For all entries, please assume that we’re talking about Texas Hold’Em poker unless we say otherwise.
Aces up: You hold two pairs, one of which is two Aces.
Action: Bets made on a poker hand.
Action card: A card appearing on the board that causes significant betting action because it helps two or more players. For example, when the flop happens, an ace appears. This helps two players because they both had aces as one of their original pocket cards.
All in: This means a player bets all the remaining money he has on the table. This happens when the player doesn’t have sufficient remaining cash to call the current bet amount, but wishes to bet nonetheless. Once a player is all-in, he is not eligible for any additional bets that are made – these go into a side pot.
Ante: A compulsory small bet all players make before a card is dealt. This isn’t normally a feature of Texas Hold’Em poker games. In Texas Hold'Em, only two players are normally forced to bet – the blinds.
Back door: The last two board cards make a player's hand, even though she bet on the flop for another reason.
Bank: Also called the house, the person responsible for distributing chips, keeping track of the buy-ins, and paying winners at the end of the game. Online, this role is performed by the poker website.
Behind: A player who has a worse hand than another player in a hand that has not yet been dealt to completion.
Bet: To place a wager on a poker hand. To put money into a pot.
Big Slick: A starting hand of Ace-King as pocket cards.
Blinds: A compulsory bet to open the betting. The two players immediately clockwise from the dealer button have to make these compulsory bets. The person immediately clockwise from the dealer button is the small blind, the next player round is the big blind. See Rules of the game.
Bluff: A player bets or raises even though he suspects his hand probably isn’t the best hand. He hopes to persuade other players that he has a better hand than he actually has. As a result, rival players with strong hands might be persuaded to fold mistakenly.
Board: The face-up community cards on the table. Also known as board cards or community cards.
Broadway: An Ace-high straight. 10-Jack-Queen-King-Ace.
Boat: Another name for Full house. Also known as full boat.
Burn a card: In a casino, the dealer may discard the top card on the deck before dealing. This is done to stop cheating – otherwise players might hope to benefit from card marking in the previous round.
Busted: If you've no money left and you can't continue playing, you're busted. Similarly, if you're eliminated from a tournament, you're busted or busted out.
Button: A button is placed in front of the player who is theoretically the dealer. (Of course, the poker site's computer does the actual dealing for you.) 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 it costs to become involved in a game or tournament. If a tournament is described as '£150 + £15', it costs £150 to enter the tournament plus £15 for a rebuy.
Call: To match a bet that another player has already made on the table. This is the minimum amount of money that has to be paid in to continue playing.
Calling station: A disparaging term for a weak player who normally calls or checks bets but rarely raises. He does this regardless of the strength of his hand. He’s unlikely to fall for a bluff because he keeps on calling and rarely folds.
Cap: A limit on the number of raises allowed in a betting round. If a cap is applied it would normally be in a limit poker game. If a cap is applied in a no limit game, there is a maximum amount that any player canb bet in one hand. See cap game.
Cap game: In a conventional no-limit poker game, there’s no limit to how much money you can lose on a particular hand. However, there is a limit on how much you can buy in for - typically 100 times the big blind.
In a cap game, the reverse applies. There’s a limit to how much you can lose in a particular hand, but there no limit on the amount you can buy in. Once the cap is reached, all players remaining in the hand are considered all-in. Cap games can be livelier than a standard game because the maximum amount you can lose on a hand is capped. That means that many players will be more aggressive.
Chase: To continue playing a hand despite poor odds.
Check: To decline to bet whilst staying in the hand. You can only do this if no other bets have been made in the round already. If a bet has been made, you must either call, raise or fold.
Check-raise: To check and then raise when a player behind you bets.
Clean out: A card that would almost certainly make your hand the best.
Community cards: Cards in the centre of the Texas Hold’em table that can be considered as part of anyone’s hand. See board.
Connectors: Hole cards that are in rank order (for example King-Queen or 3-4).
Continuation bet: A bet made after the flop by the player who took the lead in betting before the flop.
Cutoff: The player who acts immediately before the player with the dealer button. This is the second last position to play in Texas Hold’em.
Dealer: In online poker, the cards are dealt automatically by a computerised dealer. However, you still need to know which player would be dealing cards in a conventional game. That’s because the blinds and the dealing action are to the left of the dealer. A dealer button moves round the table clockwise during an online game.
Deuce: A 2.
Draw: To call bets with a hand that is unlikely to be the best at present but has the potential to improve.
Face card: Royalty – King, Queen or Jack.
Family pot: A deal in which all players or nearly all players call before the flop.
Fast: Aggressive play.
Fifth street: The fifth community card, more often known as the river.
