We have collected hundreds of the most common – and not so common – expressions related to poker, the world’s favorite card game. Whether you are new to the game or a poker-playing shark, we’re sure that you will discover some new phrases in our comprehensive list.
So the next time you are seated at the poker table, feel free to break out some of the lingo to impress your opponents. At the very least, after reading our guide you will be able to understand what they are talking about. Click on one of the letters below to jump straight to a section, or else browse our glossary in your own time.
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
A
- ABC Poker: Basic, straightforward poker with minimal bluffing or advanced plays.
- Ace-High: A hand with an Ace as the highest card but no pair.
- Action: Betting or wagering during a hand.
- Action Flop: A flop that connects with multiple players’ hands, leading to significant betting.
- Action Player: A loose-aggressive player who drives the action by frequently betting and raising.
- Action Card: A community card that can cause a lot of betting or action.
- Add-On: Purchasing more chips during a tournament.
- Add-On Period: A specific point in a tournament when players can purchase additional chips, often after the rebuy phase.
- Aggression: Playing with frequent bets and raises instead of calling or folding.
- Ahead: Holding a hand that is currently stronger than your opponent’s.
- Air: A very weak hand, essentially “nothing.”
- Alligator Blood: A term for a player who survives numerous all-ins and refuses to give up.
- All-In: Betting all your remaining chips.
- All-In Bluff: Going all-in with a weak hand to scare opponents into folding.
- American Airlines: Slang for pocket Aces.
- Amateur: A player with little experience or skill in poker.
- Angle: A borderline unethical move used to exploit an opponent.
- Angle Bet: A bet designed to manipulate or confuse opponents, skirting the edge of ethical play.
- Angle Shooting: Using unethical tactics to gain an advantage.
- Ante: A forced bet all players must contribute before a hand begins.
- Ante Off: Slowly losing chips due to forced antes while not actively playing.
- Army: Slang for a table with multiple players working together, often used to describe collusion.
- Around the World: Winning consecutive pots in quick succession.
- Arsenal: The range of strategies or hands a player uses.
- Ax Hand: A hand with an Ace and any other card, e.g., A-7.
- Average Stack: The total number of chips in play divided by the remaining players in a tournament.
B
- Baby Pair: A pair made with the lowest-ranking cards (e.g., 2-2 or 3-3).
- Backdoor: Drawing to a hand using the last two cards (e.g., a backdoor flush).
- Backdoor Straight: A straight completed with both the turn and river cards after lacking a direct draw.
- Back Into a Hand: Completing a strong hand in an unintended way, such as hitting runner-runner cards.
- Back-Raise: Reraising after initially just calling a previous bet.
- Bad Beat: Losing a hand despite having a statistically strong position.
- Bad Beat Jackpot: A special bonus paid out in some poker rooms when a very strong hand is beaten by an even stronger hand.
- Bankroll: The total money a player has set aside for poker.
- Bankroll Management: Properly managing funds to avoid going broke.
- Barrel: A continuation bet made on any street, e.g., “second barrel” on the turn or “third barrel” on the river.
- BB (Big Blind): The larger of two forced bets in poker games like Texas Hold’em.
- BB/100: Big blinds won per 100 hands, a measure of a player’s profitability.
- Bet Sizing: Adjusting the size of a bet strategically.
- Big Blind: A mandatory bet posted by the player two seats left of the dealer.
- Big Blind Special: A strong hand made by the player in the big blind after seeing the flop for free when no raise occurred pre-flop.
- Big Slick: A nickname for Ace-King as a starting hand.
- Blank: A card that doesn’t appear to improve any player’s hand.
- Blind: Forced bets posted by players in designated positions.
- Blocking Bet: A small bet designed to prevent an opponent from betting bigger.
- Blocker: A card in your hand that reduces the likelihood your opponent has a specific strong hand (e.g., holding the Ace of spades can block a nut flush).
- Bluff: Betting to make opponents fold a stronger hand.
- Bluff Catcher: A hand strong enough to beat a bluff but not much else.
- Board: The community cards shared by all players.
- Board Texture: The makeup of community cards and how they interact with possible hands.
- Boat: Slang for a full house (e.g., three of a kind plus a pair).
- Bomb Pot: A pre-agreed pot where every player antes or contributes a large amount, creating immediate action.
- Bounty: A reward for eliminating a specific player in bounty tournaments.
- Box: The space in front of the dealer where the deck and muck pile are kept.
- Brick: A card that doesn’t affect the strength of the hand or change the board.
- Bring-In: A forced bet in Stud poker made by the lowest upcard.
- Broadway: The highest straight possible (Ace-King-Queen-Jack-Ten).
- Broadway Cards: High-ranking cards (Ten through Ace) that can form a Broadway straight.
- Bubble: The position just before reaching the payout zone in a tournament.
- Bubble Boy: The last player eliminated before reaching the money in a tournament.
- Bucket of Nails: Slang for pocket Threes (3-3).
- Bullet: Slang for an Ace or an additional buy-in.
- Bulletproof Bankroll: A bankroll large enough to withstand extended periods of bad variance.
- Burn: Removing the top card of the deck before dealing community cards.
- Bust Out: To lose all your chips and be eliminated from a game or tournament.
- Button: The dealer position in a poker hand.
- Buy-In: The amount required to enter a poker game or tournament.
C
- Cage: The cashier’s booth in a casino.
- Call: Matching the current bet amount to stay in the hand.
- Calling Range: The set of hands with which a player is likely to call a bet.
- Call Station: A player who frequently calls but rarely folds or raises.
