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POKER
TERMS & DEFINITIONS |
 This
is a combined list of general poker terms
and definitions, including those that apply
to just Texas Holdem. If you're looking
for a specific word you can jump to it by
clicking the letter it starts with. Please
shoot us an email with terms you would like
to see on this page.
 Check
out this list of Poker
Terms for the 21st Century - funny article!
A
Aces Up/Over - Two pair, one of which
is a pair of Aces.
Action - Betting activity.
Active Player - A player who is still
in the pot.
All Blue,Green,Purple,etc. - Colorful
names for a flush.
All-In - To bet all the money you have
on the table.
American Airlines - A pair of Aces.
Ante - A small bet all players are
required to make before a hand is dealt.
top
B
Baby - Any of the cards needed for the
lowest possible hand (A,2,3,4,5).
Back Door - Player makes a late hand
that he wasn't originally drawing to.
Back Raise - A re-raise.
Bad Beat - A usually unbeatable hand
that is defeated by an even better hand.
Bank Roll - Current total gambling
funds available. Not to be confused with a
player's stake in a particular game.
Barn - A FULL HOUSE, three of a kind
and a pair.
Belly Buster - An inside straight draw.
Same as a GUTSHOT.
Bet - To put money into the pot in
accordance with the rules of the game.
Bet For Value - Betting a completed
or partial hand that, in the long run, is
expected to win more than it loses.
Bicycle - The best possible low hand:
A-2-3-4-5. Also called a WHEEL.
Big Blind - An early forced bet, usually
a raise of an earlier blind which would be
called the SMALL BLIND.
Big Bobtail - An open-ended 4-card
straight flush.
Big Slick - In Texas Hold'em, hole
cards of A-K, suited or not.
Blank - A card that does not add value
to a hand (Bad Draw).
Blind - A forced bet to open the pot,
usually in lieu of an ante.
Bluff - A bet or raise made with a
poor hand to entice the competition to fold.
Board - The exposed cards in Hold'em
and stud.
Boat - Short for a FULL BOAT
which is slang for a FULL HOUSE.
Bobtail Straight - Same as an OPEN-END
STRAIGHT. Four cards to a straight in denomination
sequence.
Broadway - An Ace high straight.
Bug - A wild card Joker.
Bullet[s] - Ace[s]. BULL for short.
Bump - Slang for RAISE.
Burn - To discard the top card of the
deck prior to dealing.
Button - A distinctive token placed
in front of the player sitting in the theoretical
dealer's position, when a house dealer is
used. The button rotates around the table
so that every player has an opportunity to
be the last to act.
Buy-In - The amount of money used to
join a game.
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C
Call - To put in to the pot the minimum
amount of money necessary to continue playing.
Caller - One who makes a call bet.
Calling Station - An passive player
that frequently just checks or calls most
bets.
Cap - To cap the betting is to make
the last permitted raise in a round.
Cards Speak - The final hand values
are determined by the face up cards and not
what the hand holder declares.
Case Card - The fourth and last card
of a particular rank to become available.
Change Gears - Changing your style
of play.
Chase - To continue in a hand, often
at poor odds against the competition.
Check n. - The word casino employees
use for a "chip".
Check v. - To bet zero, when it is
legal to do so. Frequently a sign of only
a fair hand.
Check-Raise - To check initially, then
raise a bet made later on in the same betting
round.
Chip - A round token used in place
of cash at a gaming table.
Come Hand - . A hand that is not yet
made, such as four cards to a flush.
Cold Call - When a player with nothing
invested in the pot except an ante, calls
a raise and a re-raise as his first bet.
Community Cards - Cards that are available
for every player to use in making a hand.
Usually dealt face up somewhere in the middle
of the table.
Concealed Pair - Both of the pair cards
are face down.
CoP - the Cadillac of Poker (nickname
for Texas Hold Em)
Court Card - A jack, queen or king.
Cowboy - A king.
Cut The Deck -To divide the deck, fairly
evenly, into 2 stacks.
Crying Call - To complain when making
a call. Sometimes a tactic to keep players
in the hand.
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D
Dark Bet - To bet without looking at your
hand.
Dead Hand - A hand that has been fouled
or has too many or too few cards.
Dead Man's Hand - Two pair, aces and
eights. The hand Wild Bill Hickok was said
to be holding when he was shot to death.
