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Poker Glossary & Terminology

August 1 LuckyLady

Ever since Moneymaker won his seat through PokerStars online site to win the WSOP Main Event, poker has never been the same. This ever increasingly popular game, especially Texas Hold’em, is now as common to everyday life as lawn chairs. Are you new to poker or just wondering what a term you just heard at the tables means? Well, look no further, because Lucky Lady Games has put together a poker directory from A to Z to help you out! I’m all in!

POKER GLOSSARY

Term	Definition
Add-on	An opportunity to top up or purchase extra chips to add to your stack. Usually after first break and at the end of the rebuy period.
All-in	When you move the rest of your chips into the pot.
American Airlines	Slang for Pocket Aces, in poker games where players hold 2 starting cards such as Texas Hold’em.
APT	Acronym for Asian Poker Tour
Ante	A small bet that is additional to the blinds to enforce action and speed up the game in later stages of tournament play. Increases incrementally with blinds.
Backdoor	A draw that requires two cards in a row to complete. Also called, runner runner.
Bad Beat	Losing a hand where you are a strong/big favorite to win.
Bankroll	The total amount of money you have to play poker with.
BB – Big Blind	The person 2 to the left of the dealer who has to put the the first full size bet in. The amount is dependant on the limit of play. Eg. If you are playing $2-$5, the BB would be $5.
BB – Big Bet	Most limit games double the bet sizes on the last betting rounds. The larger bet sizes are often called big bets.
Bet	Putting your money in the pot during play first in anticipation of other players calling, raising or folding.
Big Blind Special	When a player sitting in the big blind hits a great flop and takes down the pot with a mediocre holding.
Big Slick	Slang for AK
Blank	A card that didn’t help you, and most likely anyone else’s hand either
Blind	The term blind can be referred to in many instances. 1) Position 2 left of the dealer. 2) Enforced bet amounts into the pot before cards are dealt 3. Putting money into the pot without looking at your cards.
Bluff	Representing a hand other than what you are hold. Betting or raising when you know you do not have the best hand in hopes that your opponents will fold do you can win the pot.
Board	The shared cards consisting of the Flop, turn and river in Hold’em and Omaha.
Boat	Another name for a Full House. Consists of three of a kind with a pair. If two opponents have boats, the higher set/trips wins.
Bot	A computer that plays poker.
Bottom Pair	Pairing the lowest card on the board and having that as your final hand holding.
Bounty	A cash reward for eliminating a player from a tournament.
Bring in	A forced bet in stud poker games
Bubble	The last spot/person in a tournament before players are in the money.
Burn	The top card that is discarded before dealing the flop, turn or river. Burn cards are used to safeguard against the top card being exposed accidentally.
Busted	When a player is called on a bluff.
Button	The position of the dealer is marked as the button. This is the most powerful position in poker and the other positions are in relation to the button. The button has the advantage of acting last and is dealt last.
Buy-in	The amount of money you put into play at the poker table. Buy-in for tournaments is the entry free.
Buying the button	Betting or raising enough to make later positions, including the button to fold so you will be last to act.
Call	Match someone else’s raise before you so you can play your hand.
Calling Station	Someone who calls just about every hand, but does not raise or fold many hands. Considered a weak-passive player.
Cap	To max bet the allowed limit on raises, term used in Pot limit or limit games.
case	The last card of a certain rank/value left in the deck. Eg. There are 3 Aces already out in the game, the 4th would be the Case Ace.
Cash game	A poker game played for cash that you can join or leave and cash out at any time.
Catch	To get a card you need to make a winning poker hand. “I need to catch 5 to make my straight”
Chasing	Calling when you are behind in hand and hoping to improve by catching cards.
Check	A free free option to betting if no one has raised before you.
Check-raise	Checking a hand to have someone else bet and raising when it is your turn again to act.