- Card Cap: An object, like a chip or token, placed on top of hole cards to protect them from being accidentally mucked.
- Card Dead: A prolonged period of receiving weak starting hands.
- Case Card: The last remaining card of a particular rank in the deck.
- Case Money: A player’s last remaining chips or money for the session.
- Cash Game: Poker played with real money chips, not in a tournament format.
- Cash Out: Exchanging poker chips for money after leaving the game.
- Catch: Hitting the card you need to improve your hand.
- Check: Passing the action to the next player without betting.
- Check Behind: Choosing to check after an opponent has checked, passing the action to the next street.
- Check-Raise: Checking initially, then raising when an opponent bets.
- Chip Dumping: Intentionally losing chips to another player (against the rules).
- Chip Leader: The player with the most chips at any given time in a tournament.
- Chop: Splitting the pot between two or more players with equal hands.
- Coin Flip: A situation where two hands have nearly equal odds of winning.
- Cold Call: Calling a bet and a raise in the same round of betting.
- Collusion: Illegal cooperation between players to gain an unfair advantage.
- Color Up: Exchanging smaller denomination chips for larger ones, often done during tournaments.
- Combo Draw: A hand that can complete in multiple ways (e.g., flush and straight draw).
- Community Cards: Shared cards in games like Texas Hold’em or Omaha.
- Connectors: Sequential cards like 7-8 or 10-Jack, valued for straight potential.
- Continuation Bet (C-Bet): A bet made by the pre-flop aggressor on the flop.
- Cooler: A situation where a player has a strong hand but is beaten by an even stronger one.
- Counterfeit: When a hand’s strength is reduced by the board cards (e.g., a two-pair becomes irrelevant due to board pairing).
- Cowboy Bluff: Bluffing with a weak hand in a situation where it’s highly unlikely to succeed.
- Cowboys: A nickname for two Kings as a starting hand.
- Cracked: When a strong starting hand like Aces is beaten.
- Cross-Book: A side bet between players comparing their winnings or losses in the same game.
- Cutoff: The seat directly to the right of the dealer button.
- Cut the Deck: Dividing the deck into two parts before dealing cards.
D
- Dark Bet: A bet made before the player has seen their cards or before community cards are dealt.
- Dead Blind: A blind that is posted by a player re-entering the game but does not count toward a bet.
- Dead Hand: A hand that has been invalidated or disqualified, often due to a rule violation.
- Dead Man’s Hand: A poker hand consisting of two pairs: Aces and Eights. This hand is infamous due to its association with the death of Wild Bill Hickok, who was reportedly holding it when he was shot.
- Dead Money: Chips in the pot that are unlikely to be defended, often contributed by weaker players or antes/blinds.
- Deal: The act of distributing cards to players in a hand.
- Dealer: The person responsible for distributing cards to players. In home games, this role rotates among players, while in casinos, a professional dealer manages the game.
- Deep Stack: A situation where a player has a large number of chips relative to the blinds, allowing for more strategic play.
- Deuce: A card with a rank of two.
- Disconnect Protection: A feature in online poker allowing a disconnected player to remain in the hand but treated as “all-in” with their current stack.
- Dog: Short for “underdog,” referring to a player or hand with a lower chance of winning.
- Donk Bet: A bet made by a player who was not the aggressor in the previous betting round, often considered unconventional.
- Double Barrel: Making a continuation bet on the flop and following it with another bet on the turn.
- Double Belly Buster: A straight draw where two different ranks can complete the straight, offering more outs than a standard gutshot.
- Double Up: Doubling the size of one’s stack in a single hand.
- Downswing: A period during which a player experiences consistent losses, often due to variance.
- Doyle Brunson Hand: A nickname for the hand 10-2, named after poker legend Doyle Brunson, who won two World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events with it.
- Drawing Dead: Attempting to complete a hand that, even if made, will not win because an opponent already has a superior hand.
- Dry Board: A community card spread that offers few or no draw possibilities, making it less coordinated.
E
- Early Bird Tournament: A tournament scheduled early in the day, often with a smaller field and lower buy-ins.
- Early Position (EP): Seats at the poker table where players must act early in the betting round, such as the small blind, big blind, or under-the-gun (UTG).
- Edge Passing: Deliberately avoiding marginal situations to preserve a skill advantage over the long term.
- Effective Odds: A combination of pot odds and implied odds used to evaluate the profitability of a play.
- Effective Stack: The smaller stack between two players involved in a hand, which determines the maximum amount they can bet against each other.
- Edge: The advantage one player has over another, often due to skill or position.
- End Game: The final stages of a tournament, where play becomes more strategic due to escalating blinds and shorter stacks.
- Entry Fee: The cost of entering a poker tournament, separate from the buy-in.
- Equilibrium: The theoretical balance point in game theory where no player can gain an advantage by changing their strategy.
- Equity: The portion of the pot a player is statistically expected to win over the long run, based on their current hand and potential to improve.
- Expected Value (EV): A calculation used to determine the average outcome of a particular play, helping players make decisions that are profitable in the long term.
- Exposed Card: A card that is unintentionally revealed to the table during a deal.
- Extra Blind: An additional forced bet made by a new player entering the game between the small blind and big blind.
F
- Fade: Successfully avoiding a card that would have helped your opponent.
- Family Pot: A hand in which all or most players at the table call before the flop, leading to a multi-way pot.
- Fancy Play Syndrome (FPS): Overcomplicating your strategy with unnecessary bluffs or plays to appear clever, often at the cost of profitability.
- Farm: Slang for steadily accumulating chips in a session or tournament.
