on the come." |
Come Hand
A hand that has not yet been made, requiring one or more cards from the draw to complete it. |
Come Over The Top
To raise or reraise an opponent's bet. |
Comeup
The comeup is a poker slang term used to describe a positive series of results in a gambling situation that nets an extraordinary profit. |
Commit Fully
To put in as many chips as necessary to play your hand to the river, even if they're your case chips. |
Community Cards
In flop games and similar games, the cards dealt face up in the center of the table that are shared by all active players |
Complete
Completing is a concept that arises in stud games and refers to a bet made after the bring in that is eqal to the amount of the lowest betting limit. |
Computer Hand
Computer Hand is a nickname given to the starting hand Queen-Seven in Texas Hold'em. It derives its name from a computer simulation of starting hands. |
Connectors
Consecutive cards which might make a straight. |
Continuation Bet
A continuation bet is when a player bets out at the flop who was the raiser during the previous round of betting. |
Contributed Rakeback Method
The contributed rakeback method is a way of calculating the amount of rake a player accumulates by only counting the times that player puts money in the pot. |
Coordinated
Coordinated boards are the opposite of ragged boards in poker. The term 'coordinated' refers to community cards that are connected and/or suited. |
Countdown to Busto
The term Countdown to Busto refers to when a player always breaks bankroll management and his or her friends begin a countdown to when they are broke. |
Counterfeit
In Omaha Hi/Lo, when the board pairs your key low card, demoting the value of your hand. |
Cowboy
Slang for a King. |
Crabs
The slang term Crabs is a nickname for the starting hand of 33 in Hold'em, a reference to how a 3 looks like a sideways crab. |
Crack
To beat a powerful hand. |
Crying Call
A call with a hand you think has a small chance of winning. |
Crying Call
Crying call refers to a situation where you are likely to be paying off your opponent and less likely to be calling with the best hand. |
Cut It Up
To split the pot after a tie. |
Cut The Pot
To take a percentage of each pot for the casino running the game |
Dangler
A dangler refers to a card in Omaha that is one card that doesn't work well with the other three cards in a hand. |
Dark
The term dark is an action declared by a player first to act after the better round closes but before the next card is revealed. |
Dark Tunnel Bluff
A Dark Tunnel Bluff is a repeated continuation bet on multiple streets based on the belief you have to bet but do so without thinking why. |
Dead Blind
A dead blind is posted when a player returns to a game after leaving the table while the game was still running. |
Dead Button
A dead button is when a player leaves the table as the button is about to placed on him. |
Dead Card
A card no longer legally playable. |
Dead Hand
A hand no longer legally playable, due to some irregularity |
Dead Money
Money put into the pot by players who have already folded. |
Dealer
The player nominated to be the dealer for each hand, he doesn't actually deal, but is the last one to bet, so it can be advantageous. |
Dealers Choice
A game in which each dealer, in turn, chooses the type of poker to be played. |
Declaration
In high-low poker, declaring by the use of coins or chips whether one is aiming to win the high or the low end of the pot, or both. |
Declare Games
Games in which a player must declare the value of his hand in order to claim the pot. |
Deuce
A two, the lowest ranking card in high poker. |
Deuce to Seven
Another term for Kansas City Lowball, a two to seven without a flush,being the best hand. |
Dirty Outs
A dirty out is when a player has a given amount of outs but when several of those outs actually might give an opponent a better hand. |
Dirty Stack
A dirty stack is a stack of chips that has mixed denominations within it. |
Dolly Parton
The hand 95 (any suit) is referred to as the Dolly Parton because of her role in the famous 1980s movie 9 to 5. |
Dominate
Said of a starting hand that will almost always beat another starting hand. |
Donator
The title of donator is given to someone who routinely spews his money at the poker tables or generally plays losing poker. |
Doomswitch
A oft-used expression on poker forums, the term doomswitched refers to a player running bad. In other words, they've been getting unlucky. |
Door Card
In Seven-Card Stud, the first exposed card in a player's hand. |
Double Belly Buster
A hand with two inside straight draws. |
Double Gut Shot
A draw to a broken sequence of cards, in which either of two cards will make the straight. |
Double Gutter
