Poker Terms, Poker Slang, Poker Glossary, Poker Jargon, Poker Language, Poker Terminology and Poker Dictionary...

 Made Hand A hand to which you're drawing, or one good enough that it doesn't need to improve.

Main Pot The center pot. Any other bets are placed in a side pot(s) and are contested among the remaining players. This occurs when a player(s) goes all-in.

Make To make the deck is to shuffle the deck.

Maniac A very aggressive player who plays a lot of hands.

Micro-Limit Games so small that they couldn't be profitably dealt in a real cardroom. They exist only at online poker sites.

Middle Pair In flop games, when a player makes a pair with one of his/her down cards and the middle card on the flop.

Middle Position Somewhere between the early and late positions on a round of betting (the fifth, sixth and seventh seats to the left of the button).

Muck To discard or throw away your hand. It's also a pile of cards that are no longer in play.

Minimum Buy-In The least amount you can start a game with.

Monster A very big hand. In a tournament, a player who begins to accumulate chips after having a small stack is considered to be a monster.

No Limit A game where players can bet as much as they like (as long as they have it in front of them) on any round of betting.

No Limit Poker A game of poker where players can bet any amount in any round from the minimum bet up to the entire chip stack they have at table. Players cannot bring additional chips to the table during a hand of play, but they can get chips between hands.

Nuts The best possible hand at any point of the game. A hand that cannot be beat.

Odds The probability of making a hand vs. the probability of not making a hand.

Offsuit Cards of a different suit.

Omaha A game in which each player is dealt four down cards with five community cards. To make your hand, you must play two cards from
your hand and three from the board.

One-Gap A hold'em starting hand with two cards two apart in rank.

Open To make the first bet.

Open-ended Straight Four consecutive cards whereby one additional (consecutive) card is needed at either end to make a straight.

Open Card A card that is dealt face-up.

Open Pair A pair that has been dealt face-up.

Option An option is a Live Blind made in the dark before the cards are dealt. If no one raises, the “option” player may raise the pot.

Out A card that will make your hand win. Normally heard in the plural.

Out Button A disc placed in front of a player who wishes to sit out a hand(s) but remain in the game.

Outrun To beat.

Overcall To call a bet after one or more others players have already called.

Overcard A card higher than any card on the board.

Overpair A pocket pair higher than any card on the flop.

Paints Face or picture cards (Jack, Queen and King).

Pair Two cards of the same face or number value.

Pass To fold.

Pat A hand that you make on the flop.

Pay Off To call on the final round of betting when you may or may not think you have the best hand.

Picture Cards Face cards (Jack, Queen and King).

Play Back To raise or re-raise another player's bet.

Play(ing) the Board In flop games when your best five card hand is all five of the community cards.

Pocket The down cards or hole cards.

Pocket Cards The cards dealt face down to a player, which only that player can see their face value. Also known as "down cards" or "hole cards".

Pocket Pair A hold'em starting hand with two cards of the same rank, making a pair.

Pocket Rockets A pair of Aces in the pocket or hole.

Position Where a player is seated in relation to the dealer, therefore
establishing that player's place in the betting order.

Post When you post a bet, you place your chips in the pot. (You must post the Blinds.)

Post Blinds To put up a Blind Bet, either the Small Blind or the Big Blind, before being dealt your Pocket Cards.

Pot The money or chips in the center of a table that players try to win.

Pot-Committed A state where you are essentially forced to call the rest of your stack because of the size of the pot and your remaining chips.

Pot Limit This is a game where the maximum bet can equal the pot.

Pot Limit Poker A game where players can bet any amount in any round from the minimum bet up to the amount currently in the pot.

Pot Odds The amount of money in the pot compared to the amount you must put in the pot to continue playing. Pot odds also apply to draws.

Price The pot odds you are getting for a draw or call.

Prize Pool The Prize Pool is the cumulative amount of contributions paid by all participants in a tournament. That amount is distributed to the top finishers in the tournament. Rebuys and Add-ons, if permitted, also contribute to the Prize Pool.

Prop A person hired by the cardroom to work as a shill.

Protect To keep your hand or a chip on your cards. This prevents them from being fouled by a discarded hand, or accidentally mucked by the dealer or to invest more money in a pot so blind money that you've already put in isn't "wasted”.

