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A majority of the following
information was found on the web. To the best of my knowledge it
can be found in the book by "Lee Jones", Winning at Low Limit
Poker which can be purchased at
http://www.amazon.com
Note: We have added several of our own definitions to this list.
Action
(1) Opportunity to act. If a player appears not to realize it's
his turn, the dealer will say "Your action, sir."
(2) Bets and raises. "If a third heart hits the board and there's
a lot of action, you have to assume that somebody has made the
flush."
(3) A general term to describe excitement and fast moving games of
chance. "The best action at the strip can be found at the
Bellagio."
Ante
A small portion of a bet contributed by each player to seed the
pot at the beginning of a poker hand. Most hold'em games do not
have an ante; they use "blinds" to get initial money into the pot.
All-In
To run out of chips while betting or calling. In table stakes
games, a player may not go into his pocket for more money during a
hand. If he runs out, a side pot is created in which he has no
interest. However, he can still win the pot for which he had the
chips. Example: "Poor Bob - he made quads against the big full
house, but he was all-in on the second bet."
Backdoor
Catching both the turn and river card to make a drawing hand. For
instance, suppose you have As- 7s. The flop comes Ad-6c-4s. You
bet and are called. The turn is the Ts, which everybody checks,
and then the river is the Js. You've made a "backdoor" nut flush.
See also "runner."
Bad Beat
To have a hand that is a large underdog beat a heavily favored
hand. It is generally used to imply that the winner of the pot had
no business being in the pot at all, and it was the wildest of
luck that he managed to catch the one card in the deck that would
win the pot. We won't give any examples, you will hear plenty of
them during your poker career.
Blank
A board card that doesn't seem to affect the standings in the
hand. If the flop is As-Jd-Ts, then a turn card of 2h would be
considered a blank. On the other hand, the 2s would not be.
Blind
A forced bet (or partial bet) put in by one or more players before
any cards are dealt. Typically, blinds are put in by players
immediately to the left of the button. See also "Live blind."
Board
All the community cards in a hold'em game - the flop, turn, and
river cards together. Example: "There wasn't a single heart on the
board."
Bottom Pair
A pair with the lowest card on the flop. If you have As-6s, and
the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped bottom pair.
Bubble/On the Bubble
When a player has a low chip count and faces being eliminated from
a tournament unless he can win a hand very soon.
Burn
To discard the top card from the deck, face down. This is done
between each betting round before putting out the next community
card (s). It is security against any player recognizing or
glimpsing the next card to be used on the board.
Button
A white acrylic disk to indicate who is the (nominal) dealer. Also
used to refer to the player on the button. Example: "Oh, the
button raised."
Buy
(1) As in "buy the pot." To bluff, hoping to "buy" the pot without
being called.
(2) As in "buy the button." To bet or raise, hoping to make
players between you and the button fold, thus allowing you to act
last on subsequent betting rounds.
Calling Station
A weak-passive player who calls a lot, but doesn't raise or fold
much. This is the kind of player you like to have in your game.
Cap
To put in the last raise permitted on a betting round. This is
typically the third or fourth raise. Dealers in California are
fond of saying "Capitola" or "Cappuccino".
Case
The last card of a certain rank in the deck. Example: "The flop
came J-8-3; I've got pocket jacks, he's got pocket 8's, and then
the case eight falls on the river and he beats my full house."
Catfish
A player in a tournament who constantly seems to be on the bottom
of the leader board, but never gets eliminated and comes up with a
win just at the last moment.
Center Pot
The first pot created during a poker hand. This is as opposed to
one or more "side" pots that are created if one or more players
goes all-in. Also "main pot."
Check
(1) To not bet, with the option to call or raise later in the
betting round. Equivalent to betting zero dollars.
(2) Another word for "chip", as in poker chip.
Check Raise
To check and then raise when a player behind you bets.
Occasionally you will hear people say this is not fair or ethical
poker. Piffle. Almost all casinos permit check-raising, and it is
an important poker tactic. It is particularly useful in low-limit
hold'em where you need extra strength to narrow the field when you
have the best hand.
Cold Call
To call more than one bet in a single action. For instance,
suppose the first player to act after the big blind raises. Now
any player acting after him must call two bets "cold." This is
different from calling a single bet and then calling a subsequent
raise.
Come Hand
A drawing hand (probably from the craps term).
Complete Hand
A hand that is defined by all five cards - a straight, flush, full
house, four of a kind, or straight flush.
Connector
A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are one apart in
rank. Examples: KQs, 76.