A double gutter is a draw to eight outs for a straight, It is equivalent to an open-ended, or 'up-and-down' straight draw, but looks different. |
Double Through
Going all-in against an opponent in order to double your stack if you win the hand |
Down Cards
Hole cards. |
Down To The Felt
A player who has lost most of his chips. |
Downswing
Downswings in poker are a series of negative long term results. One losing session does not constitute a downswing, but a net losing result does. |
Draw Lowball
A form of poker in which the lowest hand wins. |
Draw Out
To improve your hand so that it beats an opponent who had a better hand than yours prior to your draw |
Drawing Dead
Drawing to a hand that cannot possibly win. |
Drawing Hand
A potentially strong hand requiring a particular card from the draw to make it. |
Drawing Thin
Drawing Thin is a term used to describe when a player is drawing to very few outs. |
Dream Table
Dream table is a phrase poker players employ to describe a table draw in a poker tournament in which they are facing off against especially weak players. |
Driver's Seat
The player who is making all the betting and thus appears to hold the strongest hand is said to be in the driver's seat. |
Drop
To fold. |
Dry Board
A dry board in poker refers to a flop that is not a coordinated (and and most likely safe) grouping of cards. |
Ducks
The hand 22 in Hold'em is referred to as Ducks since the number 2 resembles the profile of a swimming duck. |
Early Position
A position on a round of betting in which you must act before most of the other players. |
Edge
Edge is a concept that is almost as intrinsic to poker playing as 'EV' and describes the relationship a player's possibilities of success in a poker game. |
Effective Odds
The ratio of the total amount of money you expect to win if you make your hand to the total amount of bets you will have to call to continue from the present round of betting to the end of the hand. |
Equity
The value of a particular hand or combination of cards. |
Even Money
A wager in which you hope to win the same amount as you bet. |
Expectation
The profit or loss you would expect to make on average over a number of hands. |
Fold
Representerer antallet spill i et veddemål, som for eksempel 1 veddemål som involverer 5 valg i forskjellige kamper. |
Face Card
A face card is a card that has a face on it, meaning any King, Queen or Jack. |
Fade
Fade, or 'fade outs' is a poker term that indicates a player had to dodge many outs in order to win a poker hand. Related to the term 'hold.' |
Family Pot
A pot in which most of the players at the table are still involved at the end of the hand. |
Favorite
A hand that has the best chance of winning. |
Fifth Street
In flop games, the final round of betting and the fifth community card on the board; in stud games, the fifth card dealt to each player and the third betting round (on the third upcard). |
Fill
To pull the card one is seeking; to hit. |
Fill Up
To make a full house. |
Fish
The weakest player on the table, the one who loses the most money.The famous saying is: "If you look around the table for the "Fish" and you can't find him, it's you and it's time to get out of this game". |
Fishhooks
Slang for Jacks. |
Fist Pump
Fist pump is a metaphorical expression for a situation in which you are very happy to be calling or going all in during a poker hand. |
Five-Card Draw
A draw poker game in which the players start with five cards and then may draw to replace them. |
Five-Card Stud
A stud poker game in which each player gets one concealed card and four exposed cards. |
Flag
Flag is the slang term for a casino chip that has a value of five thousand dollars. Flags often get stored or exchanged for use in large buyin games. |
Flat Call
To call a bet without raising. |
Flat Limit
A betting limit in a poker game that does not escalate from one round to the next. |
Flop
In flop games, the first three community cards, which are turned face up simultaneously and start the second round of betting. |
Flop Games
A family of poker games played with five community cards. The first three cards, turned face up simultaneously, are called the flop. Popular flop games include Texas Hold 'Em and Omaha. |
Flush
Five cards of the same suit. |
Flush Draw
Having four cards of the same suit, and hoping to draw a fifth to make a flush. |
Fold
To throw your cards in, i.e. to decide your hand is not worth playing anymore. |
Forced Bet
A required bet to start the action on the first round of a poker hand. |
Forward Motion
Forward Motion is a rule held by most casinos constituting any movement of chips towards the pot to be a committing action. |
Four Of A Kind
Four cards of the same denomination. |
Four-Flush
Four cards of the same suit, requiring a fifth to make a flush. |
Fourth Street