- Fast Play: Betting or raising aggressively with a strong hand to build the pot quickly.
- Favorite: The hand or player statistically most likely to win a particular pot.
- Feeder Tournament: A satellite or smaller tournament that awards entry into a larger event.
- Feel Bet: A small bet made to gauge your opponent’s hand strength.
- Fill Up: To improve a hand to a full house on the turn or river.
- Final Table: The last table of a multi-table tournament, typically where significant prizes are awarded.
- Fire: Slang for betting, often used in phrases like “fire a second barrel” (bet again on the next street).
- Fish: A derogatory term for a weak or inexperienced player who is likely to lose money.
- Fishhooks: Slang for pocket Jacks (J-J), referencing the “hook” shape of the letter J.
- Five-Card Draw: A poker variant where players are dealt five cards and can draw replacements to improve their hand.
- Five-Bet: The fifth raise in a betting round, typically indicating very strong hands in no-limit games.
- Flat Call: To call a bet without raising, often used to disguise the strength of one’s hand.
- Float: Calling a bet with the intention of bluffing on a later street, typically when in position.
- Flush Draw: A hand that needs one more card of a specific suit to make a flush.
- Flying Blind: Playing without looking at your hole cards, typically as a joke or dare.
- Four-Bet Light: A re-raise with a weaker hand, often used as a bluff or semi-bluff.
- Fold Equity: The additional value gained from a bet or raise that induces opponents to fold, thereby winning the pot without a showdown.
- Four-Flush: Holding four cards of the same suit, needing one more to complete a flush. In slang, a “four-flusher” refers to someone who bluffs or boasts without substance.
- Freeroll: A tournament with no entry fee, allowing players to compete for a prize without risking their own money.
- Freezeout: A tournament format where players are eliminated once their chips are gone, with no rebuys allowed.
- Full Boat: Another term for a full house
- Full Ring: A poker game played at a table with 9 or 10 players.
- Fun Player: A euphemism for an inexperienced or casual player who plays more for entertainment than profit.
- Funky Board: A community card layout with an unusual or unexpected mix, leading to tricky decisions.
G
- Gambler’s Fallacy: The mistaken belief that past outcomes influence future results in independent events (e.g., “I’m due for a win”).
- Gap Concept: The idea that you need a stronger hand to call a raise than to make a raise yourself.
- Gap Hand: A starting hand in Texas Hold’em with a gap between the ranks, such as 9 and 7.
- Garbage Hand: A hand with no real value or potential, often discarded pre-flop.
- Ghosting: An unethical practice where someone else advises or plays for a player during online poker.
- Gin Card: A perfect card that greatly improves your hand, often completing a straight or flush.
- Giving Action: Playing loosely or aggressively, creating opportunities for larger pots.
- Glass Jaw: A player who is easily tilted or emotionally upset after a loss.
- Going South: The unethical act of removing chips from the table to protect winnings.
- Gold Chip: A high-value chip, often used in tournament prize pools.
- Grand (or Grand Slam): Winning multiple major poker tournaments in a year or series.
- Grandfathering Chips: Allowing previously purchased chips of a different denomination to remain in play after a color-up or rule change.
- Graveyard Shift: Late-night poker sessions or games.
- Gravy: Slang for extra profit or unexpected winnings in a session.
- Green Chip: A $25 chip in casinos (in the standard color-coding system).
- Grinder: A player who aims for small, consistent profits over time rather than big wins.
- Gutshot: An inside straight draw needing one specific rank to complete, e.g., holding 5-6 on a 7-9-K board requires an 8.
H
- Half Bet Rule: A rule stating that if a player puts in chips equaling half or more of the required bet, they must complete the full bet.
- Hammer: Slang for the starting hand 7-2 offsuit, known as the worst possible hand in Texas Hold’em.
- Hand-for-Hand: A procedure in tournaments where each table plays one hand at a time, often used near the bubble to prevent stalling.
- Hand History: A record of all actions taken during a hand, commonly used in online poker for analysis.
- Hand Range: The possible combinations of cards a player could have based on their actions.
- Hand Reading: The process of analyzing an opponent’s actions to determine their possible range of hands.
- Hang the Dealer: A situation where a mistake by the dealer affects the outcome of a hand.
- Heads-Up: A poker situation where only two players are involved in a hand or game.
- Heater: A streak of good luck resulting in consecutive wins.
- Hero Call: Calling a significant bet with a marginal hand, believing the opponent is bluffing.
- High Card: A hand with no pair, where the value of the highest card determines its strength.
- Hijack: The position two seats to the right of the dealer button, considered advantageous for stealing blinds.
- Hit and Run: Leaving the table quickly after winning a big hand, often considered bad etiquette.
- Hollywood: Acting overly dramatic during a hand, often to mislead opponents about your strength or intentions.
- Home Game: A private poker game played outside of a casino, often among friends.
- Hooded Card: A card that remains face down and unrevealed to players.
- Hook: Slang for a Jack card.
- Hooked: Slang for becoming overly committed to a pot with a marginal hand.
- Horse: A player being backed financially by another person in a poker game or tournament.
- House Rules: Specific rules unique to a particular poker room or home game.
- Hyper-Turbo: A tournament with extremely fast blind levels.
I
- ICM (Independent Chip Model): A mathematical model used in tournaments to determine the value of a player’s chips relative to the prize pool.
- Idiot End: Completing the lowest end of a straight, which is vulnerable to being beaten by the higher end.
- Implied Odds: The potential winnings from future betting rounds if your hand improves.
- Indian Poker: A fun variant where players place their cards on their foreheads without looking at them, relying on others’ reactions.
