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Poker Lingo

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Aces Full

A full house containing three aces.

Aces Up

Two pairs, one pair containing aces.

Action

The betting.

Add-On

The opportunity to buy additional chips in some tournaments, often at the end of a period where re-buys are permitted.

All-In

A player is considered to be All-In when he/she bets all his/her remaining chips.

Ante

A bet required to begin a hand which is some forms of poker.

ATC

The abbreviation of the phrase ‘Any two cards’. This is often used to describe a situation where a player should make a bet regardless of what cards he is holding.

Auto Check Folded

This occurs if a player is disconnected in an online game.

Bad Beat

When a strong hand is beaten by a heavy underdog through a series of unfortunate events.

Bankroll

The amount of money a poker player has set aside to be available to play with.

Belly Buster

See Gutshot.

Best of it

This means that you have your money in the pot while the odds are in your favour. You may still lose the hand, but that would be a matter of bad luck. A good player doesn’t worry about winning as much as they worry about getting their chips in with the best of it.

Bet

To increase the amount of money in the pot, given that there has been no action in front of you.

Big blind

The larger of the forced bets made by players in Texas Hold’em.

Blind

A forced bet put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt. Usually, blinds are put in by players immediately to the left of the dealer button. The player to his immediate left puts in the small blind, and the next player the big blind.

Bluff

To make a bet that indicates that you have a stronger hand than you actually do.

Board

All the community cards in a Texas Hold'em game - the flop, turn, and river cards together. Example: "There wasn't a single spade on the board".

Bubble

The bubble is the position one off the money in a tournament.

Bust out

To be eliminated from a tournament by losing all of your chips.

Button

A white disc, often the size of an ice hockey puck, which indicates the player who is currently in the dealer button position. It is considered the best position on the table, as the dealer is last to act and therefore gets to react to the decisions of all of the other players. The button moves one space to the left after every hand.

Call

To call is to match the current bet. If there has been a bet of $10 and a raise of $10 then it costs $20 to call. Calling is the cheapest (and the most passive) way to remain in a hand.

Calling Station

A derisive term used for a weak player, who often calls other players’ bets rather than folding or raising and forcing the action themselves.

Cashing

To finish in the money in a tournament.

Check

If there has been no betting before you in a betting round, you may check. This is the equivalent of calling a bet of $0 – passing your turn on to the next player.

Check-raise

To check in the hope that another player will bet, to then present you with an opportunity to raise and get more chips into the pot. Players who make this play are often indicating that they have a strong hand.

Chop

See split pot.

Coffee-housing

Table talk which is used strategically to get a read on an opponent, or psyche him out.

Community Cards

The cards that are on the board, which can be used by all players in a hand.

Dealer Button

See button.

Dominated

A hand which is beaten by another, where both hands hold a hand of equal rank. For example, the hand 74 is dominated by the hand 97.

Draw

A situation in which you need a card in order to make your hand, generally a straight or a flush. For example, if you have four hearts after the flop, you have a flush draw.

Expected Value (EV)

A phrase used in order to describe the profitability of an action made by a player. A positive expected value move (+EV) would therefore make money in the long run, whereas a negative expected value move (-EV) would lose money.

Fifth Street (River Card)

The fifth card dealt on the board. This is the fourth round of betting in Texas Hold'em, and is also called the river card and is the last community card dealt.

Final Table

The culmination of a tournament in which the remaining players compete against one another at a single table.

Fish

A bad poker player who loses money.

Flop

The flop is the first three community cards dealt in Texas Hold’em, after the first round of betting.

Flush

You have a flush when all five cards in your hand have a common suit. The flush with the highest card not in common is better, so AK873 of spades is a better flush than AK872 of diamonds. A flush is ranked between a straight and a full house.

Fold

To concede the pot by either throwing your cards away (“mucking”) or verbally expressing your intention to do so.

Forced Bet

A blind bet or a bring-in usually used in Seven-Card Stud.

Fourth Street

The turn.

Free card

If no player makes a bet during a betting round, ie. everybody checks, all players get to see the next card drawn without having to put any more money in the pot. This card is therefore considered ‘free’.

Freeze-out

A tournament in which each player starts with the same amount of chips, and then continues until one player wins all of them. This is different to a re-buy tournament where players can buy more chips if they ‘bust-out’ in the period where re-buys are allowed.

Full House

A strong hand that ranks between a flush and four of a kind. It consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank. AAA77 is aces full of sevens, often abbreviated to ‘aces full’.

Grinder

A player who employs a slow, conservative, methodical style of play, hoping to slowly wear down his opponents.

Gutshot

A straight draw in which there is only one rank of card which is able to complete it. An example is if you have 5-6-8-9, you have a gutshot as only a 7 will complete the straight. This is also known as an inside straight or belly buster.

Heads-up

One-on-one poker, ie. with only two players.

Hole cards

A player’s face down cards in Texas Hold’em which no other players are allowed to see.

Inside Straight

See Gutshot.

Junk

A player holds junk if he holds poor cards.

