Poker Glossary

Some general poker terms and their meanings .

Ace-High - A hand consisting of an ace without a pair or better.

Aces Full - A full house with 3 aces and any pair.

Action - Betting

All In - Putting all the chips you have into the pot.

Ante - The pot. The money and stakes in a game.

Bankroll - The amount of money you have available to bet. Never play with a bigger bankroll than you can afford to lose!

Blind - a forced bet, to start the pot on a given hand. In Texas Holdem, there are typically a small blind and a big blind, posted the players sitting respectively to the immediate left and 2nd to the left of the Button (virtual dealer). The big blind usually has to post the full bet while the small blind posts half that amount.

Bluffing - Pretending to have a better hand than you actually have, betting although you don't have a good hand.

Board - In Texas Holdem and similar poker variations, the community (shared) cards which are dealt face-up on the table.

Boat - Slang for a full house. Sometimes called a Full Boat.

Bullet - Another term for an ace.

Bust - A totally worthless poker hand.

Button, On The Button -The player who is the virtual dealer (the actual dealer in an informal game) or the marker which denotes this player. The button is the last player to have a turn in a round.

Call - To match the amount which was bet.

Cash Out - Take your money and leave.

Check - To pass your turn without betting

Check-Raise - Check, then raise after an opponent bets. (Not always allowed)

Community Cards - In Texas Holdum 5 cards dealt face up which are shared - any player can use any or all fo them to make up their final hand.

Connected or Connectors - Two cards in sequence (ex. 4-5)

Court Card - a king, queen or jack.

Cowboy - Another term for a king

Deuce - a two.

Draw Poker - a poker game where you are dealt a number of cards, then may discard one or more of them to receive new cards in their place.

Drawing Dead - Trying to make a hand which has no possibility of winning because an opponent holds a better hand.

Face Card - a king, queen or jack.

Fill Up - build a full house.

Fishhooks - Another term for jacks.

Fixed Limit - Poker betting structure where all bets and raises must be a predetermined fixed amount.

Flop - In Texas Holdem, the first 3 of the 5 community cards dealt on the board.

Flush - Any five cards of the same suit, but not in sequence. For example, the 2, 5, 8, 9 and king of spades.

Fold - Quit your hand, leaving the pot to the remaining players.

Four-Flush - four cards of the same suit, a fifth of the same suit will complete a flush.

Four Of A Kind - Four cards of the same rank (value), such as four aces.

Full House - Three cards of one value and two of another, such as 3 fives and 2 queens.

Garbage Hand - worthless hand where none of the cards are worth holding.

Go all in - put all your remaining chips into the pot.

Go on tilt - start playing impulsively and making bad decisions.

Gut Shot - A hand where you need to draw one card in the middle to complete a straight (ex. 2 3 5 6).

Hand - the five cards you have.

Head's Up - A poker game between 2 players. One-on-one poker game.

High Card - the card in a hand with the greatest value.

High Limit - A game where wagers are high.

High Pair - any pair that will payoff, i.e. a pair of jacks, queens, kings or aces.

Hole Cards - In 7 card stud, the first 2 cards you are dealt. In Texas Holdem, your pocket cards.

H.O.R.S.E. - HORSE is a poker tournament mixed game event featuring Texas Holdem, Omaha, Razz, Seven Card Stud and either Omaha Eights or better or Seven Card Eights or better.

House - the casino.

Implied Odds - The ratio of the amount you expect to win if you make your hand to the amount you need to bet to continue to play the hand.

Inside Straight - four cards of a straight, missing an inside card. For example, a 3, 4, 6, and 7. A 5 is required to complete the straight.

Jacks Or Better - variety of poker where a player must have at least a pair of jacks or higher to win the hand.

Joker - a special fifty-third card in a deck which can be used as a wild card or bug.

Kicker - The highest unmatched card in a hand.

Knave - another term for a jack

Lay the Odds - Bet more than you hope to win.

Limp - enter a pot for the minimum. Calling the minimum bet.

Loose - a player who doesn't fold very often is said to be "loose". A loose game is a game where the players are playing loose.

Low Limit - A game where wagers are small.

Micro Limit - A poker game with extremely low limits, for example $0.02/$0.04 or $0.05/$0.10 .

