ACT: When it is your turn to fold, bet, call, or raise. "It's your turn to act buddy."
ACTION BUTTON: Also known as a "kill" button. Many cash games will have a "kill" pot where the next hand will increase to either one and a half times or twice the usual limit of the game. The action of the kill normally goes in order of the table action OR the player with the action/kill button is last to act unless the pot is raised before the action comes to the player with the action/kill button.
AIR: Nothing. Making a bet with "air" is a bluff where you have little to no chance to win without betting.
ADMINISTRATIVE FEE: This fee is the amount taken out of the entry fee of the tournament and not a part of the prize pool. This fee is how the house makes their money on tournaments.
ALL-IN: Betting all of your chips into the pot.
ANGLE: Intentionally making an act to try to win that is legal, but for lack of a better term... not nice. Example: Announcing your hand incorrectly before turning your cards over in attempt to get the opponent to throw their cards in the muck (make them fold and you get the pot).
ANTE: In tournaments, this is an amount usually instituted at later stages of the tournament that each player (including any blinds) are forced to put an additional amount to go towards the pot before every hand is dealt. Antes are also implemented as a standard part of many cash games like stud where every player at the table puts a standard amount in the pot before the cards are dealt.
BACKDOOR: A draw requiring two or more rounds to make your hand. Example: You have AK hearts and the flop comes K72 with one heart. Heart comes on both the turn and river. You made a "backdoor" flush.
BAD BEAT: Losing a hand in a horrible way. Being a huge favorite and losing to a hand with a small probability of winning that overcomes the probability and beats your hand. Some poker rooms will have a "bad beat" jackpot, which I think should be more properly termed a "cold deck" jackpot (a bad beat jackpot is not necessarily a miracle river card that beats you, but rather a monster of a poker hand that gets beat by an even better monster poker hand.)
BET: Money that is voluntarily put into the pot to start a betting round.
BETTING STRUCTURE: The rules that determine the allowable amounts of the bets as well as how many raises can be made and the limits of those raises.
BLIND: A required amount the player has to put up that goes into the pot. Typically a small blind and a big blind (although some games will be played with no small blind, three blinds, or other variations). The purpose of blinds is to create an incentive to play hands and create action. If there was no forced blinds, a player could never play a hand and not lose any money.
BLOCKER: Holding one of your opponent's outs. Example: You have a pair of 7's and another player needs a 7 to make a straight. You have two "blockers" to their straight.
BOAT: Short name for a full house. Three of a kind with a pair in a player's hand.
BOTTOM END: Also referred to as "idiot end" of a straight. Example: The board has 8,9,T,J. The person with the 7 would have the "bottom" or "idiot" end of the straight.
BRICK: A card that comes that does not improve a player's hand. "I flopped a flush draw with two overs and it came brick brick."
BROADWAY: 10,J,Q,K,A straight.
BUBBLE: One position away from cashing in a tournament.
BUSTED: 2 definitions for "busted.
1.Knocked out of a tournament: "I busted 10 spots from the money."
2.A draw that did not get there. "Busted straight", "Busted flush".
BUTTON: A button is placed in the position of the player that is the last to act. This is the most favorable position to be in.
BUY THE POT: Betting when nobody else is betting at the pot in order to win the pot without having a hand good enough to win.
CALL: Put money into the pot equal to the amount of the bet that was made before the action came around to you.
CALL THE CLOCK: When you determine that a player is taking too much time to make a decision, you have the right to "call the clock". The tournament official or poker room floor person will then be called to the table and make the decision whether or not to give the slow player a time limit to make their decision. A typical time frame is 60 seconds. Normally, any player at the table has the right to call a clock. You do not have to be playing in that particular hand.
CASE CARD: The last remaining card in the deck of a certain denomination. Example: Two players folded a 9 and you have a 9 in your hand. The opponent needs a 9 to make a straight. He needs the "case" 9 to complete his straight.
CHECK: 2 definitions
1) When playing a hand and it is your turn to act with no bet before the action gets to you and you decide not to make a bet.
