Poker
Terms
Aces
Up: Two
pair, a pair of Aces and any other pair.
ACTION:
A
fold, check, call, bet, or raise. For
certain situations, doing something formally
connected with the game that conveys information
about your hand may also be considered
as having taken action. Examples would
be showing your cards at the end of the
hand, or indicating the number of cards
you are taking at draw.
Active
Player : A
player still involved in a hand.
AGGRESSIVE
ACTION: A wager that could enable
a player to win a pot without a showdown;
a bet or raise.
All
Blue : A
flush containing either clubs or spades.
ALL-IN:
When you have put all of your playable
money and chips into the pot during the
course of a hand, you are said to be all-in.
All
Pink : A
flush containing either diamonds or hearts.
Ante:
A prescribed amount
posted before the start of a hand by all
players.
Back
Door : Making
a hand that the player wasn't drawing
at.
Back
Raise : To
reraise another players raise.
Bad
Beat : A
hand being beat by another hand that had
a very low percentage of becoming a winning
hand.
BET:
The act of placing a wager in turn into
the pot on any betting round, or the chips
put into the pot.
BIG
BLIND: The largest regular blind
in a game.
Blank
: A card that has little value
to the hand.
BLIND:
A required bet made before any cards are
dealt.
BLIND
GAME: A game which utilizes a blind.
Bluff
: A bet or raise with a hand that
is unlikely to beat the other players.
BOARD:
(1) The board on which a waiting list
is kept for players wanting seats in specific
games.
(2) Cards faceup on the table common to
each of the hands.
BOARDCARD:
A community card in the center of the
table, as in hold’em or Omaha.
Bottom
Pair :Pairing the lowest card on
the board.
BOXED
CARD: A card that appears faceup
in the deck where all other cards are
facedown.
BROKEN
GAME: A game no longer in action.
Button
: A player who is in the designated
dealer position. See dealer button.
BUTTON
GAMES: Games in which a dealer
button is used.
BUY-IN:
The minimum amount of money required to
enter any game.
CALIFORNIA
LOWBALL: Ace-to-five lowball with
a joker.
CARDS
SPEAK: The face value of a hand
in a showdown is the true value of the
hand, regardless of a verbal announcement.
CAPPED:
Describes the situation in limit poker
in which the maximum number of raises
on the betting round have been reached.
CHECK:
To waive the right to initiate the betting
in a round, but to retain the right to
act if another player initiates the betting.
CHECK-RAISE:
To waive the right to bet until a bet
has been made by an opponent, and then
to increase the bet by at least an equal
amount when it is your turn to act.
Cold Call :
To call a bet or multiple bets for the
first time in a round.
COLLECTION:
The fee charged in a game (taken either
out of the pot or from each player).
COLLECTION
DROP: A fee charged for each hand
dealt.
COLOR
CHANGE: A request to change the
chips from one denomination to another.
COMMON
CARD: A card dealt faceup to be
used by all players at the showdown in
the games of stud poker whenever there
are insufficient cards left in the deck
to deal each player a card individually.
Community
Cards : The cards dealt faceup
in the center of the table that can be
used by all players to form their best
hand in the games of hold"em and Omaha.
COMPLETE
THE BET: To increase an all-in
bet or forced bet to a full bet in limit
poker.
Chase
: To play a hand that is most
likely worse than at least one other player.
Check
: To pass without betting.
CUT:
To divide the deck into two sections in
such a manner as to change the order of
the cards.
CUT-CARD:
Another term for the bottom card.
DEAD
CARD: A card that is not legally
playable.
DEAD
COLLECTION BLIND: A fee posted
by the player having the dealer button,
used in some games as an alternative method
of seat rental.
DEAD
HAND: A hand that is not legally
playable.
DEAD
MONEY: Chips that are taken into
the center of the pot because they are
not considered part of a particular player’s
bet.
DEAL:
To give each player cards, or put
cards on the board. As used in these rules,
each deal refers to the entire process
from the shuffling and dealing of cards
until the pot is awarded to the winner.
DEALER
BUTTON: A flat disk that indicates
the player who would be in the dealing
position for that hand (if there were
not a house dealer). Normally just called
“the button.”
DEAL
OFF: To take all the blinds and
the button before changing seats or leaving
the table. That is, participate through
all the blind positions and the dealer
position.
DEAL
TWICE: When there is no more betting,
agreeing to have the rest of the cards
to come determine only half the pot, removing
those cards, and dealing again for the
other half of the pot.
DECK:
A set of playing-cards. In these games,
the deck consists of either:
(1)
52 cards in seven-card stud, hold’em,
and Omaha.
(2)
53 cards (including the joker), often
used in ace-to-five lowball and draw high.
DISCARD(S):
In a draw game, to throw cards out of
your hand to make room for replacements,
or the card(s) thrown away; the muck.
DOWNCARDS:
Cards that are dealt facedown in a stud
game.
DRAW:
(1) The poker form where players are given
the opportunity to replace cards in the
hand. In some places like California,
the word “draw” is used referring to draw
high, and draw low is called “lowball.”
(2)
The act of replacing cards in the hand.
(3)
The point in the deal where replacing
is done is called “the draw.”
Drawing
Dead : Drawing to a hand that cannot
win because someone already holds a hand
that will beat what you are drawing to.
Dominated
: A hand that yields three or
less outs which makes improving it very
difficult.
Early
Position : A position in which
you must act before most of the players
during a round.
FACECARD:
A king, queen, or jack.
Flop
: The first three community cards
dealt up at one time at a poker table.
FIXED
LIMIT: In limit poker, any betting
structure in which the amount of the bet
on each particular round is pre-set.
FLASHED
CARD: A card that is partially
exposed.