In flop games, the fourth card on board and the third round of betting, the turn; in Seven-Card Stud, the fourth card dealt to each player and the second round of betting (on the second upcard). |
Free Card
A card that a player gets without having to call a bet. |
Free Ride
To stay in a hand without being forced to bet. |
Freeroll
A situation in which two players have the same hand, but one of the players has a chance to better his hand.Or a Tournament where it is free to enter. |
Freeze Out
A game or tournament in which all players start with the same amount and play until one player has won all the chips. |
Frenzy
When a poker player is in a frenzy, he is usually on tilt for an extended period of time. Degenerate behavior and poor decision making are common. |
Full House
Any three cards of the same denomination, plus any pair of a different denomination. |
G-Note
A one thousand dollar bill. |
Gapper
The term 'gapper' is usually heard in the form of 'one-gapper,' 'double-gapper' etc. It refers to the space between two hole cards, the opposite of a connector. |
Gears
Gears refers to a trait possessed by some poker players who vary their play, as opposed to being stuck playing one particular style or another. |
Get Full Value
Betting, raising and re-raising in order to manipulate the size of the pot so that you will be getting maximum pot odds if you win the hand. |
Get There
To make your hand. |
Gift
A gift in poker is similar to a 'donation' and refers to a poker play that is so glaringly bad, it amounts to one player simply giving his opponent the pot. |
Give Action
Betting, calling, raising or re-raising. |
GodMode
GodMode is a reference in the poker world to a donkey that always comes up with the nuts. |
Going South
Going South is the generally frowned upon practice of taking money off the table after winning some pots. |
Grinder
A grinder in poker is someone who plays significantly over-bankrolled while also playing a style that will slowly win them money at a consistent pace. |
Gut-Shot
A card drawn to fill an inside straight. |
Gypsy In
In lowball, to limp in. |
Hand
A player's best five cards. |
Hand For Hand
The term hand for hand is when a money bubble is approaching and multiple tables will play a hand and wait until all other tables are finished to start next. |
Hanger
A hanger is a card at the bottom of the deck that sticks out further that the rest and is a sign of cheating. |
Heads-Up
A game between just two players, often the climax of a tournament. |
Hero
The hero in a poker hand is the one you are taking the perspective of while watching it happen either live or in a hand history. |
Hero Call
A hero call is when a player makes a marginal call solely based on a pure read or gut feel. |
High-Low
A poker game in which the highest and lowest hands share the pot. Also called High-Low Split. |
Hit
To pull the card one is seeking; to fill. |
Hit And Run
A player who has only been at the table a short amount of time and leaves after winning a big pot |
Hit By the Deck
Hit By the Deck is an expression used to indicate that a poker player is experiencing an unusually good run of cards in a short period of time. |
Hold
Hold is an expression that indicates that a poker player hand has remained in the lead, usually in a situation where it was vulnerable. |
Hold'Em
A form of poker in which players use five community cards in combination with their two hole cards to form the best five-card hand. Also called Texas hold'em. |
Hole
The concealed card or cards. |
Hole Card
A card concealed in a player's hand. |
Hole cards
The first two cards dealt face down to you, also known as "pocket cards" in Hold'Em. |
Hollywooding
Hollywood is a verb used to describe the mode of pretending or acting in a poker hand, used both for deception and saving face. |
Home Run Hitter
A player who makes big plays that require maximum risk. |
Horsing
Passing a small amount of money to another player after winning a pot; scooting. |
Hot
Said of a player on a winning streak. |
House
The establishment; the casino or cardroom. |
Idiot End
The 'idiot-end' in poker refers to the low end of a straight, also sometimes known as the 'sucker-end' or 'sucker straight.' |
Idiot End
The 'idiot-end' in poker refers to the low end of a straight, also sometimes known as the 'sucker-end' or 'sucker straight.' |
Ignorant End
The low end straight. |
Implied Odds
The amount of money you expect to win if you make your hand versus the amount of money it will cost you to continue playing. |
In
A player is "in" if he or she has called all bets. |
In the Air
When the tournament director instructs the dealers to get the cards in the air, it means to start dealing. |
In The Dark
To check or bet blind, without looking at your cards. |
In The Hunt