Chip dumping	A form of cheating/collusion between players where one player will go all-in against another colluder with the worse hand allowing them to easily win all their chips. Usually done with hopes of increasing their chances of winning by having more chips in a single stack.
Chip leader	Player with the most chips in a tournament
Chop	An agreement between players that are in the money stages of a tournament of how the prize pool is to be divided.
Cold Streak	Having a bad and unlucky run of cards, aka Card Dead.
Cold-call	Usually when you are holding a big hand or a monster draw and you smooth call a raise and and a re-raise before you without re-raising.
Collusion	When 2 or more people ban together to cheat
Continuation Bet	Also known as a c-bet, this is a bet made after the flop by a player who raised preflop.
Counterfeit	If you are holding a pair preflop, such as 2-2 and the flop comes 4-5-A-4-5, then the 5 on the river counterfeited the 2pair you had on the turn.
Cowboys	Poker slang for a Pair of Kings
Cripple
Cut-off	The position on the table to the right of the button, aka the second-to-last position to act
Deuce	Another word for two value card. “The deuce of spades made my straight on the turn.”
Dime	On thousand dollars.
Dog	Short of underdog, this is the the person that is behind in a hand or with the lowerest chance to win.
Donk	Slang for a bad player, or a good player who just made a stupid move. “I just donk’d away my entire stack with a 7 high”.
Draw	To look for a card that will make you a winning hand. Someone who is on a draw is most likely behind and needs to improve to win. Common draws are flush draws and straight draws.
Drawing Dead	When a player can’t hit any card to win the hand.
Dry pot	A side pot with no money in it and just the main pot that includes an all-in player called down by one or more opponents.
EPT	Acronym for European Poker Tour
Equity	Your share of what is put into the pot in relation to how many people are in the hand.
Extra Blind	A blind put in by a player just entering or returning or changing seats in a cash game. Similar to Post.
Fake Think	When a player is pretending or hollywooding a hand and appear to be thinking long and hard about a decision, when in acutality, they have already made a decision.
Family Pot	A pot which all the players call before the flop.
Favorite	A hand that has statistical mathematical advantage to win.
Fifth street	Aka the river card in Hold’em or Omaha, or the third card dealt up in 7 card stud.
Fish	Slang for a bad player, or someone who is fishing for a card to improve their hand. In relation to Sharks being good players.
Flat call	To call a bet
Float	Calling a bet with intention of taking the pot down later on
Flop	The first three community cards that are dealt face up and shared with all players with cards in Hold’em and Omaha.
Flush	A poker hand consisting of all cards of the same suit. A flush is higher ranked than a straight but lower than a full house.
Fold Equity	The value you may get from forcing an opponent to fold by betting
Four of a Kind	Four cards of the same value. Better than a full house, but loses to a straight flush. Also known as quads
Fourth Street	The fourth card dealt in Stud poker, or the Turn card (next card after the flop) in Hold’em and Omaha
Free card	When everyone checks and no bets are made all around the table and the next card dealt is shown for free.
Freeroll	A free to enter tournament that you can still win prizes. Also refers to any situation where a player can’t loser, but can still draw to win. Eg. In a hi/lo split game when a player has won at least half the pot and is now drawing to win the other half.
Freeze-out	The most common type of poker tournaments. Once you lose your initial buy-in of chips, you are out and cannot rebuy.
Full house	A hand that consists of three of a kind and a pair. Beats a flush, but loses to 4 of a kind. Aka a Boat.
Grinder	A player who slowly ‘grinds’ out a profit over the long term. A consistently good player who is not flamboyant.
Gutshot	A straight that is missing a a middle card. Eg. If you are holding 4-6, on a 3-7-2 board, a 5 would complete your gutshot straight draw. AKA Inside Straight.
Hand History	The history of all your hands that you have played, lost or won.
Heads Up	Playing poker or for a pot against just one other person.