Dealer's Choice - In home games, a rule
that permits the dealer to name which poker
game to be played that hand.
Deuce - A two.
Door Card - A player's first upcard
in stud games.
Double Belly Buster - A two-way inside
straight. ie:, 3-5-6-7-9. Also called a DOUBLE
GUTSHOT.
Double-Pop - When the second player
re-raises a raise.
Down To The Green - When a player has
gone all in.
Draw - To discard some number of cards
and have dealt an equal number of replacements.
Drawing Dead - Drawing to a hand that
can not possibly win.
Draw Out - To catch a card that improves
your situation from a losing hand to a winning
hand.
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E
Early Position - Being one of the first
players to act in a betting round.
Exposed Pair - An exposed pair, as
opposed to a split pair or a hidden pair.
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F
Face Card - A jack, queen or king.
Fill - To draw a card that makes a
five-card hand (straight, flush, full house,
straight flush).
Fill Up - To fill a full house.
Fish - A player who loses money. An
old saying is "If you can't spot the
fish at the table, *you* are the fish."
Flat Call - To call a bet. Emphasizes
that the caller did not raise.
Flat Limit - A variant of fixed limit
where all bets are the same amount.
Floorman - The casino representative
in charge of the card room or a section of
a card room.
Flop - In Hold'em, the first three
community cards, dealt simultaneously.
Flush - A poker hand consisting of
five cards all one suit.
Fold - To decline to call a bet, thus
dropping out of a hand.
Forced Bet - In some stud games a player
may be required to make a bet to start the
action on the first card.
Four Flush - Four cards to a flush.
Free Card - A card dealt after all
players checked in a betting round.
Freeroll - Having a lock on part of
a pot.
Freeze-Out - A table-stakes game that
continues until a small number of players
(possibly only one) has all the money.
Full Boat - Slang for FULL HOUSE.
Full House - A hand consisting of 3-of-a-kind
and a (different) pair.
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G
Grifter - A cheat
Gut Shot - A draw to an inside straight,
as in 2-3-4-6.
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H
Head(s) Up - Playing a single opponent.
Help Card - One that improves one's hand.
High-Low Split - Forms of poker in
which the pot is split between the best hand
and best lowball hand.
Hole Cards - In stud and Hold'em, the
face-down cards dealt to each player.
Hook - A Jack. So named because the
"J" resembles a hook.
House Cut - Generic term for how the
house profits from hosting the game.
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I
Ignorant End - The lower end of a straight
in a game that has community cards. Implied
Odds - A refinement to POT ODDS which
includes money not yet, but expected to be
in the pot.
Inside Straight - Four cards to a
straight, where only one rank will complete
the hand. ( 4-5-6-8.)
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J
Jacks or Better - Draw poker in which
a pair of jacks is the minimum hand permitted
to start the action.
J Hook - A Jack
Jam - A pot where several players are
raising.
Joker - A 53rd card in the deck, distinct
from the others, used as a wild card or as
a BUG
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K
KAP - Kick Ass Poker
Kick Ass Poker - Any poker is kick ass
poker.
KickAssPoker.com - The #1 source on the
net for anything related to Texas Hold Em
and Poker. a.k.a. the KadillAc of Poker
sites
Kicker - A single high card usually held
with a pair of another denomination in draw
poker.
Kicker - The highest side card that
is not part of the basic final hand.
KoPs - the kadillac
of poker sites (nickname
for KickAssPoker.com)
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L
Lady - A Queen.
Late Position - For a particular betting
round, a player who does not have to act until
most of the other players have acted.
Lay Odds - To give favorable odds to
an opponent.
Leak - To show one's hole cards (often
unknowingly).
Lid - The top card of the deck.
Limit Poker - A poker game wherein
the amount to be bet is fixed, or at most
variable within a prescribed minimum and maximum.
Limp In - To call along as cheaply
as possible.
Liner - A face card. (Because you
can see a line when the card is face down
and the lower right corner is lifted).
Live Card - In stud,
a card that has not been exposed.
Live Blind - The last and largest
blind bet may or may not be LIVE. If LIVE,
the blind bettor has the option of "raising"
his own blind in the event the bet is called
around to him.
Live One - The best kind of opponent,
a poor player with a lot of money to lose
and in a hurry to lose it.
Lock - A hand that cannot be beaten.
Also called the NUT.