When a player says he is 'in the hunt,' it means he is still alive in a poker tournament, usually with a reasonable chance of winning. |
Initial deal
The first set of cards dealt to players before they have to make a decision. |
Inside Straight
Four cards requiring one in the middle to fill a straight. |
Insurance
Selling the actual outcome of the hand for its mathematical equity. |
Isolate
To raise with the intention of reaching a heads up between yourself and a single other player. |
Jackpot Poker
A form of poker in which the cardroom offers a jackpot for particularly bad beats. Typically you must have aces full or better. |
Jacks Or Better
A form of draw poker in which a player needs at least a pair of Jacks to start the betting. |
Jam
To bet or raise the maximum. |
Jam
When a player jams the pot, he is going all in and shoving all of his chips in the middle to raise. This is referred to as jamming. |
Jammed Pot
The pot has been raised the maximum number of times, and may also be multi-way. |
Joker
The fifty-third card in the deck, used as a wild card or a bug. |
Kansas City Lowball
|
Keep Honest
To call an opponent on the river, even though you believe he has a better hand than you do. |
Key Card
The one card that will make your hand. |
Key Hand
In a tournament, the hand that proves to be a turning point, for better or worse. |
Kibitzer
A non-playing spectator; a railbird. |
Kick It
To raise. |
Kicker
The high card that goes with a pair or two pair. |
Kill Stack
A kill stack is one that's small in size but represents a large number of chips. |
Knave
A Jack. |
Kojack
The slang term Kojack is given to the starting hand of King-Jack in Hold'em, a reference to the 1970s cop television show. |
Late Position
A position on a round of betting in which you act after most of the other players have acted. |
Lay Down
To reveal one's hand in a showdown. |
Lay Down Your Hand
To fold. |
Lay The Odds
To wager more money on a proposition than you hope to win. |
Lead
To be the first to enter the pot after the blind. |
Leak
To lose back part or all of one's winnings through other gambling habits. |
Legitimate Hand
A strong hand that is not a bluff. |
Limit Poker
A game with fixed minimum and maximum betting intervals. |
Limp In
To enter the round by calling a bet rather than raising. |
Limper
A player who enters the pot for the minimum bet. |
Live Blind
When the player is allowed to raise even if no one else raises first; straddle. |
Live Card
In stud games, a card that has not yet been seen in an opponent's hand and is presumed likely to be still in play. |
Live Hand
A hand that is still eligible to win the pot. |
Live One
An inexperienced, bad or loose player who apparently has plenty of money to lose; a rich sucker. |
Lock
A hand that cannot lose; a cinch hand. |
Lock Lock
'Lock lock' is a term that is used most often in games of Omaha eight-or-better when someone has the best possible low and the best possible high hand. |
Long Odds
The odds for an event that has a relatively small chance of occurring. |
Longhanded
The term longhanded refers to a poker game played with seven or more (usually 9 or 10) players sitting at the table. |
Look
To call the final bet (before the showdown). |
Loose
Playing more hands than the norm. |
Loose Game
A game with a lot of players in most pots. |
Lowball
A form of poker in which the lowest hand wins. |
Main Pot
The part of the pot all players are involved in. Some players may be all-in and a side -pot will be made. |
Make
To make the deck is to shuffle. |
Make A Move
To try a bluff. |
Maniac
A very aggressive player who plays hands that more conservative players would probably not consider. |
Mark
A sucker. |
Marker
An IOU. |
Mechanic
A cheat who manipulates the deck. |
Meet
To call. |
Middle Pair
In flop games, a middle pair is made by pairing with the middle card on the flop. |
Middle Position
A position on a round of betting somewhere in the middle. |
Minraise
A minraise is simply a raise that is equal to the original bet. It stands out as an unusual play in games of big bet poker, and is often considered weak. |
Miss
To be unable to make your drawing hand when the final cards are dealt. |
Monster
A hand that is almost certain to win. |
Move In
To go all-in. |
Muck
To discard a hand; also the discard pile in which all cards are dead. |
Mucked cards
To throw your cards in without showing them to anyone. |
Multi-way Pot
A multi-way pot is one where there are three or more players left in the hand vying for the pot. |
Narrow the Field
To bet or raise in order to scare off other players whose hands are currently worse than yours, but have the potential to improve |
Negative Freeroll
A negative freeroll when a player goes all in and can only either tie or lose in the hand. |
Nit
To bide your time, patiently waiting for a playable hand. |
