Poker Terms from HowToPlayTexas.com Learn How to play texas holdem poker now

A set
A pocket pair that connects with the board, making a three-of-a-kind.

Action
Another term for “betting”.

Ante
A small sum of money placed in the pot by each player. Antes are used in Stud and Draw, but not in Hold’em or Omaha.

Bad beat
A hand that is beaten by someone getting very lucky and drawing out that hand.

Bankroll
The sum of your total account stack.

Betting rounds
Every poker hand played is divided into four betting rounds which start at the player to the left of the button in the first position making an action. These are as follows:

Pre-flop The betting round before the flop.
Flop round The flop has been dealt and betting starts again.
Turn round The turn has been dealt and betting starts again.
River round This comes after the fourth and final betting round. This is followed by the showdown.

Big Blind
A bet that must be posted by the player two seats to the left of the button. It is equal to the amount of the smaller betting limit in a game, for example, in a $10-20 game, the big blind would be $10.

Blind
Forced bets placed in the pot by the first two players in front of the dealer button, in Hold’em and Omaha. See “small blind” and “big blind.”

Bluff
To bet when you are holding a weak hand, hoping that the intimidation factor of your bet can win the hand.

Board
The five community cards that all the players can see and use to build their hand.

Flop The first three community cards to be dealt.
Turn The fourth community card.
River The fifth and final community card.

Bring-in
In Stud, a bet that must be made on the very first betting round. Usually the player showing the lowest card is forced to make a bet; in some games, the player showing the highest card is forced. The bring-in applies only on the very first betting round, though. On all further rounds, the player showing the highest hand on board has the OPTION to bet first, but need not.

Bust
You’re bust when you lose your entire table stack or bankroll.

Button
Virtual dealer marker moved from player to player in a clockwise direction after each hand. The player on the button always acts last. Consequently the player left of the button, in the first position, always acts first.

Call
To match a bet that has been made.

Cap
There can only be a maximum of three raises in any given betting round. The last raise is called the cap.

Check
To possess the option to bet, but decline. A player cannot check once someone else has bet; at that point, the player must call, raise, or fold. But if no one has yet bet, a player can check, allowing the betting option to pass to the next player.

Check-raise
To check, indicating weakness, with the intention of raising after someone else bets.
Check-raises are allowed in all casino poker games; in some home games, they are frowned upon.

Community cards
The five cards on the board shared by all players.

Connectors
Starting hands that are connected through their value like J-10, A-K and 7-8.

Cracked
When the fantastic starting hand of two aces is beaten : the aces are cracked.

Dominated
A hand that is subdued by another hand. For example, AK would dominate AJ if an ace falls on the board. The dominated hand has a lower kicker (J) and little chance of winning.

Draw hand
A hand that needs a certain community card to come into play in order to win : most commonly with a straight or a flush. The starting hand of J10 of spades on a 8s 9s and Ah flop would be a very good drawing hand. You need a 7 or a Q for the straight and any spade for the flush. If Qs or 7s are dealt, then you even have a straight flush! But if none of these cards are dealt, the hand is worthless.

Drawing dead
A hand that cannot win even though the entire board is not yet on the table.

Edge
In the long run, luck evens out and skill alone defines the difference required to win. Edge is the slight advantage one player has over another through better skill, a larger stack or a better position.

Fifth Street
The fifth community card in Hold’em or Omaha (in these games, 5th street is more often called “the river”). Also sometimes used to refer to the fifth card received in 7 Card Stud.

Fish
A nickname for bad players who lose regularly : usually given this name by superior, winning players.

Flat call
Making a call in a situation where a raise would have been feasible.

Flop
In Hold’em or Omaha, the first three community cards, turned up all at once.

Fold
To drop out of a hand.

Fourth Street
The fourth community card in Hold’em or Omaha (in these games, 4th street is more often called “the turn.”). Also sometimes used to refer to the fourth card received in 7 Card Stud.

Freeroll
A tournament that is free to enter.

Grinder
A player who consistently plays for hours with the intent of slowly and carefully building a large bankroll.

Gut shot
To draw to a very unlikely draw like an inside straight.

Heads-up
A one-on-one poker game.

Hole cards
Cards that are face down and cannot be seen by the other players.