Counterfeit
To make your hand less valuable because of board cards that
duplicate it. Example: you have 87 and the flop comes 9-T-J, so
you have a straight. Now an 8 comes on the turn. This has
counterfeited your hand and made it almost worthless.
Crack
To beat a hand - typically a big hand. You hear this most often
used to apply to pocket aces: "Third time tonight I've had pocket
aces cracked."
Cripple
As in to cripple the deck. Meaning that you have most or all of
the cards that somebody would want to have with the current board.
If you have pocket kings, and the other two kings flop, you have
crippled the deck.
Dog
Shortened form of "Underdog".
Dominated Hand
A hand that will almost always lose to a better hand that people
usually play. For instance, K3 is "dominated" by KQ. With the
exception of strange flops (e.g. 3-3-x, K-3-x), it will always
lose to KQ.
Draw Dead
Try to make a hand that, even if made, will not win the pot. If
you're drawing to make a flush, and your opponent already has a
full house, you are "drawing dead". Of course, this is a bad
condition to be in.
Equity
Your "rightful" share of a pot. If the pot contains $80, and you
have a 50% chance of winning it, you have $40 equity in the pot.
This term is somewhat fanciful since you will either win $80 or
$0, but it gives you an idea of how much you can "expect" to win.
Expectation
(1) A term referring to the amount of you expect to gain on
average if you make a certain play. For instance, suppose you put
$10 into a $50 pot to draw at a hand that you will make 25% of the
time, and it will win every time you make it. Three out of four
times, you do not make your draw, and lose $10 each time for a
total of $30. The fourth time, you will make your draw, winning
$50. Your total gain over those four average hands is $50-$30 =
$20, an average of $5 per hand. Thus calling the $10 has a
positive expectation of $5.
(2) The amount you expect to make at the poker table in a specific
time period. Perhaps in 100 hours play, you have won $527. Then
your expectation is $5.27/hr. Of course, you won't make that exact
amount each hour (and some hours you will lose), but it's one
measure of your anticipated earnings.
Family Pot
A pot in which all (or almost all) of the players call before the
flop.
Fast
As in "play fast." To play a hand aggressively, betting and
raising as much as possible. Example: "When you flop a set but
there's a flush draw possible, you have to play it fast."
Flop
The first three community cards, put out face up, all together.
Foul
A hand which may not be played for one reason or another. A player
with a foul hand may not make any claim on any portion of the pot.
Example: "He ended up with three cards after the flop, so the
dealer declared his hand foul."
Free Card
A turn or river card on which you don't have to call a bet because
of play earlier in the hand (or a reputation which you have with
your opponents). For instance, if you are on the button and raise
when you flop a flush draw, your opponents may check to you on the
turn. If you make your flush on the turn, you can bet. However, if
you don't get it on the turn, you can check as well - seeing the
river card for "free."
Free Roll
For one player to have a shot at winning an entire pot when he is
currently tied with another player. For instance, suppose you have
Ac-Qc and your opponent has Ad-Qh. The flop is Qs-5c-Tc. You are
tied with your opponent right now, but are free rolling on him,
because you can win the whole pot and he can't. If no club comes,
you split the pot with him - if it does come, you win the whole
thing.
Gutshot Straight
An straight filled "inside". If you have 9s-8s, the flop comes
7c-5h-2d, and the turn is the 6c, you've made your gutshot
straight.
Heads Up
A pot that is being contested by only two players - "It was heads
up by the turn."
Hit
As in "the flop hit me." It means the flop contained cards that
help your hand. If you have AK, and the flop comes K-7-2, it hit
you.
House
The establishment running the game. Example: "The $2 you put on
the button goes to the house."
Implied Odds
Pot odds that do not exist at the moment, but may be included in
your calculations because of bets you expect to win if you hit
your hand. For instance, you might call with a flush draw on the
turn even though the pot isn't offering you quite 4:1 odds (your
chance of making the flush) because you're sure you can win a bet
from your opponent on the river if you make your flush.
Jackpot
A special bonus paid to the loser of a hand if he gets a very good
hand beaten. In hold'em, the "loser" must typically get aces full
or better beaten. In some of the large southern California card
clubs, the jackpots have gotten over $50,000. Of course, the
jackpot is funded with money removed from the game as part of the
rake.
Kicker
An unpaired card used to determine the better of two
near-equivalent hands. For instance, suppose you have AK and your
opponent has AQ. If the flop has an ace in it, you both have a
pair of aces, but you have a king kicker. Kickers can be vitally
important in hold'em.