High-card hand	Winning a hand with nothing more than the biggest high card holding. No pair or above. Eg. A-4 holding, and the board is K-J-8-6-5 versus an opponent hold a Q-7, you would win with a Ace high.
Hi-jack	Position on the table that is to the right of the cut-off or 2 from the button.
Hole cards	The face down cards that are dealt to the player that no one else can see, but that specific player.
Hooks	Aka Fish Hooks, is slang for pocket Jacks.
Hot Streak	Catching a string of good cards and winning big pots with them consistently for a short period of time. Aka, on a Rush.
House	The gaming establishment where you are playing poker.
HUD	Heads Up Display. A computer software that displays positional statistics and other data of other players you are playing online.
Implied Odds	Pot odds that do not actually exist but may be included in mathematical calculations because of extra value and money you may win if you do hit your hand.
In the Money	To make it deep in a poker tournament where you are in a pay position and are winning prize money. Generally the top 10% of a tournament.
Inside Straight / Draw	A straight that is missing a a middle card. Eg. If you are holding 4-6, on a 3-7-2 board, a 5 would complete your inside straight draw. AKA Gutshot.
Jam	To move All-in in a no-limit game or tournament.
Kicker	A hole card that does not change the rank of a hand, but may be used as a determining factor in the case of a pair tie holding. Eg. K-Q, with a board of K-5-2, and your opponent is holding K-7. Your K with the Q kicker would be the best hand.
LAG	Loose Aggressive Player is a style of a player that plays lots of starting hands and raises with them.
Laydown	A tough fold a player may make if they think their hand is beat.
Leak	A hole in ones game, or a mistake that a player may make systematically that he/she needs to change to better his/her game.
Lock	A strong hand that is the nuts or nearly the nuts.
Loose	A player who calls bets with weak hands in weak positions or when pot odds do not dictate a call. Opposite of tight.
Made hand	A hand that is a pair or higher on the poker rankings.
Maniac	Slang for someone who is betting or raising with any hand and playing hands out of the ordinary with strong aggression.
Micro-limit	Very small money buy-ins, usually under $0.25 big blind.
Move in	Another name for All-in or Jam
MP – Middle Position	Players in the middle of the action, seat 3 to 5 off the button at a full table.
MTT – Multi table tournament	A tournament with more than one table of players.
Muck	To fold your card without revealing, or may refer to the pile of discarded cards.
NLHE	Acronym for No-limit Hold’em.
No-Limit	A variation of poker where you can raise all your chips on the table when it is your turn to act.
Nuts	The best possible hand.
O8	Omaha 8 or better game – Hi/Lo Split
Offsuit	When 2 cards are not of the same suit, denoted as “o” ie. Ako
On the come	To bet or call with a draw, usually a flush or a straight.
Open	To be the first to bet.
Open limp	Being the first to call preflop.
Out	When you are in the hand that is behind, you may have ways or outs to make the best hand with cards to come. Any card that will improve your hand is considered an out. If you have no outs, you are drawing dead. Outs are used to calculate pot odds.
Overcall	If someone bets and another calls in front of you, you may overcall in hopes that the players behind you will call as well because you are holding very strong cards – possible the nuts.
Overcard	A card higher than any card that is on the board.
Overpair	A pocket pair that is higher than any other card on the flop that may make a pair.
Pair	Any 2 cards of the same value. A pair beats any high card but is beaten by two-pair.
Passive	A weak style of poker play that is characterized by lots of checking and and calling. Opposite of aggressive.
Pay off	To call a bet even though you think you are not good, you are said to pay-off a player.
PLHE	Acronym for Pot Limit Hold’em.
PLO8	Acronym for Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better
Pocket	The cards that are unique to you and that only you can see. Eg. I had AQ in the pocket.
Pocket Pair	When you have a pair as your hole cards in Hold’em.
Position	Your table location/seating. Can be determine in relation to the dealer and is important in determining betting order. First position means you are first to act.
Post	To put in a blind bet when you sit down in a cash poker game or if you change seats that move you away from the blinds.
