Poker School

Glossary of terms

Poker has its own language. To help you understand and navigate the game, we provide a small guide explaining the most common poker terms.

A

Action

Bets during a hand. If a game has “a lot of action” it means there’s a lot of betting.

Active player

Any player that is still in the pot.

All-in

When a player puts the last of his/her chips into the pot.

Ante

The minimum bet for everyone before starting the game.

B

Baby

It’s called baby because of the small cards: 2, 3, 4, or 5. It’s the commonly used term specially in razz and high-low split.

Back door

A hand made other than the hand the player intended to make using the final cards dealt. For example you made a straight instead of the intended flush.

Bad beat

When a strong hand is beaten by a hand that was stronger only due to the final card dealt.

Bad game

It’s a game when you can’t do anything because your opponents are very good.

Bankroll

It’s named for the amount of Money available for betting.

Belly buster

Also called gut shot, is a draw to fill an inside straight.

Best of it

It is the situation when a bet is considered profitable in the long run.

Bet

Place money in the pot before anyone else in a hand.

Bet for value

Betting in order to raise the amount in the pot, not to make your opponents fold.

Bettor

It’s the first player to place a bet in the pot in a hand.

Bicycle

The lowest possible hand in lowball: Ace-2-3-4-5. Also called a wheel and baby straight. The best hand possible in low-ball. This term is used in all games.

Blank

A card that is of no value to a player's hand.

Blind

A mandatory bet that one or more players must make to start the action on the first round of bettings of games such as Hold’em or Lowball. In each new dealing of the cards, the blind rotates around the table.

Bluff

To bet or raise with a hand that is unlikely to be the best hand on the table.

Board

The cards that are dealt face-up in a poker game for all players to see. If they’re playing Hold’em, the community cards.

Bring it in

The start the betting on the first round.

Bug

A Joker that can be used to make straights and flushes and can be paired with Aces.

Busted hand

A hand that can’t be fixed with a new a deal of cards.

Button

When there’s croupier, It’s the disk that is moved from player to player in a clockwise direction following each hand, to indicate the dealer of each hand. In Hold’em, draw lowball, and poker of 5 cards, it’s necessary.

Buy in

The minimum amount of money required to sit down in a particular game.

C

Call

To call a bet is to match all previous bets without raising.

Call a raise cold

It’s also known as a “double bet”, it’s calling a bet and then raising it.

Caller

It’s the player that calls or raises a bet.

Card room

The room or area in a casino where poker is played.

Chase

It’s the risky move to top the hand of an opponent especially when apparently the opponents hand is better.

Check

When it’s a players turn and they don’t bet, it’s called to “check”.

Check-raise

It’s faking a “check”, in other words, the player “checks” and after the opponent puts in a bet, then the player raises that bet.

Chip

Also called as a check, it’s the round piece that is used in place of Money. There can be chips that represent different amounts.

Cinch

It’s the name for the best hand possible once all hands are shown facing up.

Close hand

It’s the hand in which all cards are facing down.

Come hand

Its when a player receives a hand (i.e. 4 cards of the same suit) before all cards are dealt to all the players.

Crying hand

It’s the situation when the player calls the bet even when the player knows that there is little possibility of winning.

Cut the pot

It’s the percentage of the pot that the casino or the organizer of the game keeps.

D

Dead hand

It’s named after the hand of the player that can not continue due to some irregularity.

Dead Money

Money put into the pot by players who have already folded.

Dealer’s choice

A game in which each dealer, in turn, chooses the type of poker to be played.

Draw (Descarte)

1.Take one or more cards.
2.Poker with 5 cards of which the player can discard 1 to 5 cards and receive equal amounts of cards in exchange of the ones discarded.

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.

Door card

The first exposed card in a player’s hand in stud games.

Double belly buster

See Open-ended-straight.

E

Early position

In a round of bets, it’s the position that obligates a player to act first.

Edge

To have an advantage over other players.

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 made in hopes of earning the amount that was wagered. It’s even money when there is a 50% chance of winning.

Expectation

The profit or loss you would expect to make on average over a number of hands.

F

Favorite

It’s the hand with the most possibility of winning before the dealer finishes handing out the cards.

Fifth street

In Hold’em games it’s the fifth community card. In Stud games, this is the fifth card dealt to each player.