- In Position (IP): Acting after your opponent(s), providing a strategic advantage.
- Inside Straight Draw: A straight draw requiring a specific card to complete the hand (also called a “gutshot”).
- Insurance: Making a side deal to minimize losses if you’re an all-in favorite.
- In the Money (ITM): Reaching a position in a tournament where you are guaranteed to win a prize.
- Invisible Hand: A hand not immediately obvious from the community cards, such as a backdoor straight or flush.
- Irish Poker: A poker variant where players discard some cards after the flop.
- Iron Duke: Holding pocket Queens, a nickname derived from their strength and durability.
- Isolate: Making a raise to force other players out, aiming to play heads-up against a specific opponent.
J
- Jackpot: A special prize for a rare event, such as losing with a strong hand.
- Jailbreak: Slang for a miraculous escape from being dominated in a hand, often due to hitting unlikely outs.
- Jam: Slang for going all-in, putting all your chips into the pot.
- Jiggle the Handle: A term for making small, probing bets to test your opponent’s strength.
- Johnny Rockets: A nickname for pocket Jacks (J-J).
- Joker: An optional wild card in certain poker variants.
- Juice: The commission or rake taken by the house in a poker game.
- Juiced Pot: A pot that has been inflated due to multiple players making large bets.
- Jump Off: Slang for a player leaving the table after a significant win, similar to “hit and run.”
- Jump the Gun: Betting or acting out of turn before it’s your turn to act.
- Jungleman: Slang for an unpredictable player who uses unconventional tactics, inspired by the professional poker player Daniel “Jungleman” Cates.
- Junk: A hand with little value or potential, often unplayable.
- Junky: A hand with low-value cards, often unplayable unless bluffing.
- Just Missed: Failing to complete a drawing hand by one card.
K
- Kangaroo Fold: A playful term for folding a hand after a dramatic pause, mimicking a “jump.”
- Key Card: A critical card that significantly strengthens a hand, such as the final card completing a straight or flush.
- Kickerless: A situation where two players have the same high card and no kicker comes into play (resulting in a split pot).
- Kicker: An unpaired card used to break ties between hands of the same rank.
- Kicker Problem: When your kicker card is likely to lose against a stronger kicker if both players share the same pair.
- Kill Game: A game where the stakes are temporarily increased when a player wins a specified number of consecutive hands or a pot over a certain amount.
- Kill Pot: A pot in a kill game where the stakes have been increased.
- King Crab: A nickname for the starting hand King-Four (K-4), referencing the “K” for King and the 4 legs of a crab.
- King-High: A hand where the highest card is a King with no better combinations.
- Kingmaker: A player whose decision influences the outcome for other players, particularly near the bubble or final table.
- Kissing Queens: A nickname for pocket Queens (Q-Q), referencing the symmetry of the pair.
- Kitten Fold: Folding a strong hand too timidly, often used humorously to tease overly cautious players.
- Kitty: A pool of money built by collecting small amounts from certain pots, often used to buy refreshments, cards, etc.
- Kitty Chips: Chips set aside for non-poker uses, such as tipping dealers or buying drinks.
- Knit (or Nit): A very tight player who only plays premium hands.
- Knockout Bounty: A cash reward given to a player for eliminating an opponent in a knockout tournament.
- Knockout Tournament: A tournament where players earn bounties by eliminating opponents.
- Kojak: A nickname for the starting hand King-Jack (K-J), inspired by the TV detective.
L
- Laddering Up: Moving up in the prize pool in a tournament by surviving longer than eliminated players.
- LAG (Loose-Aggressive): A playing style characterized by playing many hands and frequently betting or raising.
- Late Position: Being one of the last players to act in a betting round, typically considered advantageous.
- Laydown: Folding a strong hand when you suspect you’re beaten.
- Lead Out: Betting into an opponent who was the aggressor in the previous round.
- Leak: A consistent flaw in a player’s strategy that costs them money.
- Leverage: Using a large bet to put pressure on opponents with smaller stacks or marginal hands.
- Life Tilt: When external, non-poker frustrations negatively impact a player’s performance at the table.
- Light 3-Bet: Re-raising pre-flop with a weak hand as a bluff or semi-bluff.
- Light Call: Calling a bet with a weak hand based on the assumption your opponent is bluffing.
- Limp: To call the minimum bet (the big blind) pre-flop instead of raising.
- Live Blind: A forced bet posted by one or more players before the cards are dealt, giving them the option to raise when the action returns to them.
- Live Cards: Hole cards that are not duplicated in your opponent’s hand, increasing their potential to win.
- Live Game: A poker game played in person rather than online.
- Live Pair: A pair made with your hole cards in community card games, such as Texas Hold’em.
- Loaded Deck: A deck that has been tampered with to include an unfair distribution of cards, often for cheating.
- Lock: A hand that is guaranteed to win the pot.
- Lock Up: Playing conservatively to protect winnings, especially in a tournament nearing the bubble.
- Lodden Thinks: A side game where players bet on what a third person (Lodden) thinks the answer to a question will be.
- Lollipop: Slang for the hand Queen-Seven (Q-7), referencing the song “Lollipop.”
- Loose: A playing style involving playing a wide range of hands, often leading to participation in many pots.
- Loose Cannon: An unpredictable player who plays erratically, often causing chaos at the table.
- Loose-Passive: A playing style characterized by playing too many hands but rarely betting or raising.
- Luckbox: A term for a player who consistently wins through improbable luck rather than skill.
- Lucky River: A term for catching a miracle card on the river to win the hand.