Live Blind
A forced bet put in by one or more players before any cards are
dealt. The "live" means those players still have the option of
raising when the action gets back around to them.
Maniac
A player who does a lot of hyper-aggressive raising, betting, and
bluffing. A true maniac is not a good player, but is simply doing
a lot of gambling. However, a player who occasionally acts like a
maniac and confuses his opponents is quite dangerous.
Muck
The pile of folded and burned cards in front of the dealer.
Example: "His hand hit the muck so the dealer ruled it folded even
though the guy wanted to get his cards back." Also used as a verb
- "He didn't have any outs so he mucked his hand."
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. The best treatise on
no-limit poker is in Doyle Brunson's Super/System.
Nuts
The best possible hand given the board. If the board is
Ks-Jd-Ts-4s-2h, then As-Xs is the nuts. You will occasionally hear
the term applied to the best possible hand of a certain category,
even though it isn't the overall nuts. For the above example,
somebody with Ah-Qc in the above hand might say they had the "nut
straight".
Offsuit
A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are of different
suits.
One-Gap
A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are two apart in
rank. Examples: J9s, 64.
Out
A card that will make your hand win. Normally heard in the plural.
Example: "Any spade will make my flush, so I have nine outs."
Outrun
To beat. Example: "Susie outran my set when her flush card hit on
the river."
Overcall
To call a bet after one or more others players have already
called.
Overcard
A card higher than any card on the board. For instance, if you
have AQ and the flop comes J-7-3, you don't have a pair, but you
have two overcards.
Overpair
A pocket pair higher than any card on the flop. If you have QQ and
the flop comes J-8-3, you have an overpair.
Pay Off
To call a bet where the bettor is representing a hand that you
can't beat, but the pot is sufficiently large to justify a call
anyway. Example: "He played it exactly like he made the flush, but
I had top set so I paid him off."
Play the Board
To show down a hand in hold'em when your cards don't make a hand
any better than is shown on the board. For instance, if you have
22, and the board is 4-4-9-9-A (no flush possible), then you must
"play the board" - the best possible hand you can make doesn't use
any of your cards. Note that if you play the board, the best you
can do is to split the pot with all remaining players.
Pocket
Your unique cards that only you can see. For instance, "He had
pocket sixes" (a pair of sixes), or "I had ace-king in the
pocket."
Post
To put in a blind bet, generally required when you first sit down
in a card room game. You may also be required to post a blind if
you change seats at the table in a way that moves you away from
the blinds.
Pot Limit
A version of poker in which a player may bet up to the amount of
money in the pot whenever it is his turn to act. Like no-limit,
this is a very different game from limit poker.
Pot Odds
The amount of money in the pot compared to the amount you must put
in the pot to continue playing. For example, suppose there is $60
in the pot. Somebody bets $6, so the pot now contains $66. It
costs you $6 to call, so your pot odds are 11:1. If your chance of
having the best hand is at least one out of twelve, you should
call. Pot odds also apply to draws. For instance, suppose you have
a draw to the nut flush with one card left to come. In this case,
you are about a 4:1 underdog to make your flush. If it costs you
$8 to call the bet, then there must be about $32 in the pot
(including the most recent bet) to make your call correct.
Price
The pot odds you are getting for a draw or call. Example: "The pot
was laying me a high enough price, so I stayed in with my gutshot
straight draw."
Protect
(1) 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.
(2) To invest more money in a pot so blind money that you've
already put in isn't "wasted." Example: "He'll always protect his
blinds, no matter how bad his cards are."
Quads
Four of a kind.
Ragged
A flop (or board) that doesn't appear to help anybody very much. A
flop that came down Jd-6h-2c would look ragged.
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.
Rake
An amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer - this is
the card room's income.
Rank
The numerical value of a card (as opposed to its suit). Example:
"jack," "seven."
Represent
To play as if you hold a certain hand. For instance, if you raised
before the flop, and then raised again when the flop came ace
high, you would be representing at least an ace with a good
kicker.
Ring Game
A regular poker game as opposed to a tournament. Also referred to
as a "live" game since actual money is in play instead of
tournament chips.
River
The fifth and final community card, put out face up, by itself.
Also known as "fifth street". Metaphors involving the river are
some of poker's most treasured clichés - e.g. "He drowned in the
river."
Rock
A player who plays very tight, not very creatively. He raises only
with the best hands. A real rock is fairly predictable - if he
raises you on the end, you can throw away just about anything but
the nuts.
Round
One complete rotation of the deal from position 1 back to the
starting position. Hence the nickname "Rounder's."