Push When the dealer pushes the chips to the winning player at the end of a hand. It's also when dealers rotate to other tables.

Put Down To fold a hand.

Put On To mentally assign a hand to a player for the purposes of playing out your hand.

Quads Four of a kind.

Qualifier In High-Low games, it is a requirement the Low hand must meet to win the pot.

Rack A tray that holds 100 poker chips in five stacks of twenty chips each.

Ragged A flop (or board) that doesn't appear to help anybody very much.

Rail The rim of a poker table or a barrier outside a poker area.

Railbird Someone who hangs around a poker room who watches the games and/or is looking to get into action.

Rainbow A flop that contains three different suits, thus no flush can be made on the turn. Can also mean a complete five card board that has no more than two of any suit, thus no flush is possible.

Raise To increase the previous bet.

Rake Chips taken from the pot by the cardroom for compensation for
hosting the game.

Rank The value of each card and hand.

Rap When a player knocks on the table indicating that he/she has checked.

Razz Seven Card Stud where the lowest five cards win the pot.

Re-buy The amount of money a player pays to add a fixed number of chips to his/her stack in a tournament.

Represent To play as if you hold a certain hand.

Re-raise To raise a raise.

Ring Game A “live” game that is not a tournament.

River This is the last card given in all games. In Hold'em and Omaha, it is also known as 5th street. In Stud games, it is also known as 7th street.

Rock A player who plays very tight, not very creatively. He raises only with the best hands.

Round of Betting This is when players have the opportunity to bet, check or raise. Each round of betting ends when the last bet or raise has been called.

Rounders Guys who hustle for a living. This is also the name of a popular poker movie starring Matt Damon and Ed Norton.

Royal Flush This is an Ace high straight (A-K-Q-J-10) of the same suit. It is the best possible hand in poker.

Runner Typically said "runner-runner" to describe a hand that was made only by catching the correct cards on both the turn and the river. See also "backdoor”.

Satellite It is a mini-tournament to gain an entry into a larger tournament.

Scare Card A card that may well turn the best hand into trash.

Scoop To win the entire pot.

Seating List A waiting list. A player would put his or her name on this list if there were no seats at the table at which they wish to play.

Second Pair In flop games, when you pair the second highest card on the board.

See To call.

Sell In a spread-limit game, this means betting less than the maximum when you have a very strong hand, hoping players will call whereas they would not have called a maximum bet.

Semi-Bluff It is a bet or raise that you hope will not be called, but you have some outs if it is. A semi-bluff may be correct when betting for value is not correct, a pure bluff is not correct, but the combination of the two may be a positive expectation play. You probably don't have the best hand, and you'd like to see your opponents fold immediately. Nevertheless, if you do get callers, you could still improve to the best hand.

Set Three of a kind when you have two of the rank in your hand, and there is one on the board.

Seven-card Stud A well-known poker game in which players get three down cards and four up cards. You play the best five of those seven cards.

Seventh Street This is the final round of betting in Seven Card Stud and Stud 8 or Better.

Shills Shills are paid props who help start and maintain poker games.

Short Stack A number of chips that is not very many compared to the other players at the table.

Showdown At the end of the final betting round, it's when all active players turn their cards faceup to see who has won the pot.

Side Pot A separate pot(s) which is contested by remaining active players when one or more players are all-in.

Sit In Indicate your desire to participate in the next hand of play.

Sixth Street In Seven-card Stud, this is the fourth “up” card dealt to the player (their 6th card). It is also the 4th round of betting.

Slow Play To play a strong hand weakly so more players will stay in the pot.

Smooth Call To call. Smooth call often implies slow playing a strong hand.

Small Blind The amount put in the pot by the person immediately to the left of the dealer “button” prior to the cards being dealt.

Soft-Play To go easy on another player at the table (e.g., not betting or raising against him). Please note that soft-playing is prohibited in tournaments and can result in penalties, up to and including forfeiture of winnings.

Solid A fairly tight player (and reasonably good).

Speed Limit A pair of fives.

Splash the Pot To toss chips directly into the pot rather than put them in a stack in front of you.

Split Tie.

Split Pot A pot that is split between two or more players who have hands of equal rank at Showdown. This frequently happens when the 5 community cards constitute the best possible hand. Any remaining players would split the pot between them.