- Lumberjack: A nickname for the hand Jack-Seven (J-7), referencing the “J” and the rough nature of the combo.
M
- M-Ratio: A measure of the health of a chip stack as a function of the cost to play each round, calculated by dividing a player’s stack by the sum of the blinds and antes.
- Made Flush: A completed flush, as opposed to being on a draw.
- Made Hand: A hand that is already complete and does not need to improve to win.
- Magnet: A card or situation that attracts other players to the pot, often referring to strong board cards.
- Maniac: A very loose and aggressive player who bets and raises frequently, often without regard to the strength of their hand.
- Marginal Hand: A hand that has a borderline chance of winning, often difficult to play effectively.
- Mark: A player targeted by others, often due to perceived inexperience or poor play.
- Marry the Pot: Becoming overly committed to a pot due to prior investment, even with a weak hand.
- Mask: The representation of cards that are possible or impossible based on the community cards.
- Mechanic: A cheater skilled in manipulating cards to gain an advantage.
- Medio: Slang for a mediocre hand, often used to describe marginal starting hands.
- Micro-Limit: Games with very low betting limits, often found online.
- Middle Cards: Cards ranked between 5 and 9, often referred to in lowball or Omaha.
- Middle Pair: In community card games, a pair formed with the second-highest card on the board and a player’s hole card.
- Middle Position: A seat in a poker game that is neither early nor late in the betting order.
- Milk: Slowly extracting chips from an opponent by betting small amounts.
- Minimum Defense Frequency (MDF): A calculation used to determine how often a player should defend against bets to avoid exploitation.
- Mixed Game: A poker format that alternates between different variants (e.g., HORSE or 8-Game Mix).
- Misdeal: A deal that is invalid due to an error, requiring the cards to be reshuffled and redealt.
- Mississippi Straddle: A variation of the straddle bet where the bet can be made in any position, not just under-the-gun.
- Monster: A very strong hand, often unbeatable.
- Mousetrap: A term for slow-playing a strong hand to lure opponents into betting.
- Move In: Another term for going all-in.
- Move Up (or Down) in Stakes: Changing to a game with higher or lower blinds or buy-ins.
- Muck: To fold a hand without revealing it; also refers to the pile of discarded cards.
- Multi-Table Tournament (MTT): A tournament involving multiple tables of players, with participants moved between tables as players are eliminated, until a final table determines the winner.
- MTT Grinder: A player specializing in multi-table tournaments, often with a focus on volume over high stakes.
- Multi-Way Pot: A pot contested by more than two players.
N
- Naked Bluff: A bluff made with absolutely no chance of improving to a winning hand.
- Name Stakes: Games that are known by the stakes played, e.g., “$5/$10 No-Limit Hold’em.”
- Napkins: Slang for very weak hole cards.
- Near Nuts: A very strong hand that is almost the best possible but can still be beaten by a better hand.
- Never Go Broke in a Limped Pot: A strategy-oriented adage emphasizing caution in small pots.
- Nit: A player who is unwilling to take risks and plays only premium hands in the top range.
- Nitbox: A player or table with overly tight play.
- Nitroll: Taking excessive time to call with a very strong hand (like the nuts), often seen as poor etiquette.
- No Fold’em Hold’em: A sarcastic term for low-stakes games where players rarely fold.
- No-Limit: Rules designating that players are allowed to wager any or all of their chips in a single bet.
- Non-Standard Line: A betting pattern or strategy that deviates from typical poker conventions.
- Nosebleed Stakes: The highest stakes offered in poker, generally where the blinds are at least $200/$400 for cash games and at least a buy-in of $25,000 for live tournaments.
- Nut Advantage: When a player’s range contains more of the strongest possible hands (nuts) than their opponent’s range.
- Nut Draw: A draw to the best possible hand.
- Nut Flush: The best possible flush given the cards on the board.
- Nut Hand (The Nuts): The best possible hand in a given situation.
- Nut Low: The best possible low hand in high-low split games.
O
- Odds: The probability of making a hand or winning a pot, often expressed as a ratio.
- Offsuit: Hole cards of different suits.
- Old School: A player or style of play that relies on traditional, less aggressive poker strategies.
- Omaha: A poker variant where each player is dealt four hole cards and must use exactly two of them, along with three of the five community cards, to make the best hand.
- One-Chip Rule: A rule stating that placing a single oversized chip into the pot without declaring a raise is considered a call.
- One-Gapper: A starting hand with a single rank gap between the cards, such as 8♦ 10♠.
- One-Outer: A situation where only one specific card in the deck can improve your hand to win.
- On Tilt: Playing recklessly or emotionally after a loss or bad beat.
- Open: To make the first bet in a betting round.
- Open-Ended Straight Draw: A straight draw that can be completed by one of two different rank cards at either end of the sequence.
- Open Limp: Entering the pot pre-flop by calling the big blind as the first player to act.
- Open Seat: An available spot at a poker table.
- Orbit: A full rotation around the table, where each player takes a turn as the dealer.
- Outdraw: To beat an opponent by improving to a better hand.
- Outs: Cards that will improve a player’s hand to likely win.
- Overbet: A bet larger than the size of the current pot, often used as a bluff or for value.
- Overcard: A card higher in rank than any community card on the board.
- Overlay: Extra value in a tournament prize pool when the guaranteed amount exceeds the total buy-ins.
- Overpair: A pocket pair higher than any community card on the board.
- Overplay: Betting or raising too aggressively with a marginal or moderate-strength hand.
- Overs: A side bet or agreement between players to continue betting after the main action concludes.