Nitfest
The term nitfest is usually mentioned in the context of discussing a poker game where there is limited action or most of the players are especially tight. |
No-Limit Poker
A game in which players can bet as much as they have in front of them on any given round. |
Nosebleed
Nosebleed refers to poker games that are extremely high stakes, generally much higher than the most regularly played high stakes poker games. |
Number One
'Number one' is the term for the best possible hand, a wheel, in 2-7 lowball, consisting of 7,5,4,3,2. Similar, 'number 2' consists of 7,6,4,3,2. |
Nut Air
The nut air is when a poker player has the best possible hand on a board without holding a pair or better. |
Nut Flush
The best available flush. |
Nut Low
A nut low hand is the best possible low hand in games of split-pot poker or lowball. In a vacuum, the nut low hand is a wheel. |
Nut No Pair
Nut no pair is a colloquial hand ranking that indicates the best possible cards that do not create a pair with the board in Texad hold 'em. |
Nut Nut
Nut nut is a synonym of 'lock lock' and refers to an occurence when someone has the best possible high hand and the best possible low hand in a split-pot game. |
Nuts
The best possible hand in any one game. A hand that can not be beat, and should be bet aggressively. |
Odds
The probability of making a hand versus the probability of not making the hand. |
Offsuit
Two different suits, used to describe the first two cards. |
Omaha
A flop game similar to Hold 'Em, but each player is dealt four cards instead of two, and a hand must be made using exactly two pocket cards, plus three from the table. |
On Board
On the table; in the game. |
On The Come
A hand that is drawing to a straight or flush. |
On Tilt
Playing poorly, usually because of becoming emotionally upset. |
One Eyed Jack
A one eyed jack is a nickname for the jack of spades and the jack of hearts, which only have one eye showing. |
One-Gap
An inside straight. |
Open
To make the first bet. |
Open Card
Exposed card; a card dealt face-up. |
Open Pair
An exposed pair; a pair of face-up cards. |
Open Poker
Games where some of the cards are dealt face up. |
Open Shove
The move Open Shove refers to when a player acts first in a hand and shoves all of their chips in (all in) to raise. |
Open-Ended Straight
Four consecutive cards requiring one at either end to make a straight. |
Option
When a player posts a live blind, that player is given the option to raise when their turn comes around, even if no one else has raised; straddle. |
Out
A card remaining in the deck that could hopefully improve your hand. |
Outdraw
To beat an opponent by drawing to a better hand. |
Outrun
Outdraw. |
Overbet
An overbet is a bet that is larger than the size of the pot in a poker game. E.g. If the pot has one hundred dollars in it and someone bets a hundred and fifty. |
Overcall
To call a bet after another player has already called. |
Overcard
In stud games, a card higher than your opponent's probable pair; in flop games, a card higher than any card on the board. |
Overlay
An overlay occurs when a poker room has to add money into the prize pool for a tournament because not enough players entered to meet the guarantee. |
Overpair
In flop games, a wired pair higher than any card on the board. |
Paint Cards
King, Queen and Jack; face cards; court cards; picture cards. |
Pair
Two cards of the same denomination. |
Pass
Fold. |
Pat Hand
A hand that is played as dealt, without changing a card; usually a straight, flush or full house. |
Pay Off
To call a bet or raise when you don't think you have the best hand. |
Pay Station
A player who calls bets and raises much more than is typical; a calling station. |
Picture Cards
King, Queen and Jack; face cards; court cards; paint cards. |
Play Back
To raise or re-raise an opponent's bet. |
Play Fast
Aggressively betting a drawing hand to get full value for it if you make it. |
Play With
Staying in the hand by betting, calling, raising, or re-raising. |
Playing the Board
In flop games, if your best five card hand uses the five community cards. |
Plus V
It's commonplace to hear poker players say 'plus ev' in reference to their supposed positive expectation. But 'plus v' simply means plus value. |
Pocket cards
Same as Hole Cards. |
Pocket Rockets
A pair of aces in the hole. |
Position
Your seat in relation to the dealer, and thus your place in the betting order. |
Positional Awareness
The term positional awareness in poker refers to the conscious alertness of where a player sits in a hand and if it is an advantage. |
Post
Usually a forced bet, like a blind, upon entering the poker game. |
Pot
The total of all the chips in the centre of the table, this is what we are all playing for. |
Pot Limit
