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Glossary of Poker Terms

All IN: Putting all of your chips into the pot as your bet on a hand.

Ante: An ante is a required bet that all players put in an equal amount of money or chips into the pot before the deal begins.

Bad Beat: In poker, bad beat is a hand in which a player with strong cards loses. It most often occurs where one player gets the clearly stronger hand and their opponent makes a poor call that "hits" and wins.

Blind: A required bet usually by the two players left of the dealer button. The small blind (one left of the dealer button is one half the amount of the big blind and is the required minimum bet.

Bubble: In a poker tournament, the last place to finish before reaching the payout level.

Broadway: An ace high straight.

Burn Card: a card dealt from the top of a deck, and discarded (unused) by the players. Burn cards are placed face down next to the discard pile without being seen by the players.

Button: Usually a white plastic disc with the word "Dealer" on each side used to indicate the dealer position at the table.

Buy-in: The minimum required amount of chips that must be bought to become involved in the game (or tournament).

Buy the Pot: Making a big enough bet so that no one else bets (force the other players to fold), thus winning the pot uncontested.

Call: To match a bet or match a raise.

Case Card: The last remaining card of a certain rank (Ace-King).

Cash Game: Also called a "ring Game" is a poker game with real money or chips. Different from a tournament where the chips have no real monetary value.

Check: To bet nothing.

Chop: To split a pot because of a tie.

Connectors: Two or more cards of consecutive rank (A,K or 8,9)

Deal Twice: In a cash game, when two players are involved in a large pot and one is all-in, they might agree to deal the remaining cards twice. If one player wins both times he wins the whole pot, but if both players win one hand they split the pot.

Dealer: The person who assumes that role for the purposes of betting order even though someone else might be physically dealing.

Family Pot: A deal in which every seated player called the first opening bet.

Fifth Street: THe last card dealt to the board in a Texas Hold'em game or tournament.

First Position: The playing position to the direct left of the blinds in Texas hold 'em or Omaha. The player in first position must act first on the first round of betting.

Flop: The flop refers to the dealing of the first three face-up cards to the board, or to the three cards themselves, used particularly in Texas hold 'em and Omaha.

Fourth Street: THe fourth card dealt to the board in a Texas Hold'em poker game or tournament.

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.

Hand for Hand: When a table has finished a hand, the dealer must wait until all tables have finished to commence the next hand.

Heads Up: Playing against a single opponent.

Hole Cards: In Texas Hold'em, face-down cards. Also called "pocket cards".

In The Money: To place high enough in a poker tournament to get prize money.

Kicker: A kicker is a card in a poker hand that does not itself take part in determining the rank of the hand, but that may be used to break ties between hands of the same rank.

Lay Down: A choice to fold a good hand in anticipation of a superior hand.

Limp In: To enter a pot by calling the bet instead of raising.

Muck: To fold.

No Limit: Players are allowed to wager any or all of their chips in a single bet.

Nut Hand: In poker, the nut hand, or the nuts, is the strongest possible hand in a given situation.

Open Ended Straight Draw: An outside straight draw, also called up and down or open-end(ed) straight draw, is a hand with four of the five needed cards in sequence (and could be completed on either end) that may improve to a straight. For example, x-9-8-7-6-x.

Over Bet: To make a bet that is more than the size of the pot in a no limit game.

Over Card: Community card with a higher rank than a player's pocket pair.

Position: Position in poker is the order in which players are seated around the table. Players who act first are in "early position"; players who act later are in "late position". A player "has position" on opponents acting before him and is "out of position" to opponents acting after him

Post: To make the required small or big blind bet in Texas hold 'em or other games played with blinds.

Pot Committed: In the context of a no limit game, the situation where you usually will no longer fold because the size of the pot is so large compared to the amount of chips you have.

Pot Odds: In poker, pot odds are the ratio of the current size of the pot to the cost of a call. In other words, if the pot contains $100, and the player must call $10 to stay in the hand, then the player has 10-to-1 pot odds.

Pre-Flop: In Hold'em and other flop games refers to the time when players already have their pocket cards but no flop has been dealt yet. It's also the first round of bets.

Quads: Four of a kind.

Rag: A low-valued (and usually worthless) card.

Rake: is the scaled commission fee taken by a cardroom operating a poker game. It is generally 5 to 10 percent of the pot in each poker hand, up to a predetermined maximum amount.

RE-Buy: An amount of chips a palyer can purchase after the buy-in. In some tournaments, players are allowed to rebuy chips one or more times for a limited period after the start of the game, providing that their stack is at or under its initial level.

RE-raise: Raise after one has been raised. Also coming "over the top".

Ring Game: also called cash games or live action games, are poker games played with "real" chips and money at stake.

River: The river card is the final card dealt in a Texas Hold'em poker hand.

Runner-Runner: A poker hand made by hitting two consecutive cards on the turn and river. Also known as "backdoor".

Rush: A prolonged winning streak.

Satellite: A poker tournament in which the prize is a free entrance to another (usually larger) tournament.

Set: Three of a kind.

Shootout: Poker tournament format where the last remaining player of a table goes on to play the remaining players of other tables.

Sit and Go: A poker tournament with no scheduled starting time that starts whenever the necessary players have put up their money. Single-table sit-and-goes, with nine or ten players, are the norm, but multi-table games are common as well. Also called sit n' gos and a variety of other similar spellings.

Slow Play: Betting weakly or passively with a strong hand rather than betting aggressively with a weak one.

Stack: The total chips and currency that a player has in play at a given moment.

Splash the Pot: To throw your chips in the pot in a disorderly fashion. Not allowed, because the dealer can't tell how much has been bet.

String Bet: A call with one motion and a later reach for more chips without stating the intended amount. String bets are prohibited in public cardroom rules.

Suck Out: When a hand, heavily favored to win, loses to an inferior hand after all the cards are dealt. ("bad beat")

Tell: A tell in poker is a detectable change in a player's behavior or demeanor that gives clues to that player's assessment of his hand.

To Go: A term used to describe the amount that a player is required to call in order to stay in the hand.

Trips: When one of the player's hole cards in Texas hold 'em connects with two cards on the board to make three of a kind. This differs from a set where three of a kind is made when a pocket pair connects with one card on the flop to make three of a kind.

Turn: The turn card or "fourth street", in poker, is the fourth of five cards dealt to the board.

Under the Gun: The playing position to the direct left of the blinds in Texas hold 'em or Omaha.

Value Bet: A bet made by a player who wants it to be called (as opposed to a bluff or protection bet).

Weak Ace: An ace with a low kicker (e.g. three). Also "small ace," "soft ace," "ace-rag."

Wheel: A 5-high straight (A-2-3-4-5), with the Ace playing low.

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