- Overstacked: Having more chips than are practical or standard for a cash game.
P
- Paint Cards: Face cards (King, Queen, or Jack) in any suit.
- Passive Play: A conservative style of play involving frequent checking and calling but minimal betting or raising.
- Pay Off: To call a bet despite suspecting you are beaten, often for information.
- Perfect Perfect: Catching the only two specific cards needed to improve to the best hand on the turn and river.
- Picture Cards: Another term for face cards (King, Queen, Jack).
- Pineapple: A poker variant where players start with three hole cards but discard one after the flop.
- Play the Rush: Betting aggressively during a streak of winning hands.
- Playing the Board: Using all five community cards in Hold’em when no hole cards improve your hand.
- Pocket Fives: Nicknamed “Presto.”
- Pocket Pair: Two cards of the same rank dealt as hole cards, such as 7-7.
- Pocket Rockets: A nickname for a starting hand of two Aces.
- Polarized Range: A range of hands that includes only very strong hands or complete bluffs, with no middle-strength hands.
- Pop It: Slang for making a raise.
- Position: A player’s place in the betting order, which can provide strategic advantages.
- Position Bet: A bet made largely because of a player’s advantageous position.
- Post: To place a blind or ante before receiving cards.
- Pot-Committed: A situation where a player has already invested so many chips into the pot that folding becomes difficult.
- Pot Odds: The ratio of the current pot size to the cost of a contemplated call.
- Preflop: The betting round that occurs before the community cards are dealt in games like Texas Hold’em.
- Probe Bet: A bet made to gather information about an opponent’s hand strength.
- Protection Bet: A bet made to protect a vulnerable but currently winning hand by discouraging opponents from drawing.
- Push: Slang for going all-in, often in tournaments or short-stacked situations.
- Push/Fold Strategy: A tournament strategy where players either go all-in or fold, often used with short stacks.
- Put on a Hand: Attempting to deduce what cards your opponent is holding based on their actions.
Q
- Quads: Four of a kind.
- Quartered: 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.
- Qualifier: A condition that must be met for a hand to be eligible to win a portion of the pot in high-low split games.
- Qualifying Hand: In some games, a minimum hand strength required to win (e.g., an 8-high low hand in Omaha Hi-Lo).
- Quarters: Chips of smaller denominations, often representing $25 in casinos.
- Quarter Bluff: A bluff with a weak hand that has minimal outs or equity.
- Quasi-Bluff: A bluff made with a hand that has some equity or potential to improve.
- Quicksand: A situation where a player gets trapped in a losing hand due to overcommitment to the pot.
- Quiet Table: A table where players are reserved, often indicating serious play.
- Queen High: A hand where the Queen is the highest card, with no better combinations.
- Queen-Nine Offsuit: Slang for the starting hand “Quinine,” referencing the drug used to treat malaria, often considered a mediocre hand.
- Queen’s Full: A full house with three Queens and a pair, such as Q-Q-Q-5-5.
R
- Rabbit Hunt: Revealing the upcoming community cards after a hand has ended to see what would have come.
- Racing Hand: A hand with nearly even odds against an opponent’s hand, often referred to as a “coin flip.”
- Rack: A container used to hold poker chips, typically used by casinos or players to transport chips.
- Rag: A low-value card that is unlikely to help a player’s hand.
- Ragged: A board texture that appears uncoordinated and unlikely to have helped anyone’s hand.
- Raggedy Hand: A starting hand with little potential, often unsuited and unconnected, like 7♣ 2♦.
- Rail: The area where spectators can watch a poker game; “railing” refers to observing the game.
- Railbird: A spectator watching a poker game, often hoping for tips or entertainment.
- Rail Call: Slang for when spectators or players not in the hand suggest actions or critique plays, often discouraged or disallowed.
- Rainbow: A flop containing three different suits, indicating no immediate flush draw is possible.
- Rainbow Turn: A fourth community card that maintains a rainbow board (three or four suits with no flush possibility).
- Raise Light: Raising with a weaker hand, often as a bluff or semi-bluff.
- Rake: The small percentage of each pot taken by the house as a fee for hosting the game.
- Range: The spectrum of hands a player might have based on their actions.
- Ranged: Describes a player’s potential hands as determined by their betting patterns.
- Ranged Bluff: A bluff made while considering the range of hands an opponent might hold.
- Rebuy: The option to purchase additional chips after losing one’s initial stack in certain tournaments.
- Rec (Recreational Player): A casual poker player, often contrasted with professionals or regulars.
- Redraw: Drawing to a better hand even after having already made a strong hand.
- Represent: To play in a way that suggests you have a particular hand, whether you do or not.
- Re-Steal: A bluff raise made in response to an opponent’s suspected steal attempt.
- Reverse Implied Odds: The potential to lose more money in later rounds even if your hand improves.
- Reverse Tell: Deliberately giving off a false tell to mislead opponents about your hand strength.
- Ring Game: A standard cash game as opposed to a tournament.
- River: The fifth and final community card dealt in games like Texas Hold’em.
- River Rat: A player who consistently hits strong hands on the river to win.
- Rock: A very tight player who only plays premium hands.
- Rock Garden: A table with very tight players, where pots are generally small due to cautious play.
- Rock the Boat: A term for aggressively raising or playing against passive opponents to disrupt the table dynamic.
- Rounders: Slang for professional or highly experienced poker players.
- Royal Flush: The best possible hand in poker, consisting of A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit.
- Run Bad: A prolonged stretch of bad luck in poker, often referred to as being “card dead.”
- Runner: A card that is part of a back-to-back sequence needed to complete a hand (e.g., “runner-runner flush”).