2) Another name for a poker chip. "Player needs checks on table 9!"
CHECK RAISE: Initially check when it is your turn to act, and then raise after somebody else in the same betting round makes a bet and the action comes back to you.
CHIP DUMPING: Cheating where one player colludes with another player to lose to the other player to build their chip stack and give them a better chance to win a tournament. Chip dumping has also occurred in online poker cash games in an attempt to confuse tracing of funds.
CHIP RACE: Happens at the break of a tournament when denomination chips of a lower denomination are taken off the table. In the event a player does not have an even amount of chips to color up to the larger denomination, the excess chips will become eligible for a chip race where the dealer will deal one card to each player for each excess chip. The corresponding players that are dealt high cards in proportion to the chips to be distributed will get an extra chip of the larger denomination. Example: You have seven $25 denomination chips. The dealer will give you one $100 tournament chip and your remaining three chips will each get a high card with a chance to get another $100 tournament chip from the dealer.
CHOP: 3 definitions
1) A tie for the win in a pot. Chips will be distributed to the players in corresponding percentage of their win. This can get tricky in a hi lo split pot game. It is theoretically possible in omaha hi lo split for a player to get as little as 1/14th of the total pot in a chopped pot.
2) Chopping the blinds. Everybody folds around to the blinds. When the action gets to the blinds, they decide to not play the hand, take their blind money back, and let the button advance one spot and play the next hand. It is common "etiquette" in poker to either always chop or always play your blinds.
3) When a tournament approaches the end, the remaining players will often reach an agreement to split the prize pool. This may be in an event amount or another amount calculated to be acceptable and/or fair. "When it got down to three left, we did a 3 way "chop" for $3,000 each."
CRIPPLE: To be left with very little chips and not have much of a chance to compete. "We had all our chips in on the turn and the guy made the flush on the river and left me with only 3 big blinds left... CRIPPLED ME."
DARK: Action taken without having certain information. A bet or check in the dark can be made when you make the action before the card is turned over by the dealer or a draw is made. Example: "I'm drawing two and I'll check it dark."
DEAL IT TWICE: An agreement that is made in a cash game after an all in that allows the dealer to deal out two separate hands and the pot split proportionately based on the two outcomes. Players may also agree to deal it more times such as three or four and split the pot according to those outcomes.
DEALER BONUS: This is an extra tournament fee which gives you extra tournament starting chips. This fee is NOT added to the prize pool and is another way for the house to pay it's dealers and make a profit.
DEALER'S CHOICE: Usually incorporated into a mix game where the choice of game is made by each player in rotation by hand, orbit, or time frame.
DRAWING DEAD: Being involved in a hand with having zero percent chance of getting the cards to win a hand in a showdown.
DRAWING LIVE: Being involved in a hand and having a chance to make the winning hand in a showdown.
DRY ACE: Term used to describe holding an ace in your hand without another card in the same suit. Term is used often in omaha hi and hi lo.
EQUITY: Mathematical expected value calculated by multiplying the amount of money in the pot by one's probability of winning. For example, if the pot currently contains $100, and you estimate that you have a one in four chance of winning it, then your equity in the pot is $25. If a split is possible, the equity also includes the probability of winning a split times the size of that split; for example, if the pot has $100, and you have a 1/4 chance of winning and a 1/5 chance of taking a $50 split, your equity is $25 + $10 = $35.
FAMILY POT: A poker hand where every single player seated at the table is involved in the hand.
FLAT: Flat or flat call. A flat call is simply calling when a raise might be expected. Playing cautiously and not wanting to lose alot of chips a player may flat call without the nuts (the absolute best hand).
FREE CARD: When nobody bets in a betting round, the next card to be dealt is defined as a "free card".
GUTSHOT: Inside straight draw. Example: You have a pair of 9's and 7,8,J is on the board. You need a 10 for a "gutshot" straight.
IDIOT END: Having the lower end of a straight.
IN THE MONEY: When you have advanced far enough in a tournament to receive a cash prize, you are "in the money".