A game in which the maximum bet is the total of the pot. |
Pot Odds
The amount of money in the pot versus the amount of money it will cost you to continue in the hand. |
Price
Price is another term for odds. |
Prop
Short for proposition player; similar to a shill, but plays with his own money. |
Proposition Player
A cardroom employee who joins a game with his own money when the game is shorthanded, or to get a game started; similar to a shill. |
Protect A Hand
To protect a hand is to bet so as to reduce the chances of anyone outdrawing you by getting them to fold. |
Protect Your Cards
To make sure no one see your cards. |
Provider
A player who makes the game profitable for the other players at the table; a nicer term for a fish. |
Pumped Up
'Pumped up,' or simply 'pumped,' refers to a state of having a large bankroll in poker, the opposite of being 'busto.' |
Push
When the hand is finished and a winner is determined, the dealer pushes the chips towards the winner. |
Put Down
Fold. |
Put Him On
To guess an opponent's hand and play accordingly. |
Putting On The Heat
Pressuring your opponents with aggressive betting strategies to get the most value from your hand. |
Pwned
Pwned is a derivative of owned, a term used to describe one player totally dominating another. |
Quads
Four of a kind. |
Qualifier
In high-low, a requirement the hand must meet to be eligible for a portion of the pot. |
Qualifying Low
A qualifying low hand in hi low split games is one that fits the minimum requirements to count as a low hand, such as 8 or better. |
Race
Race is poker slang for a poker situation that is a coinflip, or roughly 50/50 chance for both opponents to win. |
Rack
A plastic tray which holds 100 chips in 5 stacks of 20. |
Rag Off
To get a card on the river that doesn't help you. |
Ragged Flop
Flop cards that are of no use to any player's hand. |
Rags
Worthless cards; blanks. |
Rail
The sideline at a poker table. |
Railbird
A non-playing spectator or kibitzer, often used to describe a broke ex-player. |
Rainbow
Three or four cards of different suits. |
Raise
To call and increase the previous bet. |
Rake
The money removed from each pot by the house, as a commission. |
Rank
The value of a card. Each card has a suit and a rank. |
Rap
To knock the table, indicating a check. |
Razz
Seven-card stud lowball. Shortened from "razzle dazzle." |
Re-raise
To raise a raise. |
Read
To try and determine your opponent's cards or betting strategy. |
Rebuy
To start again, for an additional entry fee, in tournament play (where permitted). |
Redraw
A draw to an even better hand when you currently are holding the nuts. |
Represent
To bet in a way that suggests you are holding a strong hand. |
Reverse Implied Odds
The ratio of the amount of money now in the pot to the amount of money you will have to call to continue from the present round to the end of the hand. |
Riffle
To shuffle; or to fidget with your chips. |
Ring Game
A non-tournament game. |
River
The last community card in a flop game, also refers to the last card in 7 card stud. |
Rock
A very tight, conservative player. |
Rock Garden
A table populated with rocks. |
Roll
To turn a card face-up. |
Rolled Up
In Seven-Card Stud, three of a kind on third street (the first three cards). |
Rough
A lowball hand that is not perfect. |
Round of Betting
A round of betting is complete when all players have had the opportunity to either fold, call or raise. |
Rounder
A professional player who "makes the rounds" of the big poker games in the country. |
Royal Flush
The best possible poker hand, consisting of the 10 through the Ace, all the same suit. |
Run
A straight, or a series of good cards. |
Run Over
Playing aggressively in an attempt to control the other players. |
Runner-Runner
A hand made on the last two cards. |
Running
Two needed cards that come as the last two cards dealt. |
Running Bad
On a losing streak. |
Running Good
On a winning streak. |
Running Like a Kenyan
The phrase 'running like a Kenyan' is an expression amongst poker players to brag how they are running great over a long period of time. |
Running Pair
When the last two cards on the board make a pair. |
Rush
Several winning hands in a short period of time. |
Sailboats
The nickname Sailboats was given to the Hold'em hand 44, a reference to how the number 4 looks like the profile of a boat. |
SandBag
To check a strong hand with the intention of raising or re-raising. |
Satellite
A small-stakes tournament whose winner obtains cheap entry into a bigger tournament. |
Scare Card
An up card that looks as though it might have made a strong hand. |
School
The players in a regular game. |
Scoop
To win the entire pot. |
Scooting
Passing chips to another player after winning a pot; horsing. |
Seat Charge
In public cardrooms, an hourly fee for playing poker. |
