|
Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon poker slang terms.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Glossary of poker terms - Poker Dictionary 
A
Action - Another term for "betting," that is, to start the action is to start the betting.
All-In - When a player has insufficient chips to "call" the bet, he bets all of his chips and covers the current pot, any subsequent bets will be in a side pot and he will not be involved in this side pot. If his hand is the highest then he will win the main pot, but not the side pot.
Ante - A small sum of money, placed in the pot by each player. Antes are used in Stud and Draw, but not in Hold'em or Omaha.
B
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.
Big Blind - The player to the dealers left posts a small blind, (a compulsory bet) equal to half the small bet, the player to his left places the Big Blind, equal to the small bet.
Blind - Forced bets placed in the pot by the first two players in front of the dealer button, in Hold'em and Omaha. See "small blind" and "big blind."
Bluff - To bet when you hold a weak hand, hoping that the intimidation factor of your bet can win the hand.
Board - The community cards in flop games.
Bring-in - In Stud, a bet that must be made on the very first betting round. Usually the player showing the lowest card is forced to make a bet; in some games, the player showing the highest card is forced. The bring-in applies only on the very first betting round, though. On all further rounds, the player showing the highest hand on board has the OPTION to bet first, but need not.
Button - A disc that signifies who is the nominated dealer for this hand. The button moves clockwise (to the left), each hand.
C
Call - This is a bet that matches the current bet.
Check - If no other bets have been made, you can check (pass), and wait to see if anyone else will bet. If everyone checks, then play moves to the next round.
Check-raise - To check, indicating weakness, with the intention of raising after someone else bets.
Check-raises are allowed in all casino poker games; in some home games, they are frowned upon.
D
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.
E
Eight or better - A common qualifier in High-low split games that use Ace-5 ranking. Only hands where the highest card is an eight or smaller can win the low portion of the pot.
F
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".
Flop - The first three community cards in Hold'Em or Omaha.
Fold - To throw your cards in, i.e. to decide your hand is not worth playing anymore.
G
gap hand In Texas hold 'em, a gap hand is a starting hand with at least one rank separating the two cards. Usually referred to in context of one-gap and two-gap hands.
H
Hole cards - The first two cards dealt face down to you, also known as "pocket cards" in Hold'Em.
J
jackpot - A large pool of money collected by the house and awarded for some rare occurrence, typically a bad beat.
I
Initial deal - The first set of cards dealt to players before they have to make a decision.
K
Kicker - The high card that goes with a pair or two pair.
M
Mucked cards - To throw your cards in without showing them to anyone.
Narrowing the Field - To bet or raise in the hopes that you will drive out some players whose hands are currently worse than yours, but who might improve if allowed to stay in.
N
Nuts - The best possible hand in any one game. A hand that can not be beat, and should be bet aggressively.
O
Offsuit - Cards that are not of the same suit. The ace of clubs and the king of spades are called ace-king offsuit
P
Pocket cards - Same as Hole Cards.
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.
Q
Quads - Four of a kind.
Quarter - To win a quarter of a pot, usually by tying the low or high hand of a high-low split game. Generally, this is an unwanted outcome, as a player is often putting in a third of the pot in the hope of winning a quarter of the pot back.
R
Rake - The money removed from each pot by the house, as a commission.
Raise, Re-Raise - A bet that will increase the level of the current bet.
River - The last community card in a flop game, also refers to the last card in 7 card stud.
Rounds of betting - A round of betting is complete when all players have had the opportunity to either fold, call or raise.
Rock - A player known to be very conservative, who usually bets or raises only when he has a very powerful hand.
S
Show all - When betting is finished and the cards are required to be shown, to establish the highest hand.
Small Blind - Refer to Big Blind.
T
Turn - The fourth community card in flop games.
U
Under the gun - The playing position to the direct left of the blinds in Texas hold 'em or Omaha hold em. The player who is under the gun must act first on the first round of betting.
V
Value bet - A bet made by a player who wants it to be called (as opposed to a bluff or protection bet). This is typically because he has a superior hand that he expects to win at showdown, or a very good draw for which he can increase his pot equity by more than the amount of his bet.
W
wake up - To "wake up with a hand" means to discover a strong starting hand, often when there has already been action in front of the player.
walk - A walk is the situation where all players fold to the big blind.
X Y Z
Free poker resource page, providing poker strategies and tips to become a successful poker player!
  
| Home | Links | E-Mail | Pokertalk | Sitemap | |