ISOLATION: Making a bet or a raise in order to make another player or players fold and isolate the hand to a smaller field... usually one other opponent.
KICKER: The second card in a players hand that goes along with the matched up pair. Determines the winner of the hand when players have the same single pair... the higher "kicker" will allow that player to win the pot.
KILL POT: Many cash games will have a "kill" pot where the next hand will increase to either one and a half times or twice the usual limit of the game. The action of the kill normally goes in order of the table action OR the player with the action/kill button is last to act unless the pot is raised before the action comes to the player with the action/kill button.
AIR: Nothing. Making a bet with "air" is a bluff where you have little to no chance to win without betting.
LAMMERS: Awarded to winners of satellite tournaments and can be used toward entry fee of tournaments in the poker series. You will often see lammers being sold in entry fee tournament lines.
LEVEL: Used in tournament play to refer to the size of the blinds which are increased after a set period of time.
LIMP: To enter a pot by calling and not raising.
LOOSE: Describes a style of play where a player plays a lot of hands.
NIT: A player who doesn't take risk and only plays premium hands.
OFFSUIT: Starting hand with cards that are not of the same suit.
ORBIT: One full rotation of the blinds at the table. From the time you have the big blind until the next time you have the big blind is one "orbit".
OVERS: Refers to cards in a players hand that the player considers if one of them pairs they can win the pot at showdown. A player has AK vs a pair of 8's... he has two "overs". Also, the term is used in a cash game where a player can sit in another players seat while they are away from the table. There is usually a protective "overs" case placed over the absent players chips.
PAINT: Any J,Q, or K
PASSIVE: Refers to a style of play that does not take agression.
PLAY THE BOARD: When the hand on the board is better than the hand that you can make otherwise, you "play the board".
POSITION BET: When a bet is made more due to the bettor's position on the table rather than the strength of that player's hand.
POT COMMITTED: When a player has so much money in the pot that they mathematically have to call a bet even though they are an underdog in the hand.
QUADS: Four of a kind
RABBIT HUNT: Take a peek at the next cards in the deck after a hand has been completed to see what cards would have come if the hand had continued.
RAGS: Low cards. These cards are assumed to not help another players hand. However, when a player flops a set or makes a straight with a rag or rags, their hand can be hidden very well and "rags" of another player may cost your high pair a lot of chips.
RAIL: People watching a game that are not players in that game are referred to as "the rail".
RAISE: When a player options to make a bet that is larger than the required amount to simply call.
RAKE: The amount that the poker room or host removes from the pot before awarding the pot to the winner of the hand. I a tournament, this is referred to as the administrative or admin fee.
REBUY: A type of tournament format that allows players to rebuy chips in addition to the initial entry fee. This rebuy amount is added to the prize pool. In cash games, a player is said to "rebuy" when that player buys more chips to put on the table.
RERAISE: To raise after another player in a betting round has already made a raise.
ROLLED UP: Stud term referring to starting with three of a kind in your first three cards dealt.
ROYAL FLUSH: Poker player's dream hand. 10,J,Q.K,A of the same suit.
RUN IT TWICE: An agreement that is made in a cash game after an all in that allows the dealer to deal out two separate hands and the pot split proportionately based on the two outcomes. Players may also agree to run it more times such as three or four and split the pot according to those outcomes.
RUNNER RUNNER: In any game, making two consecutive cards to improve your hand and allow you to win the pot. Example: A player in RAZZ has 2 cards to come and hits both of them perfectly to make the best razz hand. That player went "runner runner" with the last two cards to win the pot.
STRAIGHT FLUSH: Any straight of the same suit.
SATELLITE: A tournament set in place to allow players to qualify for a higher buy in tournament by playing a smaller buy in qualifying tournament. The satellite winner/s will gain entry into the higher buy in tournament. A satellite may also give "lammers" in place of money which can be applied to tournament entry fees for that tournament series.
SCOOP: When a player wins the entire pot in a high low split game.