Kicker

The second card in your hand, that doesn’t contribute to the hand’s rank. For example, if you hold QQ943, you have a pair of queens with a nine kicker. Five-card hands (straights, flushes, and full houses) don't have kickers. Kickers are especially important in games with community cards, as it's quite likely that two players could end up with similar hands. For example, if you hold A8 and someone else holds A7, and the flop is AK642, you have your opponent out-kicked. Your hand is AAK86, while theirs is AAK76.

Lay down

To fold a very strong hand, as you think your opponent has a better one.

Limit

Bets can only be made in specified increments.

Limit poker

A structured poker style that uses fixed limits on betting and raising per round. Limit poker games require specific bet amounts, as opposed to no-limit games where you can bet all of the chips in front of you at any time. A $5-$10 Texas Hold'em game usually requires $5 bets and raises on the first two rounds (pre-flop and post flop), and $10 bets and raises on the last two (after the turn and river). In a $5-$10 game, the small blind is $2 and the big blind is $5.

Limp

To enter a pot pre-flop by simply calling the big blind and not raising.

Live Hand

A hand that has not been folded or mucked, or a hand with many outs remaining.

Loose

A style of play where you play a lot of hands, the opposite of tight.

Made Hand

A strong hand, such as a straight, flush or full house, that is complete and doesn’t require any additional cards, even though they are still coming.

Main Pot

The only pot an all-in player is eligible to win. The main pot consists of the all-in player's bet plus all other player's calls of that bet. Additional bets, placed in a side pot, are contested among the remaining players.

Middle Pair

If you pair one of your pocket cards to the second highest card on the flop, you have middle pair.

Money-management

The ability of a player to handle his cash at the table and away from it. If you have good money-management skills then you will not play in games which are of too high stakes for your bankroll, and are therefore less likely to go broke.

Muck

The act of throwing your cards away because you cannot or did not win the pot. ‘The muck’ also refers to the pile of cards which have been discarded by players who have already folded. If any cards touch this pile they are no longer in play.

Multi-Table Tournament

A tournament which takes place over a number of tables.

No-Limit

A version of poker in which a player may bet any amount of chips (up to the number in front of him) whenever it is his turn to act. It is a very different game than limit poker.

Nuts

If a player has the ‘nuts’ he has the best possible hand at that point. The ‘absolute nuts’ is where a player has the nuts, and no more cards can come to stop him having it.

Off suit

A player’s hole cards are described as ‘off suit’ if they are of varying suits.

On the bubble

The bubble is the last position in which a player can finish without cashing. For example, if a multi-table tournament pays out 32 places, the player who finished 33rd is deemed to have finished on the bubble.

Open

To make the first bet in a round.

Open-Ended Straight Draw

A straight draw with four consecutive cards that can be completed on either end. An example is 6-7-8-9, since a five or a 10 will make a straight.

Outs

This is the number of cards that could come to turn your drawing hand into a made hand.

Overcard

Any card which is ranked higher than any of those on the board is called an overcard.

Pair

Two cards of the same value such as two Aces.

Pass

To fold.

Pocket Cards

The cards that are dealt to a player at the start of a hand. Hold'em players tend to call them pocket cards; they can also be called hole cards.

Position

Your place at the table, relative to the order of betting within a betting round. The first few players to act are in ‘early position’, the next few in ‘middle position’, and the last few in ‘late position’. Generally the blinds in Texas Hold’em do not have ‘position’, as although they are in late position before the flop is dealt, they are in early position thereafter. There is an advantage to being in late position, as you benefit from already knowing the actions of your opponents. If you have position on someone, then they are on your right and you will always act after them.

Position Bet

A bet made relying on the strength of one's position rather than on the strength of one's hand. If everyone beforehand has folded, a player on the button in Texas Hold'em is in good position to steal the pot, due to his position.

Post

To post is to put into the pot the required amount before the hand starts, which in Texas Hold’em is the small and big blinds.

Pot

The money gathered in the middle of the table from blinds, bets, and raises. This money goes to the winner(s) of the hand. If you have not yet folded, you are “in the pot”.

Pot Limit

A poker structure in which the maximum bet or raise is the size of the pot. For raises, the size of the pot includes the call, so if the pot is $100 and player A bets $100, player B can throw $400 out for a maximum raise (calling the $100 and then raising the size of the $300 pot).

Pot Odds

A mathematical solution to whether or not a particular situation is worth a call. If it costs only $5 for the opportunity of winning a $100 pot, your pot odds are 20-1. The greater the pot odds, the more likely you should be to call.

Pre-Flop

Before the flop, ie. the betting round which takes place before the flop is dealt.

Quads

Four of a kind

Rag

A rag is a low card, which is perceived not to have helped anyone’s hand.

Rainbow

If all cards on the board are of different suit. For example, a flop is rainbow if it contains a heart, a spade and a club.

Raise

To increase the amount of the bet after someone has already made a bet on that round. For example, if a player bets $10, the next player could raise to at least $20. Often, an inexperienced player will say "bet" when he means raise, or "raise" when he means bet.