- Run It Twice: When players agree to deal the remaining community cards twice, splitting the pot based on the outcomes.
- Runner-Runner: Hitting needed cards on both the turn and river to complete a hand.
- Runout: The sequence of community cards as they are dealt, particularly the turn and river.
S
- Sandbagging: Slang for slow-playing a strong hand to lure opponents into betting.
- Satellite: A smaller tournament where the prize is entry into a larger tournament.
- Scamper: Leaving the table quickly after a big win, similar to “hit and run.”
- Scare Card: A community card that can potentially complete strong hands, causing concern for players.
- Scared Money: Chips or money that a player is hesitant to risk, often due to playing above their comfort level.
- Schooling: A phenomenon in limit poker where many players collectively call, increasing the odds of chasing draws.
- Second Barrel: A continuation bet made on the turn after betting on the flop.
- Semi-Bluff: Betting with a drawing hand that isn’t currently the best but has potential to improve.
- Set: Three of a kind made with a pocket pair and one matching community card.
- Set Mining: Playing a small pocket pair in the hope of hitting three of a kind on the flop.
- Shark: A highly skilled and experienced poker player.
- Short-Handed: A game with fewer players than a full ring game, usually 6 or fewer.
- Short Stack: A player with a relatively small number of chips compared to others at the table.
- Shove: Slang for going all-in.
- Showdown: The point at which remaining players reveal their hands to determine the winner.
- Side Bet: A separate wager between players not related to the main game.
- Side Pot: An additional pot created when a player goes all-in, and other players continue betting.
- Sit and Go (SNG): A single-table tournament that starts as soon as all seats are filled.
- Sixth Street: A term used in Seven Card Stud for the sixth card dealt to each player.
- Skinny Stack: Another term for a short stack.
- Slow Play: Playing a strong hand passively to lure opponents into betting.
- Slow Roll: Deliberately delaying the reveal of a winning hand, often seen as poor etiquette.
- Small Blind: The smaller of the two forced bets posted before cards are dealt.
- Snap Call: Calling a bet immediately, often with a very strong or obvious hand.
- Snowmen: Slang for pocket Eights (8♠ 8♦), referencing their resemblance to snowmen.
- Soft Play: Intentionally playing less aggressively against certain opponents, often due to collusion or personal relationships (prohibited in many games).
- Splash the Pot: Tossing chips into the pot in a way that makes them difficult to count (generally bad etiquette).
- Split Pot: A pot divided between two or more players with equal-ranking hands.
- Spray Chips: Losing chips carelessly by playing too many hands or making poor decisions.
- Squeeze Play: A bluff re-raise made after one player raises and another calls, putting pressure on both.
- Stack Off: Putting your entire chip stack into the pot.
- Steam: Playing poorly due to frustration, often synonymous with tilt.
- Steel Wheel: The lowest straight flush (A-2-3-4-5 of the same suit).
- Stone Cold Bluff: A pure bluff with no chance of improving to a winning hand.
- Straddle: An optional blind bet made before the cards are dealt, typically double the big blind.
- Street: Any of the betting rounds or community cards in poker, such as the flop, turn, or river.
- String Bet: A bet made in multiple motions without declaring the full amount upfront, often disallowed.
- Suited Connectors: Consecutive cards of the same suit, like 7♠ 8♠.
T
- Table Captain: A dominant player who attempts to control the flow of the game through their actions and behavior.
- Table Talk: Conversation at the table, sometimes used to mislead opponents or glean information.
- Tag Team Tournament: A tournament where multiple players share a single chip stack and alternate play.
- Tank: Taking a long time to decide on an action.
- Tank Fold: Taking a long time to think and ultimately folding your hand.
- Tell: A physical or behavioral clue that gives away information about a player’s hand.
- Thin Value Bet: A bet made with a marginal hand, hoping to extract value from weaker hands.
- Three-Barrel Bluff: Bluffing on the flop, turn, and river in an attempt to force an opponent to fold.
- Three-Bet: The act of re-raising the original raise, making it the third bet in the sequence.
- Tight-Aggressive (TAG): A playing style that combines tight hand selection with aggressive betting.
- Tight-Passive: A playing style characterized by playing few hands and rarely betting or raising.
- Tilt: A state of emotional frustration leading to poor decision-making.
- Time Bank: Additional time allotted to make a decision in online poker.
- Top Kicker: Having the highest possible kicker with a pair, often improving the strength of the hand.
- Top Pair: A pair made with the highest-ranking community card.
- Tournament Life: A player’s remaining stack in a tournament; losing it means elimination.
- Trap: Playing a strong hand deceptively to entice opponents to commit more chips.
- Trips: Three of a kind using one hole card and two community cards.
- Turn: The fourth community card dealt in games like Texas Hold’em.
- Two Pair: A hand containing two different pairs, such as 10-10 and 5-5.
- Two-Gap Hand: A starting hand with two rank gaps between the cards, such as 9♣ 6♦.
U
- Underbet: Betting a smaller amount than usual relative to the pot size.
- Underdog: A hand or player less likely to win based on current odds.
- Underdog Odds: Betting odds that favor the less likely outcome.
- Underfull: A full house where the player holds the lower pair of the hand (e.g., holding 5-5 on a board of K-K-5).
- Underplay: Playing a strong hand passively, such as checking or calling instead of betting or raising.
- Under the Gun (UTG): The position immediately to the left of the big blind, first to act pre-flop.
- Unimproved Hand: A starting hand that does not improve after the flop, turn, or river.