SEVENS RULE: A rule in many lowball games that requires a player with a seven-low or better after the draw to bet, rather than check or check-raise.
SHOOTOUT: A tournament format where the player that wins the table advances in the tournament. The player must continue to win the table to keep advancing in the tournament.
SIDE POT: A separate pot created to deal with the situation of one player going "all in".
SLOW ROLL: Delaying or avoiding showing your hand at showdown, forcing other players to expose their hands first. When a player does this with a strong hand, it is poor poker etiquette because it gives opponents the false impression that their hand is the winning hand.
SPLASH THE POT: When a player throws chips into the stack of chips that is already accumulated on the table causing it to be difficult to determine the size of the bet that was placed. This is also poor etiquette. Another term for splashing the pot, which is not poor etiquette, is when the house puts extra money on a poker table as a promotion before the hand is dealt that will be part of the pot on the next hand and awarded to the winner of the hand.
SPREAD: The range from the tables minimum bet to maximum bet.
SPREAD LIMIT: A form of limit poker where the bets and raises can be between a minimum and maximum value.
STAKES: Either the amount of the buy in for a poker game or netting limits of the games are referred to as the stakes of that game.
STAKING: When a third party pays all or part of a player's buy in for wither a cash game or a tournament.
STAND PAT: In a draw poker game when a player plays the original hand and uses no draws. This could be done either with a made hand or as a decoy to imply a made hand to the opponents.
STEAMING : When a player plays a game angry and lets it affect their play, they are considered to be "steaming".
STOP AND GO: Call a raise intentionally knowing that you will be first to act with the intention of betting regardless of what comes on the flop.
STRADDLE: Voluntarily placing twice the amount of the big blind into the pot before the cards are dealt. There are position limits to where this can be done. The most common in the past has been from the "under the gun" position. More common nowadays is the button or "Mississippi" straddle which is done from the button. A UTG straddle action starts to the left of the straddler. In a Mississippi straddle, the action usually starts from the small blind. In a limit game, a straddle is not considered a raise and allows for one more bet than usual to be
STEEL WHEEL: A,2,3,4,5 straight flush.
straight
STRAIGHT FLUSH: Any straight of the same suit.
STREET: A street is another term for a dealt card or betting round. Although the term can be used in omaha, it is a more common term in games such as stud games.
STRING BET: When a player makes an implied bet with a betting motion and then reaches bet to bet additional chips greater than the first indicated bet, this is called a "string" bet and is not allowed. An opposing player is allowed to point out a string bet to the dealer in order for the house to make a determination as to whether the extra amount was, in fact, an illegal string bet.
SUCK OUT: When a player who is a large statistical underdog to the other players hand catches and improbable card or combination of cards that allows them to win the pot.
SUITED CONNECTORS: Cards that are valued more ihn multi way pots that are of the same suit and in value order. Example: 7,8 of hearts are suited connectors.
TABLE STAKES: Each player is playing exactly the amount of chips/money that they have on the table. A player may not take money or chips off of the table and may only add money or chips in between hands.
TIGHT AGGRESSIVE: A style of play in which a player plays a small number of premium starting hands, but plays very aggressively when involved in a hand.
TELL: A tell in poker is a detectable change in a player's behavior or demeanor that gives clues to that player's strength or weakness of their hand.
TILT: When a players looses control of their emotions and it causes them to play poorly.
TURBO: A tournament that increases blind levels more rapidly than a typical poker tournament.
UNDER THE GUN (UTG): The table position immediately to the left of the big blind. This person is first to act in the hand.
VALUE BET: A bet made by a player who wants the opponent to call. A value bet is usually a measured amount of the size that the better thinks the opponent will call.
WALK: All players fold and the big blind is unchallenged and gets the bling blind returned to their stack along with the folded small blind.
WHEEL: A,2,3,4,5 straight
WINDOW CARD: This is a face up card in stud poker. The first face up card is called the door card. In Omaha and Hold Em, the window card is the first card exposed when the dealer places the flop.