Split Two Pair A two pair hand in which one of each of your cards' ranks appears on the board as well. This is in comparison to two pair where there is a pair on the board.

Spread-Limit A betting structure in which a player may bet any amount in a range on every betting round.

Stack A pile of chips.

Stakes The minimum bets for the table, usually shown as two figures separated by a slash. The Stakes give an indication as to how rich a table is - how fast and high the pots may grow. The higher the stakes, the richer the table. The first figure is the minimum bet for the first two rounds (Pre-Flop and Flop), and the second is for the final two rounds (Turn and River). The minimum bet in No Limit and Pot Limit games is the same for all rounds, but the stakes are still represented as two figures.

Stay When a player remains in the game by calling rather than raising.

Steel Wheel A five high straight (A-2-3-4-5) of the same suit.

Stop-and-Go A play where you call (rather than re-raising) a raise, but then come out betting on the next card.

Straddle A straddle is a Blind bet which is usually double the size of the Big Blind (and that player may raise when the action gets to him).

Straight Five consecutive cards of any suit.

Straight Flush Five consecutive cards of the same suit.

String Bet A bet (more typically a raise) in which a player doesn't get all the chips required for the raise into the pot in one motion. Unless he verbally declared the raise, he can be forced to withdraw it and just call. This prevents the unethical play of putting out enough chips to call, seeing what effect that had, and then possibly raising.

Structure The limits put on the blinds/ante, bets, and raises in any particular game.

Structured Used to apply to a certain betting structure in poker games. The typical definition of a structured hold'em game is a fixed amount for bets and raises before the flop and on the flop, and then twice that amount on the turn and river.

Stud Games Games in which players get down cards and up cards.

Stuck A player who is losing in a game.

Suited A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are the same suit.

Table Stakes A rule in a poker game meaning that a player may not go into his pocket for money during a hand. He may only invest the amount of money in front of him into the current pot. If he runs out of chips during the hand, a side pot is created in which he has no interest. All casino poker is played table stakes. The definition sometimes also includes the rule that a player may not remove chips from the table during a game.

Tell A clue or hint that a player unknowingly gives about the strength of his hand, his next action, etc.

Texas Hold'em This is also the name for Hold'em, the most popular form of poker.

Thin As in "drawing thin." To be drawing to a very few outs, perhaps only one or two.

Third Street In Seven Card Stud and Seven Card Stud 8 or Better, this is the first betting round on the first three cards.

Thirty Miles Three tens.

Three of a Kind Three cards of the same number or face value (“trips”).

Tight A player who doesn't play many pots. A tight game is one that doesn't have much action.

Tilt To play wildly or recklessly. A player is said to be "on tilt" if he is not playing his best, playing too many hands, trying wild bluffs, raising with bad hands, etc.

Time A request by a player to suspend play while he decides what he's going to do. If a player doesn't request time and there is a substantial amount of action behind him, the dealer may rule that the player has foldedor an amount of money collected either on the button or every half hour by the cardroom. This is another way for the house to make its money (see "rake").

To Go The amount a player must call if he wishes to continue playing.

TOC Tournament of Champions.

Toke A small amount of money given to the dealer by the winner of a pot.

Top and Bottom Two pair, with your two hole cards pairing the highest and lowest cards on the board.

Top Pair In flop games, when the player pairs one of his down cards with the highest card on board.

Top Set The highest possible set.

Top Two Two pair, with your two hole cards pairing the two highest cards on the board.

Treys A pair of threes.

Trips Three of a kind.

Turn In flop games, this is the fourth card dealt. It is the third round of
betting.

Two Pair A hand consisting of two different pairs.

Under the Gun The position of the player who acts first on a betting round.

Underdog A person or hand not mathematically favored to win a pot. See also "dog”.

Up Card A card that is dealt face-up.

Value As in "bet for value." This means that you would actually like your opponents to call your bet (as opposed to a bluff). Generally it's because you have the best hand. However, it can also be a draw that, given enough callers, has a positive expectation.

Variance A measure of the up and down swings your bankroll goes through. Variance is not necessarily a measure of how well you play. However, the higher your variance, the wider swings you'll see in your bankroll.

Walking Sticks A pair of sevens.

Wheel A straight from ace through five.

Wild Card A card that can be played as any value.

Worst Hand A losing hand.

WSOP World Series of Poker.