Runner
Typically said "runner-runner" to describe a hand which was made
only by catching the correct cards on both the turn and the river
- "He made a runner-runner flush to beat my trips." See also
"Backdoor."
Scare Card
A card which may well turn the best hand into trash. If you have
Tc-8c and the flop comes Qd- Jd-9s, you almost assuredly have the
best hand. However, a turn card of Td would be very scary because
it would almost guarantee that you are now beaten.
Second Pair
A pair with the second highest card on the flop. If you have
As-Ts, and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped second pair.
Sell
As in "sell a hand". In a spread limit game, this means to bet
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
A powerful concept first discussed by David Sklansky. 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.
Set
Three of a kind when you have two of the rank in your hand, and
there is one on the board.
Short Stack
A number of chips that is not very many compared to the other
players at the table. If you have $10 in front of you, and
everybody else at the table has over $100, you are playing on a
short stack.
Showdown
The point at which all players remaining in the hand turn their
cards over and determine who has the best hand - i.e. after the
fourth round of betting is completed. Of course, if a final bet or
raise is not called, there is no showdown.
Side Pot
A pot created in which a player has no interest because he has run
out of chips. Example: Al bets $6, Beth calls the $6, and Carl
calls, but he has only $2 left. An $8 side pot is created that
either Al or Beth can win, but not Carl. Furthermore, any more
bets that Al and Beth make go into that side pot. Carl, however,
can still win all the money in the original or "center" pot.
Slow Play
To play a strong hand weakly so more players will stay in the pot.
Slowrolling/Slowroller
A player who delays the game without cause. More specifically just
to aggravate the other table players. Example: The last action to
the table is to the "Slowroller." He knows that for certain he has
the winning hand and cannot lose. 1 player besides himself is left
and has gone all in ahead of him. All he has to do is match the
bet and pick up his winnings. But instead he delays and agonizes
over doing so in order to pretend that the other player has a
chance. Let's just call this person a "jerk" and that is about the
kindest definition we can offer.
Split Pot
A pot which is shared by two or more players because they have
equivalent hands.
Split Two Pair
A two pair hand in which one of each of your cards' ranks appears
on the board as well. Example: you have T9, the flop is T-9-5, you
have a split two pair. This is in comparison to two pair where
there is a pair on the board. Example: you have T9, the flop is
9-5-5.
Spread Limit
A betting structure in which a player may bet any amount in a
range on every betting round. A typical spread limit structure is
$2-$6, where a player may bet as little as $2 or as much as $6 on
every betting round.
Straddle
An optional extra blind bet, typically made by the player one to
the left of the big blind, equal to twice the big blind. This is
effectively a raise, and forces any player who wants to play to
pay two bets. Furthermore, the straddler acts last before the
flop, and may "re-raise."
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.
Structured
Used to apply to a certain betting structure in "flop" games such
as hold'em. The typical definition of a structured 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. Example: a $2-$4
structured hold'em game - bets and raises of $2 before the flop
and on the flop; $4 bets and raises on the turn and river.
Suited
A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are the same suit.
Example: "I had to play J-3 - it was suited."
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. While this rule might not be
referred to as "table stakes", it is enforced almost universally
in public poker games.
Tell
A clue or hint that a player unknowingly gives about the strength
of his hand, his next action, etc. May originally be from
"telegraph" or the obvious use that he "tells" you what he's going
to do before he does it.
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
(1) A request by a player to suspend play while he decides what
he's going to do. Simply, "Time please!" 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 folded.
(2) An amount of money collected either on the button or every
half hour by the card room. This is another way for the house to
make its money (see "rake").
Toke
A small amount of money (typically $.50 or $1.00) given to the
dealer by the winner of a pot. Quite often, tokes represent the
great majority of a dealer's income.
Top Pair
A pair with the highest card on the flop. If you have As-Qs, and
the flop comes Qd-Th-6c, you have flopped top pair.
Trips
Three of a kind.
Turbo
Just click on the "sit and go" tab at Pokerstars and then scroll
down looking for "NL turbo" if you want to play a game that goes
faster than regular tourneys. The blinds increase every 5 minutes.
Turn
The fourth community card. Put out face up, by itself. Also known
as "fourth street."
Under the gun
The position of the player who acts first on a betting round. For
instance, if you are one to the left of the big blind, you are
under the gun before the flop.
Underdog
A person or hand who is not mathematically favored to win a pot.
For instance, if you flop four cards to your flush, you are not
quite a 2:1 underdog to make your flush by the river (that is, you
will make your flush about one in three times). See also "dog."
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 which, 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. |