Muck - To discard your hand.

No Limit - A poker game where a player can bet or raise any amount up to their table stake.

Nuts - (or "The Nuts" or "Nut Hand") - Slang for "the best possible hand" at any given point in the game. This can change as additional cards are dealt. It Texas Holdem "flop the nuts" means to get that the flop gives you the best possible hand.

Odds - the probability of winning versus the probability of not winning.

One-Gap - see Inside Straight.

Outs - The number of cards remaining in the deck that will improve a hand.

Outside Straight - 4 cards of consecutive values that will become a straight by drawing a card at either end of the sequence. For example, a 7, 8, 9, 10 would become a straight by drawing either a 6 or a jack.

Overpair - A pocket pair higher than any card on the board.

Paint Card - a king, queen or jack.

Pair - two cards of the same rank (value).

Pat Hand - a hand good enough that you hold all 5 cards as dealt and discard none.

Pre-Flop - In Texas Holdem, the betting interval between the time the pocket cards and the flop are dealt.

Picture Cards - king, queen and jack.

Pocket Rockets - A pair of aces.

Position - Where you are in the sequence of betting compared to the other players. Early Position means you are one of the first to bet, a player in Late Position is one of the last.

Pot - All money and bets at stake in a game.

Pot Limit - A betting structure in poker where the maximum bet or raise is the current size of the pot.

Pot Odds - the ration of the size of the pot (i.e. how much the winner will receive) to the size of a bet.

Power Poker - a variety of video poker where you play several hands at once.

Put (someone) on a hand - Figure out the hand or hands an opponent is most likely to have.

Rainbow - Three or four cards of different suits.

Raise - to bet first in a round.

Rake - Money that the house takes in a poker game.

Rakeback - Rake money refunded to a player, usually after playing a certain number of games.

Rank - The value of a card (ten, king, etc.).

Re Raise - to put an additional bet on top of a previous raise.

Re-deposit Bonus - A bonus sometimes given to players for depositing additional funds into their account.

Reverse Implied Odds - The amount of money currently in the pot compared to the amount you will need to call from now until the end of the hand.

Reverse Tell - Deliberately making gestures or signals in an attempt to deceive other players as to what you are holding.

River - In Texas Holdem, the fifth (final) community card dealt on the board (aka "Fifth Street").

Royal Flush - a ten, jack, queen, king, and ace, all of the same suit. This is the highest ranking hand.

Run - Another name for a straight.

Scared Money - playing and betting cautiously because the player is low on funds.

Semi-Bluff - Betting or raising with a hand you know is not the best but which has potential for becoming the best.

Set - Another term for three of a kind.

Sign-up bonus - A bonus sometimes given to new players when they first deposit funds into their account. Also called a first deposit bonus or a new player bonus.

Slow Playing - Calling or checking when you have a strong hand in order to entice the other players to stay in the game and increase the pot size.

Soft (Competition) - Describes games where a knowledgable player is likely to win quite often. Easy competition.

Split Pot - Two hands tie and the pot is split between the two players.

Spread Limit - Poker betting structure where bets and raises must fall between a predetermined minimum and maximum amount.

Straight - Any five cards in sequence but not of the same suit.

Straight Flush - a straight flush is comprised of any five cards of the same suit in sequence with no gaps. For example, the seven, eight, nine, ten, and jack of diamonds.

Suited - cards of the same suit.

Tell - Some gesture or action which gives a clue as to the cards a player is holding.

Three Flush- three cards of the same suit.

Three Of A Kind - three cards of the same rank, such as three jacks.

Tight - A cautious poker player who doesn't play many hands and folds easily.

Top Pair - In Texas Holdem, a ppair consisting of the highest card on the board and one of your pocket cards.

Trey - a three.

Turn - In Texas Holdem, the fourth (next-to-last) community card dealt on the board. Also called "4th street".

Two Flush - two cards of the same suit.

Two Pair - Two cards of one rank and two cards of a different rank and a "kicker". For example, 2 kings, 2 sixes and a jack.

Underpair - A pocket pair with a value lower than any cards on the board.

Wild Card - a card that can substitute for any other card in the deck. Having a wild card increases the player's possibilities of forming a winning hand.