Pot	The total of money that is being played for in a particular hand.
Pot-odds	The amount of money in relation to how much more money you have to put in to win it or continue playing.
Pot-committed	Putting so much money in the pot that you make it mathematically correct to put in your remaining chips.
Pot-limit	A variation of poker where players can only bet up to the amoutn of money that is currently in the pot during their turn of action.
Pre-flop	When all players have been dealt cards, but no community cards or flop has been dealt yet.
Push	To shove your chips all-in in hopes that others will fold.
Quads	Slang for four of a kind, beats a full-house but loses to a straight flush.
Rag	A small card, usually the term is used in conjunction with a big card… eg. Ace-rag…meaning an insignificant card.
Ragged	A flop, or board, that does not appear to help anyone. Eg. 9-4-2 rainbow would look like a ragged board.
Rank	The numerical value on a playing card. Eg. King or Seven.
Rainbow	When the cards on the board are all different suits.
Raise	To put money into the pot that is more than the previous player to act.
Rake	The money that a pokerroom charges every hand of play. Usually a percentage of the pot. All pokerrooms, online or offline, have different structures.
Rakeback	Payment made back to a player for a portion of the rake paid by a player on a particular poker site. Usually an affiliate promotion of some sort during sign up.
Read	Being able to see something about a certain player which may help you get a clue of what they are holding or what their intentions may be.
Rebuy	A tournament option where you can get back into a tournament to play again after you lose all your chips.
Represent	To pretend or act like you have a hand that is much stronger than what you are holding.
Re-raise	If someone has bet before you, you have the option to re-raise their bet by putting more money in the pot.
Ring game	AKA cash game, not a tournament style game. Played directly with money.
River	The last card shared by all players that is dealt face up. AKA fifth street in Hold’em and Omaha, and seventh stree in Stud games.
Rock	A super tight player that plays only premium hands. When a rock raises, he most likely has a very strong holding.
Runner-runner	This is how you get a bad beat generally. It means to catch to catch 2 cards in a row that make the best hand.
Running bad	When you can’t seem to win a hand or get any good cards or hit anything on the flop and lose lots of money over a period of time. Similar to a cold street.
Rush	When you can’t seem to lose and go on a winning streak. Hitting everything and winning many hands or sessions in a row.
Sandbag	A slightly negative term to players who do not like ‘deceptive’ play of check-raising.
Sandwiched	To trap or be trapped between two raisers.
Satellite	A tournament you play to win an entry to a larger tournament of bigger buy-in.
SB – Small Blind	The person left of the dealer who puts money into the flop pre-dealing of cards. Around half the bet of the big blind.
SB – Small Bet	The amount you are allowed to bet in the first two rounds in limit poker.
Scare card	A card which may make a better hand for an opponent who may be in a draw. Eg. The 3rd flush card on the board or a 3rd straight card.
Scoop	In a mixed split poker game, if you win both the Hi and Lo portions of the the pot.
Semi-bluff	Betting or raising with a draw or a mediocre holding that may be the best hand if you hit the right cards but you don’t have a made hand yet but you Bet for fold equity.
Set	When you have a pair in the hole and you hit a 3 of a kind on the board/community cards.
SF	Acronym for Straight Flush
Shootout	A poker tournament that is played like a single sit and go, where only the top 1 or 2 players from each table to go play each other at the final tables.
Short Stack	When your stack of chips is low and below average in a tournament in relation to other players.
Short-handed	Less than a full table of players. A full-table is 9-11 players so anything less is considered short handed.
Shove	Pushing your chips all in.
Showdown	When all players have turned over their cards after all betting rounds and cards are dealt to see who is the winner.
Side Pot	When there are 3 more players in the pot and one is all-in with less chips that what was put into the pot by the other players. A side pot is the surplus of chips that will be played by players who equally put more into the pot.