Hole cards
Your starting hand. These are sometimes referred to as pocket cards.

Inside straight
On a 5, 9, Q flop with 6, 7 hole cards, an 8 would make the inside straight!

Kicker
When two players hold equal hands such as the same pair, the highest unpaired card is called the kicker and it decides the winner. For more info, see Dominated.

Limit
The dollar value of the blind. Defines how “big” the game is. Obviously, you need a much larger stack to play a $50-limit game than a $0.50 game.

Limping
Calling the big blind in pre-flop action.

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Narrowing the Field
To bet or raise in the hopes that you will drive out some players whose hands are currently worse than yours, but who might improve if allowed to stay in.

Nuts, The
The best possible hand. This phrase is almost always used in the context of a particular hand (otherwise “the nuts” would just be a term for a royal flush). For example, in Hold’em, a player holding 8-9 would hold “the nuts” if the flop came 6-7-10. At that moment, the 6-7-8-9-10 straight is the best possible hand. However, if the Turn card were a Jack, and the River a Queen, a player holding A-K would then have the nuts-a 10-J-Q-K-A straight.

Off-suit
A starting hand with two different suits.

Open-ended straight
A straight draw that can hit both ways. With a J10 on the flop, a player holding KQ has an open-ended straight draw, hitting with an ace or a nine. See Inside straight.

Outs
The total number of possibilities a player has to win a pot, based on the current situation. If he holds 99 and needs another 9 to win, then he would have a total of two outs.

Over card
Pocket cards that have a value higher than the highest card currently on the board. An ace and a king are over cards to a 57J flop.

Pocket pair
Holding two equally valued cards like AA, KK, 77 or 22.

Position
A player’s position in relation to the dealer’s button. As the button moves, so does your position. These are defined as follows;

Position Description
Early First three seats left of (after) the button. The least desirable positions as these players must make their moves first.
Middle Seats 4 to 7 after the button.
Late Positions 8 and 9. Playing out of this position gives players an edge since they have already seen the other player’s moves.
On the button This seat acts last and as such, has an even bigger edge than the late position.

Pot
The money in the center of the table, being contested for by the players still remaining in the hand.

Rag
A low-value community card that will probably have no effect on the outcome of a hand.

Rake
The amount of money the casino takes from the pot to make money from the poker game. In low-limit games, the casino usually rakes some percentage of the pot, usually a maximum of 10% of the pot. In higher limit games, the casino makes money either by charging players an hourly fee to play, or by collecting a fee each time a player holds the button.

Ring game
Single table game where all bets are made directly from a player’s stack and not put into a prize pool and divided at the end as in a tournament. It’s every hand for itself. Players can join and enter these games as they please. Sometimes referred to as a cash game.

River
In Hold’em or Omaha, the fifth and final community card. Also sometimes called fifth street.

Rock
A player known to be very conservative, who usually bets or raises only when he has a very powerful hand.

Showdown
All players still left in the pot after the final betting round show their cards to reveal the winner.

Small Blind
A bet that must be posted by the player seated to the left of the button. It is usually equal to one half of the smaller betting limit in a game, for example, in a $10-20 game, the small blind would be $5. Occasionally, the small blind is some other fraction of the big blind.

Stack the pot
Winning the pot and adding it to your stack.

Starting hand
The two face-down cards dealt to each player at the start of a hand.

Steam
When players lose their tempers and start playing badly, they’re steaming.

Streak
To be “in the zone” and win with whatever cards you are dealt.

Suited hand
Starting hand with matching suits : hearts, clubs, spades or diamonds.

Tells
Behavioural patterns that provide subtle clues of a player’s moves and strategies.

Tilt
To completely lose it and play like a madman. This is most common after a player has taken several bad beats.

Trap
To lure other players to stay in and preferably raise a pot you are absolutely sure you are going to win.