Loose - Playing more hands than the
norm.
Lowball - Generic term for poker where
the lowest hand wins.
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M
Main Pot - The main pot, as related to
one or more side pots, when there are one
or more all-in player(s). The main pot is
the one in which all active players participate.
Maniac - A player who bets, raises
and reraises without regard to the quality
of his hand.
Marked Cards - Cards that have been
(illegally) altered so that their value can
be read from the back.
Mechanic - A cheat who can manipulate
the cards to deal himself or another player
agood hand.
Middle Position - Betting positions
approximately halfway around the table from
the first player to act.
Misdeal - A hand dealt incorrectly
that must be re-dealt.
Mites and Lice - A hand consisting
of two pair, threes over twos.
Muck - A collection of face-down cards
near the dealer composed of discards and burn
cards.
Muck - To throw one's cards into the
muck, thus folding.
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N
Nickel - Five dollars, usually represented
by a red casino check.
No-Limit Poker - A game where there
is no maximum bet; a player can wager any
amount (perhaps above some minimum) up to
whatever money is on the table in front of
him.
Nut - The best possible hand or the
best possible of a given class. The "nut
flush" is the highest possible flush.
a.k.a. the Nuts
Nut Player - A very tight player who
plays only the best hands.
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O
OffSuit - Not of the same suit.
On The Come - A situation where the
player does not yet have a complete hand.
On Tilt - Playing worse (usually,
more aggressively) than usual because a player
has become emotionally upset.
Open - Take the first bet in a hand,
especially in draw poker.
Open-Ended Straight - Four cards to
a straight in denomination sequence (5,6,7,8).
Opener - The player who starts the
betting, usually in draw poker.
Openers - Cards in a hand that qualify
a player to open the betting.
Open-Handed - A category of games
characterized by a part of each player's hand
being exposed.
Open Pair - An exposed pair.
Out - A card that will improve your
hand, often substantially.
Overcall - To call a bet after one
or more players already called.
Overpair - In Hold'em, a pair in the
hole that is larger than any community card
on the board.
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P
Paint - A face card.
Pair - Two cards of the same rank.
Pass - Opposite of bet. To check, if
checked to. To fold, if bet to.
Pat Hand - Holding or being dealt a
complete hand.
Pay Off - Calling a bet with little
expectation of winning, unless the opponent
is bluffing.
Pay Station - A player who rarely
folds, thus who frequently calls better hands
and loses.
Picked Off - To get called when you
are bluffing.
Pigeon - An easy player.
Playing The Board - Using
all five 'community cards' to make your best
five card hand.
Pocket - Starting hole cards in stud
and Hold'em.
Pocket Rockets - A pair of aces in
the hole.
Position - One's location in the betting
sequence, relative to the players still in
the hand.
Pot - The total amount of money bet
so far in a hand.
Pot Limit - A game where the maximum
bet is determined by the size of the pot at
the time.
Pot Odds - The amount of money in
the pot divided by the amount of money you
must bet in order to call.
Premium Hands - The best possible
hands.
Proposition Player/Prop - An employee
of the gaming establishment whose primary
purpose is just to play and help keep enough
players at a table. The prop player does not
participate in wins or losses.
Puck - A token denoting the dealer
position. See BUTTON.
Puppy Feet/Pups - Club flush or just
the suit of Clubs.
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Q
Quads - Four of a kind.
Qualifier - A minimum standard that
a hand must meet in order to win. Usually
applied to the lowball side of a high-low
split pot.
Quartered - To divide half a pot between
two tying hands in split pot games.
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R
Rags - Board cards that are small to medium,
not suited and not in sequence.
Rail - A barrier dividing the card
playing area from a public area.
Railbird - A spectator behind the rail.
Rainbow - Small groups of cards with
no two in the same suit.
Raise - To wager more than the minimum
required to call, forcing other players to
put in more money as well.
Raiser - One who raises.
Rake - The usually small percentage
of money taken from each pot and given to
the house in return for hosting the game.
Rat-Hole - To take money or chips
off the table during play.
Read - To determine whether an opponent
has a good, medium or bad hand by observing
his personal behavior. REPRESENT -
Implying, by one's betting style, that one
has a particular hand.
Re-Raise - To raise after an opponent
has raised.
Ribbon Clerk - A small time gambler.
Ring Game - A standard game where
players can come and go as they choose.