Rake

The house cut in each pot.

Rank

The numerical value of a card. Each card has a suit and a rank. The three of spades and the three of hearts have the same rank. A pair is two cards of the same rank.

Re-buy

To purchase more chips after losing your stack in a tournament. This is only possible in re-buy tournaments, and can only take place up until a certain point. See also: add-on.

Re-raise

A second raise after the initial raise in a round. This occurs when a player raises after a raise by another player.

Read

To evaluate another player based on body language and betting patterns and then use this information to make your play.

Ring games

Ring games refer to cash games – ie. not tournaments.

River

The fifth and final community card dealt in Texas Hold’em. Also called Fifth Street.

Round

A betting round begins after a card or several cards are dealt. Each player is given a chance to act, and the round ends when everyone has either folded or called the last bet or raise. Each round of betting is followed either by further dealing or by a showdown. In Texas Hold'em, there are four betting rounds (pre-flop, post-flop, after the turn, and after the river). A round of hands is one full rotation around the table, so, each player would hold the dealer button once, or be the dealer if no pitcher were present.

Royal Flush

This is the highest possible ranked hand. To achieve this hand you need an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 of the same suit.

Scare Card

A high card that, when it appears, brings forth the possibility that someone might have made a better hand. In Texas Hold'em, a third suited card on the river is a scare card, because it makes a flush possible. If you're pretty sure your opponent paired a king on the flop, an ace on the turn is a scare card, because that lends the idea of a pair of aces beating that pair of kings. Scare cards will often make it difficult for the best hand to bet, and offer an opportunity for bluffing.

Semi-bluffing

Betting with a hand that has potential such as a draw, or a medium strength hand, in order to take the pot. When you are semi-bluffing, you often think you are behind but have an opportunity to make a better hand.

Set

A player holds a ‘set’ if he holds a pair in his hand before the flop, and then hits a third of these cards on the flop.

Short-Handed

A poker game with 6 or fewer players.

Short-Stacked

A player is short stacked if he is running low on chips.

Showdown

The showdown occurs at the end of a hand, to determine the winner if there is more than one player left. You can either show your cards, or if someone else has already shown a stronger hand you can ‘muck’ them.

Shuffle

The mixing and rearranging of the cards before each hand so that the cards occur randomly. This is done by the dealer, and automatically on Betfair Poker.

Single Table Tournament

A tournament which takes place on one table.

Sit In

To join in a game that has already started.

Slow Play

To not bet a strong hand in order to induce others to stay in the hand and bet. The danger of doing this is that by allowing other players to stay in the hand cheaply, they may turn a previously weak hand into one that’s even stronger than yours.

Small Blind

Half of the big blind, and is the forced bet posted by a player sat to the left of the dealer in Texas Hold’em.

Split Pot

This happens when both players show the same hand. This is common in Texas Hold'em, especially for straights when both players are playing the board.

Stack

A players stack is the amount of chips he holds.

Starting Hand

The two pocket cards in Texas Hold'em.

Steal

A player is said to be trying to steal a pot if he is bluffing. This term is often used in conjunction with the blinds – eg. “he was attempting to steal the blinds”.

Straight

A straight is five cards of any suit in ascending order. The ace can be either high or low and the high straight wins the tie.

Straight Flush

A hand consisting of five cards of consecutive ranks of the same suit, aces being high or low.

Suited

A Texas Hold’em hand is considered suited if both cards held are of the same suit.

Table Image

The way you are perceived by the other players at the table.

Tell

An unintentional gesture or signal made by a player that gives other players information about the player's hand. For example, a player who twitches when they are bluffing. When playing online, the length of time someone takes to act can be seen as a tell.

Texas Hold'em

Often shortened to just Hold'em, this version is widely considered the ‘grandfather’ of poker as it is the most popular. See the ‘rules’ section for more information.

Three of a Kind

Having three cards of the same value.

Tight

A style of play in which you are extremely selective in choosing which hands to play. The opposite of loose.

Tilt

A player is on tilt if his emotional state has been has been affected by perhaps unfortunate occurrences in previous hands, such that he loses his composure and begins to make bad decisions. This could include being too aggressive, or playing like a maniac.

Top Pair

If you have a pair with one of your pocket cards and the highest card on the board, you have top pair.

Tournament

In a poker tournament, each player sits down with the same number of chips, and eventually only one player has any chips left.

Turn

The fourth community card dealt.

Two Pair

A hand consisting of two pairs of cards with the same value.

Under the Gun

The first player to act pre-flop.

Up-down

An open ended straight draw.

Value Bet

A bet, usually made on the river, which has the primary objective of increasing the size of the pot, without your opponents folding.

Wager

A bet.

Wait for the Blind

If a new player sits into an already running cash game, he must post a blind in order to be dealt in. Alternatively, he can wait until it is his turn to be big blind.

Winning hand

The hand that takes all the chips in the pot because it was the best hand in a showdown.