Fill

To successfully draw to a hand that needs one card to complete it, by getting the last card of a straight, flush, or full house.

Fill up

To make a full house.

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.

Flat call

When a player calls a bet but does not raise it.

Flat limit

A betting limit in a poker game that does not escalate from one round to the next.

Flop

In Hold'em refers to the first three community cards that are dealt face-up in the center of the table all at one time.

Flush

Combination of 5 cards of the same suit.

Fold

It refers to when a player withdraws from the hand rather than bet or raise.

Forced bet

A required bet to start the action on the first round of a poker hand. The player that makes the bet changes in function of the type of poker that is being placed.

Four-flush

When there is a combination of four cards of the same suit.

Four-of-a-kind

It’s the combination formed by four cards with the same face value.

Fourth street

In flop games, it is the fourth community card dealt. In Stud games, it is the fourth card dealt.

Free card

The card that can be obtained without the having to call a bet.

Freeze out

It’s a game in which the play continues until one player has all the chips.

Full house

It’s the combination of 3 cards of one suit and 2 of another.

G

Giving a hand away

It’s the type of game that allows opponents to know the type of cards a player has.

Good game

Its when there are enough unskilled players so that one comes out to be the favourite.

Gut shot

Also known as a belly buster, is a draw to fill an inside straight.

H

Heads-up

A game against just one opponent.

High-low split

A poker game in which the highest and lowest hands share the pot.

Hold’em

It’s the same as Texas Hold’em. These days, it’s the most popular poker game. In this game players play with five community cards and 2 concealed cards in order to form the best five-card hand.

Hole

In community card games that have 5 cards, the hole is the one and only card that’s dealt facing down. In community card games that have 7 cards, the hole is the 2 cards dealt facing down.

Hourly rate

It’s the amount of Money a player estimates that he can earn every half hour.

I

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.

Inside straight

Four cards requiring one in the middle to fill a straight. An example: if a player has 6,7, 9 and 10, the card would be 8.

J

Jacks or better to open

A form of draw poker in which a player needs at least a pair of Jacks to start the betting.

Joker

The fifty-third card in the deck. The players can use it at their discretion.

K

Kicker

The highest unpaired side card.

L

Late position

A position on a round of betting in which you act after most of the other players have acted.

Lay the odds

To wager more money on a proposition than you hope to win.

Legitimate hands

Obtaining a strong hand, that’s not a bluff.

Limit

The highest amount a player can raise or bet in a round.

Limit poker

The game in which there is a maximum and minimum raise or bets in the round of betting.

Live card

In community card games, a card that remains in the deck or that is assumed to remain in the deck because it is not on the board.

Live one

The weak players that have a lot of money to loose.

Lock

An excellent hand that is unbeatable.

Long odds

The possibility of something that has little possibility of succeeding.

Long shot

A hand that has little possibility of filling a game.

Loose

A player playing more hands than the norm. Also called to play a loose game.

Lowball

A form of poker in which the lowest hand wins.

M

Mathematical expectation

It’s the mathematical expectation of the average of what one can win or loose in a bet.

Middle position

It’s the intermediate position in the round of bets.

Move all-in

When a player bets all the money he has on the table.

Multi-way pot

Any pot that has more than 2 players.

N

Negative expectation

A game that in the long run the player looses Money. Can also refer to the average amount of money you can lose in a bet.

No-limit poker

A game in which players can bet as much as they have in front of them on any given round.

Nuts

The best possible hand at any point in the game.

O

Odds

Mathematical possibilities of something occurring.

Off-suit

Cards of different suit.

On the come

A situation where the player does not yet have a complete hand.

On tilt

Situation when the player, for any reason, feels uneasy, and as a consequence, the player plays worse.

Open

To make the first bet.

Open-ended straight

It’s when a player has a combination of four consecutive cards that allows him to make a straight.

Open-handed

Term used for face-up card games.

Open pair

A pair of face-up cards.

Out

The term used for improving a hand, or the cards necesary to improve a hand.

Outdraw

See Draw Out.

Overcall

The name for the situation that’s created when a players calls a bet after another player has already called.

Overcard

A card higher than any card on the board.

P

Pair

Two cards of the same value.

Pass

When a player decides to not bet. To fold.

Pat hand

A hand that is played as dealt, without changing a card.

Pay off

Call a bet or raise it when a player is aware that they do not possess the best hand.