Sit and go – SnG	A poker tourney with no set schedule starting time and starts when there are enough players entered. Number of players may vary.
Slow play	To simply check and call a big hand instead of betting and raising to conceal your hand strength.
Smooth call	Calling a bet or raise instead of raising with strong hands or draws
Soft-play	To play easy against another player at the table by not raising or betting
Splashing the pot	When a player throws or drops their chips into the pot and it hits/mixes a bit with the main pot not allowing other players to confirm his bet amount.
Split Pot	A pot that is shared by two or more players because they are both playing the same winning hand value.
Stakes	The game amount one is playing for. $25-50 blinds is considered highstakes.
Steal	When someone takes a pot by raising with the worse hand, usually done in position allowing him to play the previous actions of the table.
String Bet	When a player raises with chips in more than one motion. Unless a raise is declared, a player must raise the amount they want to bet in one motion.
Straddle	A blind raise that is done in front of the small blind to force more action.
Straight	A hand where five cards of consecutive values are in order such as A-2-3-4-5 or -8-9-10-J-Q. The straight can not go over the ace and carry over such as K-A-2-3-4.
Straight Flush	The best hand under a Royal Flush that is the same suit in consecutive order.
STT	Single Table Tournament
Stuck	Someone who has lost money and is looking to make it back by playing more.
Suckout	When someone draws against what odds tell them the correct plays is and having them hit that unprobable hand. Happens way too often.
Suit	Hearts, clubs, spades or diamonds are the suits of the deck.
Suited	When cards are of the same suit are together, they are suited.
Table Stakes	A rule in poker that restricts a player from going into his pocket for more money during a hand. A player can only invest the amount of money in front of him on the table into the pot currently being played.
Tell	A particular mannerism or quick in a players behavior that may signify the strength of an opponents hand. The player giving the tell is probably not aware of what he is giving away, and can he as simple as the way they put their bets into the pot or shaking hands.
Third Street	The first card in Stud poker games that is dealt face up.
Three-Bet	When someone bets, and re-raised again, then re-raised again for a 3rd time.
Three of a kind	A hand that consists of three card of the same value. This hand is stronger than two-pair but loses to a straight.
Tight	A term for a type of poker player who only plays premium/good hands and mucks when he doesn’t have good cards or the best holding.
Tilt	Emotion driven and being overwelmed and not thinking straight. Usually when you get a bad beat, lose lots of money or by losing many hands in a row. A player is said to be on tilt when he is not playing optimal, wildly and without good judgement.
Top kicker	The very best, ‘top’ card that does not change the rank of a made hand, but may be used as a determining factor in the case of a tie holding.
Top pair	The highest paired hand using the community cards and one of your hole cards.
Top set	The highest possible trip hand made with your hole cards. As opposed to bottom set, where it is the lowest trip hand made with your hole cards.
Tournament	A multi-player poker game with many entrants that you pay a set buy-in to play and is not played like a cash game where you can get up and leave at anytime and cash out. You are either knocked out or get into the top placings to win any money.
Trap	Slowplaying a big hand so that you can decieve another player into betting into your monster hand and getting paid off.
Trey	Slang with 3.
Trips	Another way to say three of a kind.
Turn	The single card dealt after the flop and before the river. The fourth community card dealt in Hold’em or Omaha.
Two-pair	Have two-pairs of matching cards in your poker hand as your highest rank. Eg. K-2-2-5-5. This hand beats one-pair but loses to trips.
UTG – Under the gun	Position on the table that is left of the big blind and is first to ace preflop.
Underdog	Someone who is not a favorite to win
Value bet	A bet amound made by a player who wants to be called because they are holding a great hand and wants to be called.
Variance	The up and down swings of your bankroll through your poker sessions.
Wheel	The lowest possible straight A-2-3-4-5.
WPT	Acronym for World Poker Tour
WSOP	Acronym for World Series of Poker

Poker Glossary & Terminology

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