River - The last card dealt in a hand
of stud or Hold'em.
Rolled Up - In seven-card stud, being
dealt three of a kind in the first three cards.
Royal Flush - An ace-high straight
flush, the best possible hand in regular poker.
Runner - A hand made using both of
the last two cards dealt.
Rush n. A winning streak.
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S
Sandbag Playing a strong hand as if it
were only a fair one.
Scoop To win all of the pot in a split
pot game.
See To call a bet, as in: "I'll
see you".
Semi-Blufff To bluff with a come hand
that figures to win if it hits.
Set Trips or Quads.
Shark - A good/crafty player often
posing as a fish early in the game.
Shill - An employee of the gaming establishment
whose primary purpose is just to play and
help keep enough players at a table. A shill
is staked to the game by the house as his
compensation.
Short-Stacked Playing with a only
a small amount of money.
Showdown - The point at the end of
the hand where all active players reveal their
cards and the pot is awarded to the winner(s).
Side Pot - When an active player runs
out of money during the course of a hand,
the remaining players participate in a second
or SIDE POT for the rest of the hand. Additional
side pots are possible if several players
run out of money at different points in a
hand.
Slowplay - To play a hand unaggressively
and risking as little as possible.
Small Blind - In games with two blinds
the first blind is the SMALL BLIND because
it is usually one-half (or less) the amount
of the big bland.
Snapped Off - To get a good hand beat.
Solid Player - A strong, all around
player.
Split Openers - In draw poker, to
discard one or more openers, usually to draw
to a straight or flush.
Split Pair - A pair in Stud with one
card up and the other down.
Split Pot - A pot that is split between
two or more hands.
Spread - For a casino to offer a particular
game.
Stack - The amount of money (the stack
of chips) a player has on the table.
Stacked Deck - A deck that has been
arranged to give one player a huge advantage.
Stake - The amount of a player's BUY-IN,
or the amount of money they are willing to
play with in a given session.
Stand Off - To call a raise. "Opener
raises, I stand off".
Steal - To win the pot by bluffing.
Steal Position - The next to last
or last position.
Steam - Playing wildly, calling and
raising a lot.
Streets - Fourth Street, Fifth Street
etc. In stud, the fourth card dealt to a player,
the fifth card etc.
String Bet - An unethical and often illegal
means of raising whereby a player puts a call-size
stack of chips into the pot and, after observing
the reactions of the players, then goes back
to his stack and puts out more.
Stuck - A significant amount of money
lost.
Stud - Any of several poker games in
which some of each players' cards are exposed.
Suicide King - King of Hearts. So
named because in the drawing the king appears
to be stabbing himself in the head.
Suited - Two or more cards all the
same suit.
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T
Table Charge - A fee paid for playing.
Table Stakes - A standard rule whereby
during a hand players can only bet the money
they have on the table.
Tap - In no-limit games, to wager all
of one's money in one bet.
Tapped Out - Out of money.
Tell - Any personal mannerisms that
reveal the quality of one's hand.
Texas - short for Texas Hold Em
Three of a Kind - Three cards all the
same rank.
Three Flush - Three cards of the same
suit.
Tied On - When your hand is good enough
to play it to the end.
Tight - A style of play that entails
playing fewer hands than average.
Tight Player - A person who plays
on the premium hands.
Toke - Gambling term for "tip".
Comes from the term "Token of appreciation".
Top Pair - In flop games, having a
hole card that matches the highest card on
the board.
Top Two Pair - In flop games, having
hole cards that make the highest possible
two pair hand.
Trey - A three.
Trips - Three of a specific kind,
as in "Trip sixes".
Turn - The fourth community card in
Hold'em.
Two Flush - Two suited cards.
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U
Underdog - Before all the cards are dealt,
a hand that does not figure to be the winner.
Under The Gun - The position that
has to act first in a round of betting.
Uphill - To chase or try to outdraw
a better hand.
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W
Walk - A pot won by the last blind when
no one opens.
Wheel - A-2-3-4-5. The best possible
low hand. Also called a "Bicycle".
Wild Card - A joker or standard card
that, by player agreement and/or dealer's
choice, can be used to represent any card
desired.
Wired Pair - A pair in the hole. In
5-card stud, a door card that pairs the hole
card.
Thanks and we'll see you at the tables!
KAP
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