- Unprotected Hand: A hand that is vulnerable to being mucked or accidentally folded if not physically or digitally protected.
- Upcard: A card dealt face-up in games like Stud, visible to all players.
- Upcard Bluff: Using the value of a visible upcard in Stud games to bluff or represent a stronger hand.
- Up the Ante: Increasing the stakes, often by raising blinds or antes in tournaments.
- UTG+1: The position immediately to the left of the player “under the gun,” second to act pre-flop.
V
- Value Bet: A bet made with the intention of being called by worse hands to extract value.
- Value Town: Successfully extracting maximum chips from an opponent with a strong hand.
- Vanessa: Slang for pocket Queens (Q-Q), named after famous poker pro Vanessa Rousso.
- Variance: The statistical measure of the deviation from expected results, reflecting the game’s ups and downs.
- Variance-Free Play: A strategy that minimizes risk and variance, often at the expense of potential profits.
- Variance Monster: A particularly volatile game or session with extreme swings in results.
- Villain: A term used to refer to an opponent in hand discussions or analyses.
- Villain’s Line: Analyzing an opponent’s betting pattern to deduce their likely range of hands.
- Virtual Nuts: The best possible hand in a given situation, considering the cards likely in play.
- Volume Player: A player who prioritizes playing a large number of hands or tournaments over time to maximize long-term profits.
- VPIP (Voluntarily Put Money in Pot): A statistic indicating the percentage of hands with which a player invests chips pre-flop, used to assess playing style.
W
- Walk: When all players fold to the big blind, allowing the big blind to win the pot uncontested.
- Walking Sticks: A nickname for pocket sevens (7-7), due to their resemblance to walking canes.
- Wash the Deck: A procedure in live poker where the deck is spread out and shuffled thoroughly, often for fairness or security.
- Weak Ace: A hand containing an Ace with a low kicker, such as A-7 offsuit.
- Wet Board: A community card layout that has many potential draws, such as 8♠ 9♦ 10♣.
- Wet Turn: A turn card that introduces many possible draws or strengthens existing ones, increasing the likelihood of action.
- Whale: A wealthy player who gambles large amounts of money, often with little regard for strategy.
- Wheel: The lowest possible straight in poker, consisting of A-2-3-4-5.
- Wide Open: A table dynamic where players are playing loose and aggressively, creating large pots.
- Wide Range: Playing a broad selection of hands, including weaker ones, often associated with loose-aggressive players.
- Window Card: The first card revealed when the dealer spreads the flop in live poker, often influencing players’ perceptions of the flop’s strength.
- Winning Tilt: Playing overconfidently or recklessly after a big win, leading to potential mistakes.
- Winrate: The rate at which a player earns profit over time, typically measured in big blinds per 100 hands (BB/100).
- Wired: Slang for pocket pairs, e.g., “wired Kings” for pocket Kings.
- Withered: A situation where a player’s hand or draw becomes weaker after a particular community card appears.
- Wolf: A skilled and aggressive player who preys on weaker opponents, similar to a “shark.”
- Working the Table: Actively exploiting table dynamics and player tendencies to gain an edge.
- Wrap: In Omaha, a straight draw with multiple outs, such as holding 5-6-7-8 on a 4-9-K board.
X
- X-Bet: A placeholder term for an undefined or large number of raises (e.g., 4-bet, 5-bet).
- X-Draw: Slang for a speculative draw where the exact outcome or value of the hand is unclear.
- X-Out: A card marked or altered to indicate that it is no longer playable, often used in physical card games.
- X-Pattern: A betting or check-raising pattern used to mislead opponents about the strength of a hand.
- X-Ray Fold: Folding a hand while correctly guessing the opponent’s holding, often confirmed later.
- X-Ray Vision: A slang term referring to the ability to accurately read opponents’ hands.
Y
- Yank: A quick or aggressive action, such as a sudden shove or snap bet, often used to describe reckless play.
- Yankee: A nickname for the starting hand Jacks and Sixes (J-6).
- Yapping: Excessive table talk used to distract or manipulate opponents during a game.
- Yard: Slang for one hundred dollars in poker.
- Yard Sale: Losing most or all of your chips in a dramatic or reckless manner, leaving you “stripped bare.”
- Yellow Submarine: A term for a poker player who consistently stays just below the radar, avoiding big risks but surviving deep into games.
- Yellow Chip: Typically represents a $1,000 denomination in casino poker.
- Yield: Folding to avoid unnecessary risk or to let an opponent win a small pot.
- Yin-Yang: A hand with both potential strength and weakness, often needing precise play to maximize value or minimize loss.
- Young Gun: A term used for a young, aggressive, and skilled poker player.
- Yo-Yoing: Fluctuating between winning and losing, often with frequent all-ins or risky plays.
Z
- Zap: Slang for a quick all-in bet, designed to catch opponents off guard.
- Z-Bet: A slang term for a speculative or unnecessary bet, often made for fun or out of boredom.
- Zero Equity Bluff: A bluff made with a hand that has no chance of improving to win at showdown.
- Zero Outs: A situation where a hand has no chance of winning, regardless of future cards.
- Zebras: Slang for black-and-white striped cards in some poker decks, often used in novelty games.
- Zombie Stack: A player with very few chips left who is still technically in the game.
- Zoned In: Playing with complete focus and reading the table effectively.
- Zone Play: Playing with a specific focus on situational awareness and exploiting weaker opponents in real time.
- Zoom Poker: A fast-fold variant of poker where players are moved to a new table immediately after folding.
- Z-Stack: A well-organized and visually tall chip stack at the table, often used by experienced players.