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Hand nicknames
AA Pocket Rockets, Bullets, American Airlines
KK Cowboys, King Kong
QQ Double date, Canadian Aces, Siegfried and Roy
JJ Fish hooks
99 Wayne Gretzky
88 Snowmen
77 Sunset strip
66 Route 66
55 Speed limit
44 Magnum, Sail boat
33 Crabs
22 Ducks
AK Big slick
AQ Big chick
AJ Black Jack, Jack-ass
KQ Royalty, Marriage
KJ Kojak
J5 Jackson five
Q3 Gay waiter
95 Dolly Parton
A8 Dead man’s hand
Back in 1876, a player named Wild Bill Hickock was shot after winning with it!
K9 Canine
J4 Flat tyre

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Chat
nh Nice hand
vnh Very nice hand
gg Good going
lol Laugh out loud
tu Thank you
wtf What the f***?
str8 Straight
wp Well played

Action - The betting, raising and calling that takes place during a poker game.
Active : A player who is still in contention for winning the pot in a hand.
All In : Betting or calling with all your remaining chips.

Bet : Putting chips into the pot.
Big Blind : The larger of the two blinds in a Holdem game.
Blinds : Forced preliminary bets made before the cards are dealt in a Holdem game.
Board : The community cards in a Holdem game or the face up cards in a Stud game.
Bring In : A forced bet made to start the first round of a Stud game.
Burn : Discarding the top card in a deck into the Muck in case it has been seen by a player.
Button : A disk or other marker that indicates the dealer in a round.

Call : Matching the most recent bet or raise.
Cap : In a limit game, the maximum amount of raises allowed in a round or the final raise permitted in a round.
Check : Making no bet in a round while remaining active in the game.
Community Cards : Cards that are dealt face up in the middle of the table and shared by all the players. These cards are also called the Board.

Dealer : The person who is dealing the cards in a game or the person designated as the dealer of an online game and represented by the Button.
Down Card : Any card dealt to a player face down, also known as a Hole Card or Pocket Card.

Fifth Street : The third round of betting after each player has received a third face up card in a Stud game. The fifth community card in a Holdem game, also known as the River.
Fish : An inexperienced or bad player who usually losses a lot of money.
Fixed Limit : Fixed or set bets dictated before the beginning of the game, also known as Limits.
Flop : The first three community cards dealt face up in Holdem games.
Fold : Throw in your hand during a game and forfeit any right to the pot, also known as Mucking.
Fourth Street - The second round of betting after each player has received a second face up card in a Stud game. The fourth community card in a Holdem game, also known as the Turn.

Hole Card : Any card dealt to a player face down, also known as a Down Card or Pocket Card.
House : The establishment running or sponsoring the game.

Kicker : An unpaired card used to determine the better of two equal hands.

Limit : The fixed or set bets dictated before the beginning of a game, also known as Fixed Limit.
Little Blind - The smaller of the two blinds in a Holdem game.

Muck : The folded and burned cards on the table or to get rid of your cards and fold.

No Limit : A game of poker where there are no fixed or set bets.

Play Money : Money that only represents real money but has no real value, usually used in practice games.
Play the Board : In Holdem games forming your best hand using only Community cards and no Hole Cards
Pocket Card - Any card dealt to a player face down, also known as a Down Card or Hole Card.
Position : Where a player sits at the poker table compared to where the other players sit.
Pot Limit : A form of poker where a player can bet any amount up to the size of the pot.
Pre Flop : The point in a Holdem game when each player has two Hole cards and no Community Cards have been dealt.

Raise : Increasing the size of the current bet in a round.
Rake : The percentage of the pot that goes to the house for hosting the game.
Rank : The value of a card.
River - The fifth community card in a Holdem game, also known as the Fifth Street.

Seventh Street : The fifth and final round of betting in a Seven Card Stud game.
Showdown : After all the betting is over, the players who are active in a hand show their cards to determine the winner.
Side Pot : An extra pot created when one player goes All In running out of chips.
Sixth Street - The fourth round of betting in a Seven Card Stud game.
Small Blind : The smaller of the two blinds in a Holdem game.
Split Pot : A pot that is shared by two or more players with equal hands at the end of a game or the pot that is shared equally by the winners in a Hi/Lo game

Table Stakes : The condition that a player can only bet the amount of money he has on the table.
Third Street : The first round of betting after each player has received two Hole cards and one face up card in a Stud game.
Tilt : Playing wildly or recklessly with your emotions.
Turn - The fourth community card in a Holdem game, also known as the Fourth Street.
Turn Card - The fourth community card in a Holdem game, also known as Fourth Street.