Seating List
In most cardrooms, if there is no seat available for you when you arrive, you can put your name on a list to be seated when a seat opens up. |
Second Pair
In flop games, pairing the second highest card on board. |
See
To call. |
Semi-Bluff
To bet with a hand which isn't the best hand, but which has a reasonable chance of improving. |
Set
Three of a kind; trips (usually applies to a pair in hand and a matching card on board). |
Set Under Set
The term set under set refers to when two players show their hands in a Hold'em or Omaha game and one has a higher set than the other. |
Set You In
To bet as much as your opponent has left in front of him. |
Setmining
When you call pre-flop with a pocket pair to try and flop a set. It is considered a move you should not do if it cost you more than 5% of your stack. |
Seventh Street
The final betting round on the last card in Seven-Card Stud. |
Shill
A cardroom employee, often an off-duty dealer, who plays with house money to make up a game. |
Shootout
A tournament format in which a single player ends up with the entire prize money, or in which play continues at each table until only one player remains. |
Short Odds
The odds for an event that has a good chance of occurring. |
Short-Stacked
Having only a small number of chips left. |
Show One, Show All
A rule that says if a player shows their cards to anyone at the table they can be asked to show everyone else. |
Showdown
The point at the end of the final round of betting when all the remaining player's cards are turned up to see which player has won the pot. |
Side Card
An unmatched card which may determine the winner between two otherwise equal hands. |
Side Pot
A separate pot contested by other players when one player is all-in. |
Sixth Street
In Seven-Card Stud, the fourth round of betting on the sixth card. |
Skin
To fix the cards; cheat. |
Sklansky Bucks
Sklansky Bucks refers to the equity in a poker hand as opposed to the amount of actual money won. It is a way of analyzing EV as opposed to results. |
Slow Play
Disguising the value of a strong hand by underbetting, to trick an opponent. |
Slowroll
To reveal one's hand slowly at showdown, one card at a time, to heighten the drama. |
Small Blind
The smaller of the two compulsory bets in flop games, made by the player in the first postion to the dealer's left. |
Smooth
The best possible low hand with a particular high card. |
Smooth Call
To call rather than raise an opponent's bet. |
Snap Off
To beat another player, often a bluffer, and usually without a powerful hand. |
Snowmen
The term Snowmen is slang for a specific hand for a hand in Hold'em when someone is dealt pocket eights, otherwise 88. |
Speed
The level of aggressiveness with which you play. Fast play is more aggressive, slow play is more passive. |
Splash Around
To play more loosely than you should. |
Splash The Pot
To throw your chips into the pot, instead of placing them in front of you. This makes it difficult for the dealer to determine the amount you bet. |
Split
A tie. |
Spread
When a cardroom starts a table for a particular game, it is said to spread that game. If you want to know what games are played in a particular place, you can ask what they spread. |
Spread Limit
Betting limits in which there is a fixed minimum and maximum bet for each betting round. |
Squeeze
To look slowly at the extremities of your hole cards, without removing them from the table, to worry your opponents and heighten the drama. |
Stack
The pile of chips in front of a player. |
Stack-Off
Stacking off is a term that means going allin on a poker hand. It may indicate that the player going allin does not have a quality hand. |
Stand Pat
To decline an opportunity to draw cards. |
Stand-Off
A tie, in which the players divide the pot equally. |
Stay
To remain in a hand with a call rather than a raise. |
Steal
A bluff in late position, attempting to steal the pot from a table of apparently weak hands. |
Steaming
Playing poorly and wildly, often because the player is emotionally upset. |
Steel Wheel
In lowball, a straight flush, five high (Ace-2-3-4-5). |
Straddle
To make a blind raise before the deal; big blind. |
Straight
Five consecutive cards of mixed suits. |
Straight Flush
Five consecutive cards of the same suit. |
Streak
A run of good or bad cards. |
String Bet
An illegal bet in which a player puts some chips in the pot, then reaches back to his stack for more, without having first verbally stated the full amount of his bet. |
Structure
The limits set upon the ante, forced bets and subsequent bets and raises in any given game. |
Stuck
Slang for losing, often a substantial amount of money. |
Stud
Any form of poker in which the first card or cards are dealt down, or in the hole, followed by several open, or face up, cards. |