Fish: A beginner or poor player.
Five-card hand: A straight, flush or full house. These hands can only be winning hands with all five cards.
Flat-call: To just call the minimum amount of a bet.
Flop: The first three community cards put out simultaneously on the board, face up.
Flush: A hand that consists of five cards that are all of one suit. A flush is better than a straight but worse than a full house. See Which cards win?
Fold: To give up on a poker hand and make no further bets. See Rules of the game.
Four-of-a-kind: A hand containing four cards of equal rank. See Which cards win?
Fourth street: The fourth community card, more often known as the turn.
Freeroll: A tournament with no entry fee.
Freezeout: Once you lose your chips in a freezeout tournament, you are eliminated. See Rebuy.
Full house: A hand consisting of three-of-a-kind and a pair. See Which cards win?
Full ring: A full ring game is a cash game with more than six players involved, typically nine to eleven.
Gap hand: A starting hand with cards more than one rank apart.
Gutshot straight: A straight filled ‘inside.’ Let’s imagine your pocket cards are 9 spades and 8 diamonds. The flop is 7 clubs-5 hearts-2 diamonds, and the turn is 6 clubs. You’ve then made your gutshot straight: 9-8-7-6-5. Also known as inside straight. See outside straight as well.
Hand: The cards any player holds at a given time (community cards plus hole cards.)
Hand reading: Attempting to deduce what hand a rival player has.
Heads up: A pot that is being contested by only two players.
Hero: When people put up their hands for review on a website or online forum, they often change their name so that their screen name can't be identified. Often the name chosen is 'Hero.'
Hit: You get the card or cards that help you get the hand you're aiming for.
Hole cards: The face-down cards dealt to each player. Also known as pocket cards.
House: The establishment running the game. Either the casino or the website.
House cut: A term for profits taken by the house.
HUD (heads-up display): A software tool that takes statistics you have gathered on your opponents and overlays them on your online poker table in real time.
Implied pot odds: Also known as implied odds. They are calculated in the same way as pot odds, but also include estimated future betting.
Inside straight: See gutshot straight.
Kicker: Also called a ‘side card.’ A card that doesn’t determine the rank of the hand, but may be used to settle ties between hands of the same rank. Here are two examples:
Queen – Queen – 10 – 10 – 5 (5 is the kicker)
Queen – Queen – 9 – 8 – 5 (9, 8 and 5 are all kickers)
Late position: To be seated towards the end of a particular betting round.
Leak: A mistake that a player repeatedly makes. This mistake, or leak, is costing him money.
Limit: A poker game where the amount to be bet is fixed, or at most, variable within a prescribed minimum and maximum.
Limp: To call. Generally the term refers to pre-flop betting.
Loose: A player who plays a high percentage of starting hands, and bets aggressively.
Main pot: The money that all betting players are eligible to win. After one player is all-in, a side pot is created for any further bets.
Muck: If you’re playing poker in a casino, the muck is where all the dead cards are placed. If you throw away or discard a card, that is known as ‘mucking.’ Some players muck their hands at the showdown so that other players cannot see what hands they had.
Multi-table: Experienced online players often play more than one table at the same time. Some professional players have ten to fifteen games on the go at the same time. Multi-tabling can boost profits for top-rank players, but it can also lead to much bigger losses for others.
NLH: No Limit Texas Hold'Em. The most popular version of online poker. See Adding strings to your poker bow.
No-limit: A poker game where any player is entitled to bet his entire chip stack at any one time.
Nuts: The best possible hand. Someone who holds the best possible hand is said to be ‘holding the nuts.’
Off-suit: Cards that aren’t in the same suit.
Omaha: A version of poker that is similar to No Limit Texas Hold'Em. See Adding strings to your poker bow.
Open: To make the first bet on the round.
Out: An unseen card that would dramatically improve a player’s chance of winning.
Outside straight: You have four cards that could become a straight if you get a card on either side of these cards. For example, 6-7-8-9. If 5 or 10 appear as a community card, you have a straight.
Over card: A card that has a higher rank when compared to other cards.
Over pair: A pocket pair that is higher than any other card on the board.
Pair: Two cards of the same rank. See Which cards win?
Pass: To fold.
Playing the board: Your best five-card hand uses the five community cards.
Pocket aces: Your pocket cards are a pair of aces.
Pocket cards: See hole cards.
Pocket pair: Two pocket cards of the same rank that are dealt to the same player. E.g Queen of Hearts – Queen of Spades.
Pocket rockets: Your hole cards are both aces.
Post: To make a blind bet.
Pot: The total amount of money that has been bet in the hand by all players.