Pay station

A situation where the player calls the bet and raises it much more than normal.

Pocket

All the cards facing down. See Hole.

Position

It’s the seat that each player occupies during the round of bets.

Positive expectation

The average amount that a player hopes to gain at the end of each bet.

Pot

The pot is the total amount of money played in each hand.

Pot-limit poker

Pot-limit betting structure allows any player to raise up to an amount equal to the size of the whole pot before the raise.

Pot-odds

The amount of money in the pot compared to the amount you must put in the pot to continue playing.

Pure nuts

It’s the best hand, and varies depending on the game of poker that is being played.

Put someone on a hand

Calculating the best way possible, the hand or hands that an opponent(s) can have.

R

Rag

See Blank.

Raise

To increase the previous bet.

Raiser

The player who raises the bet.

Rake

The percentage of the pot that the casino or the organizer takes.

Razz

A lowball variation of 7-card stud; a 7-card stud game in which the traditional hand rankings are reversed so that the lowest hand wins in a showdown rather than the highest hand winning. Previously known as Razzle Dazzle.

Represent

To represent a hand is to betin a way that suggests you are holding a strong hand (whether you actually hold it or are bluffing).

Reraise

Is to raise a raise.

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.

River

The final card dealt in a poker hand, to be followed by a final round of betting especially in razz and in seven-card stud.

Rolled up

In seven-card stud, three of a kind dealt in the first three cards.

Rough

Term used in lowball to name the hand that is not perfect.

Round of betting

It’s the series of betting after having dealt one or more cards. It continues until all players have called or quit.

Royal flush

This is an Ace high straight of the same suit. It is the best possible hand in poker.

S

Sandbag

To act in a manner that indicates a hand is weaker than it actually is; hiding the strength of a hand to encourage opponents to bet more aggressively.

Score

To make a good profit.

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. It’s a term used especially in Hold’em.

Seventh street

It’s the seventh and last card dealt in seven-card stud.

Short odds

The probability of something occurring with a lot of possibilities.

Short-stacked

Continue playing when the player has little chips left.

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 pot

A separate pot contested by other players when one player is all-in.

Sixth street

Term used in seven-stud. The sixth card dealt to the players.

Slowplay

To play a strong hand weakly so more players will stay in the pot. The objective is to win more in the following rounds of bets.

Start the action

The first round of bets in a hand.

Starting requirement

The minimum that a player believes is necessary to continue within a hand.

Steal

To raise with a hand less valuable than what might normally be considered a raising hand with the hope that the few players remaining will not have a hand worth calling the raise.

Steal the antes

See Steal.

Steam

To play badly as a consequence of an emotional problem.

Straight

Five consecutive cards of mixed suits.

Straight flush

Five consecutive cards of the same suit.

Structure

The limits set upon the ante, forced bets and subsequent bets and raises in any given game.

Stuck

Losing a lot of money during a game or during a specified period of time.

Stud

A type of poker where some cards are dealt face up.

Sucker

The player that is not as good as he/she thinks and looses money as a consequence of the overconfidence.

Suited

The combination of two or more cars of the same suit.

T

Take the odds

Betting less than what the player hopes to win.

Texas Hold’em

It’s the same as Hold’em. In this game players play with five community cards and 2 concealed cards in order to form the best five-card hand.

Third street

The third care dealt to each player in community card games.

Three-of-a-kind

A combination of three cards of the same value.

Three-flush

A combination of three cards with the same suit.

Thight

When players play relatively fewer hands than the norm.

Trips

Other name for three-of-a-kind.

Turn

In flop games, this is the fourth card dealt.

Two-flush

Combination of two cards of the same suit.

U

Underdog

The player with the worst hand before all the cards are dealt.

Under the gun

The first player to bet. In a game with blinds, the position immediately to the left of the big blind.

Up

When used with a card rank to describe a poker hand, refers to two pair with the named card being the higher pair.

Up-card

Face up card, that is dealt face up.

V

Value

The strength of a hand and how likely it is to be the best according to the rules of the game being played.

W

Wager

A bet.

Wheel

The lowest possible straight. Also known as a bicycle.

Wild card

The joker or any card that is used with a specific value previously agreed by the players.

Wired pair

In community card poker or stud poker, when two of a player's private cards make a pair.

Worst of it

The worst situation in which a wager has an unfavorable return.