Suck Out
To win a hand by hitting a very weak draw, often with poor pot odds. |
Suicide King
A Suicide King is the nickname for the King of Hearts which is depicted with a knife going through his own head. |
Suited
Cards of the same suit. |
Suited Gappers
Suited Gappers are two cards that share the same suit but have a single gap in denomination between them, such as 7s 9s. |
Sweat
To watch a player from the rail. |
Sweeten The Pot
Slang for raise. |
Table
Refers to the poker table itself, or the collective players in the game. |
Table Cop
A player who calls with the intention of keeping other players honest. |
Table Stakes
A poker game in which a player cannot bet more than the money he has on the table. |
Table Talk
Any discussion at the table of the hand currently underway, especially by players not involved in the pot, and especially any talk that might affect play. |
Take Off A Card
To call a single bet in order to see one more card. |
Take Off The Gloves
To use an aggressive betting strategy to bully opponents. |
Take The Odds
To wager less money on a proposition than you hope to win. |
Tank
Tank refers to the process of being lost in deep thought in the middle of a poker hand, or the time one takes to make a difficult decision. |
Tap City
To go broke. |
Tap Out
To bet all one's chips. |
Tapped Out
Broke, busted. |
Tapping the Glass
Tapping the glass refers to the counter-intuitive approach that frustrated players use to vent, educating weaker players in the process. |
Telegraph
Telegraph is a specific type of poker tell in which a player who hasn't acted yet gives a clear physical indication of what he intends to do. |
Tell
A player's nervous habit or mannerism which might reveal his hand. |
Texas Hold'Em
Form of poker in which players use five community cards in combination with their two hole cards to form the best five-card hand. Also called hold'em. |
Third Pair
In flop games, pairing the third highest card on board. |
Third Street
In Seven-Card Stud, the first round of betting on the first three cards. |
Three Flush
Three cards of the same suit, requiring two more to make a flush. |
Three Of A Kind
Three cards of the same denomination, with two side cards; trips. |
Throwing A Party
When several loose or amateur players are making significant monetary contributions to the pot. |
Tight
A conservative player who only plays strong hands, or playing on fewer hands than the norm. |
Tight Game
A game with a small number of players in most pots. |
Tilt
See on tilt. |
To Go
An amount "to go" is the amount it takes to enter the pot. |
Toke
A tip to the dealer. |
Top Pair
In flop games, pairing the highest card on board. |
Trey
A three. |
Triplets
Three of a kind. |
Trips
Slang for triplets; three of a kind. |
Turn
The fourth community card in flop games. |
Two Flush
Two cards of the same suit, requiring three more to make a flush. |
Two Pair
A hand with two pairs and a kicker. |
Under The Gun
The first to bet. |
Under-Raise
To raise less than the previous bet; allowed only if a player is going all-in. |
Underdog
A hand that does not have the best chance of winning before all the cards are dealt. |
Underfull
Underfull is a full house that is not the nut full house, but rather a full house composed of one of the lower cards on board, like 44 on a board of 88743. |
Unopened
The term unopened in poker refers to when a pot has not been raised during pre-flop activity. |
Up Card
An open card, a card dealt face-up. |
Wake Up With A Hand
To be dealt a hand with winning potential. |
Walk
To walk is to be away from the table long enough to miss one or more hands. |
Walkers
Players who walk frequently. |
Wayne Gretzky
The hand of pocket nines is also known as Wayne Gretzky as he is the most famous athlete to don the number 99. |
Wet Board
A wet board in poker refers to a flop that has a highly coordinated (and potentially dangerous) grouping of cards. |
What Lodden Thinks
What Lodden Thinks is a prop betting game that revolves around guessing what some other person will think about a subject. |
Wheel
The lowest hand in lowball, Ace-2-3-4-5; also known as a bicycle. |
Whipsaw
To raise before, and after, a caller who gets caught in the middle. |
Wild Card
A card designated as a joker, playable as any value. |
Window Card
The window card is synonymous with the 'door card,' the first card revealed on a Hold 'Em or Omaha board, or the first upcard dealt in a stud hand. |
Wired Pair
A pair in hand. |
World's Fair
A big hand. |
Wrap
Wrap is the term for a straight draw in Omaha that can be filled with three or more card values from the deck. A wrap will have between 9 and 20 outs. |
YHS
The acronym YHS stands for Your Hand Sucks and is used on poker forums or within chat boxes. |