Pot limit: A game in which the maximum bet is the total of the pot.
Pot odds: The amount of money in the pot compared to the amount you must put in the pot to continue playing. Let’s imagine there is $100 in the pot. Somebody bets $10, so the pot now contains $110. It will cost you $10 to call, so your pots odds are now 11:1.
Protect: You start with strong pocket cards - perhaps a pair of Kings - but you know that other players may be able to beat you later with straights or flushes. So if you bet aggressively pre-flop, you may be able to force some of the other players to fold and you won't be beaten by better hands. You've 'protected' your Kings.
Provider: A player who makes the game profitable for the other players at the table.
Put on: To decide in your head that a rival player has a particular hand and play accordingly.
Quads: Four of a kind. See Which cards win?
Railbirds: Players who are constantly broke. Also known as 'on the rail.' This is because some card rooms have a brass rail that seperates the viewing areas from the playing areas. Players who are frequently broke line up along the rail to watch the games.
Rainbow: Three or four cards of different suits.
Raise: To increase the amount of the current bet.
Rake: This is commission for the poker website or casino. It’s normally around 5 to 10% of the pot in each hand.
Rank: The number on a card.
Razz: A version of poker where the 'worst' hand wins. Ace-2-3-4-5 is a strong hand. Read more in Adding strings to your poker bow.
Rebuy: Rebuy tournaments allow eliminated players to buy back in with fresh chips for a limited period of time - usually the first hour of play. See Cash or Tournament?
Ring game: A regular poker game as opposed to a tournament. Players can leave a ring game at any time.
River: The fifth and final community card on the board. Also known as fifth street.
Rock: A very tight, non-creative player. He raises only with the best hands.
Round of betting: The period during which each active player has the right to check, bet or raise.
Royal flush: The best possible hand in poker. The five highest cards, all of the same suit: Ace-King-Queen-Jack-Ten. See Which cards win?
Satellite: A tournament that you can enter with a low entry fee or 'buy in.' The winner of the satellite then gets free entry to another tournament with a much higher 'buy in.'
See: Another word for calling a bet.
Sets: You have a pair in your hand. On the flop, you 'hit' a card of the same rank giving you 'three-of-a-kind'.
Short-stacked: You’ve only got a small number of chips left.
Showdown: The final round of betting is over. The remaining players now show their cards to see who wins the pot. See Rules of the game.
Side pot: A pot has been created in which at least one player has no interest because he has bet all his chips. In other words, he is now all in. The all in player will be eligible for the main pot but not the side pot.
Slow play: You have a strong hand but you don’t bet aggressively. Instead you check or bet as small an amount as possible. If this tactic works, a player with a weaker hand than you will bet aggressively and you’ll be able to win a large pot at the showdown.
Spread limit: A form of betting where there is a fixed minimum and maximum bet for each betting round.
Stack: The amount of money a player has on the table.
Steal: To win a pot by bluffing.
Steal the blinds: Get the blinds to fold by bluffing. You usually do this by opening in a late position.
Straight: Five cards in a row. Of mixed suits. E.g 3 spades – 4 hearts – 5 spades – 6 clubs – 7 clubs. See Which cards win?
Straight flush: Five cards in a row, all of the same suit. See Which cards win?
Suited: Two cards of the same suit.
Tell: A personal mannerism that helps rival players to successfully estimate the strength of your hand. In the offline world, ‘tells’ could include all sorts of facial expressions. In online poker, tells include the speed of play and use of the chat box. The chat box is where players can communicate with each other whilst playing.
Three of a kind: Three cards, all of the same rank. Also known as 'trips'. See Which cards win?
Tight: A tight player takes a conservative approach and only bets when he has a strong hand. The opposite of loose.
Tilt (or on tilt): A player is on tilt if he is letting emotion dictate his betting decisions. He might be emotional after losing a previous round that he should have won.
Trips: There are two cards of the same rank on the board and you have one card of the same rank in your hand, giving you 'three-of-a-kind'. See Which cards win?
Turn: The fourth community card. Also known as ‘fourth street.’
Under the Gun: The position immediately clockwise from the big blind. The player in this position is the first one who can decide whether she wants to bet in the round or not. The blinds will have bet before her and have no choice in the matter. Often abbreviated to UTG.
Value bet: A bet made by a player who is hoping to be called. The player has a good hand and by value betting, she is hoping to boost the size of the pot which she hopes or expects to win. A perfect value bet is at the maximum level a rival player is willing to call. If an attempted value bet is too high, the rival player will fold, which won't boost the size of the pot.
Wheel: Ace-2-3-4-5. The lowest possible straight. Also known as bicycle. See Which cards win?