FLOORPERSON:
A casino employee who seats players and
makes decisions.
FLOP:
In hold’em or Omaha, the three community
cards that are turned simultaneously after
the first round of betting is complete.
FLUSH:
A poker hand consisting of five cards
of the same suit. FOLD: To throw a hand
away and relinquish all interest in a
pot.
FOURTH
STREET:
The second upcard in seven-card stud or
the first boardcard after the flop in
hold’em (also called the turn card).
FOULED
HAND:
A dead hand.
FORCED
BET:
A required wager to start the action on
the first betting round (the normal way
action begins in a stud game).
FREEROLL:
A chance to win something at no risk or
cost.
FULL
BUY:
A buy-in of at least the minimum requirement
of chips needed for a particular game.
FULL
HOUSE:
A hand consisting of three of a kind and
a pair.
HAND:
(1)
All a player’s personal cards.
(2)
The five cards determining the poker ranking.
(3)
A single poker deal.
HEADS-UP
PLAY: Only two players involved
in play.
INSURANCE:
A side agreement when someone is all-in
for a player in a pot to put up money
that guarantees a payoff of a set amount
in case the opponent wins the pot.
JOKER:
The joker is a “partially wild
card” in high draw poker and ace-to-five
lowball. In high, it is used for aces,
straights, and flushes. In lowball, the
joker is the lowest unmatched rank in
a hand.
KANSAS
CITY LOWBALL: A form of draw poker
low also known as deuce-to-seven, in which
the best hand is 7-5-4-3-2 and straights
and flushes count against you.
Kicker
: The highest unpaired card that
helps determine the value of a five-card
poker hand.
KILL
(OR KILL BLIND): An oversize blind,
usually twice the size of the big blind
and doubling the limit. Sometimes a “half-kill”
increasing the blind and limits by fifty
percent is used. A kill can be either
voluntary or mandatory. The most common
requirements of a mandatory kill are for
winning two pots in a row at lowball and
other games, or for scooping a pot in
high-low split.
KILL
BUTTON: A button used in a lowball
game to indicate a player who has won
two pots in a row and is required to kill
the pot.
KILL
POT: A pot with a forced kill by
the winner of the two previous pots, or
the winner of an entire pot of sufficient
size in a high-low split game. (Some pots
can be voluntarily killed.)
Late Position :
A position in which you act after most
of the other players during a round.
LEG
UP: Being in a situation equivalent
to having won the previous pot, and thus
liable to have to kill the following pot
if you win the current pot.
LIVE
BLIND: A blind bet giving a player
the option of raising if no one else has
raised.
LIST:
The ordered roster of players waiting
for a game.
LOCK-UP:
A chip marker that holds a seat for a
player.
Loose
: Playing more hands than normal.
Loose
Game : A game with a lot of players
in most hands.
LOWBALL:
A draw game where the lowest hand wins.
LOWCARD:
The lowest upcard at seven-card stud,
which is required to bet.
Middle Pair :
Pairing the second highest card on the
board.
Middle
Position : A position in which
you act somewhere between most of the
other players during a round.
MISCALL:
An incorrect verbal declaration of the
ranking of a hand.
MISDEAL:
A mistake on the dealing of a hand which
causes the cards to be reshuffled and
a new hand to be dealt.
MISSED
BLIND: A required bet that is not
posted when it is your turn to do so.
MUCK:
(1) The pile of discards gathered facedown
in the center of the table by the dealer.
(2)
To discard a hand.
MUST-MOVE:
In order to protect the main game, a situation
where the players of a second game must
move into the first game as openings occur.
NO-LIMIT:
A betting structure where players are
allowed to wager any or all of their chips
in one bet.
Nuts
: The best possible hand.
OPENER:
The player who made the first voluntary
bet.
OPENER
BUTTON: A button used to indicate
who opened a particular pot in a draw
game.
OPENERS:
In jacks-or-better draw, the cards held
by the player who opens the pot that show
the hand qualifies to be opened. Example:
You are first to bet and have a pair of
kings; the kings are called your openers.
OPTION:
The choice to raise a bet given to a player
with a blind.
Outs : The
cards that will improve a hand to win.
OVERBLIND:
Also called oversize blind. A blind used
in some pots that is bigger than the regular
big blind, and usually increases the stakes
proportionally.
Overcard:
A hole card that is higher than any other
card on the board.
Overpair:
Two hole cards paired and higher than
any card on the board.
PASS:
(1) Decline to bet. In a pass-and-out
game, this differs from a check, because
a player who passes must fold.
(2)
Decline to call a wager, at which point
you must discard your hand and have no
further interest in the pot.
Passive :
Checking and calling hands rather betting
and raising hands.
PAT:
Not drawing any cards in a draw game.
PLAY
BEHIND: Have chips in play that
are not in front of you (allowed only
when waiting for chips that are already
purchased). This differs from table stakes.
PLAY
THE BOARD: Using all five community
cards for your hand in hold’em.
PLAY
OVER: To play in a seat when the
occupant is absent.
PLAYOVER
BOX: A clear plastic box used to
cover and protect the chips of an absent
player when someone plays over that seat.
POSITION:
(1) The relation of a player’s seat to
the blinds or the button.
(2)
The order of acting on a betting round
or deal.
POT-LIMIT:
The betting structure of a game in which
you are allowed to bet up to the amount
of the pot.
POTTING
OUT: Agreeing with another player
to take money out of a pot, often to buy
food, cigarettes, or drinks, or to make
side bets.
PROPOSITION
BETS: Side bets between players
that are not related to the outcome of
the hand.
PROTECTED
HAND: A hand of cards that the
player is physically holding, or has topped
with a chip or some other object to prevent
a fouled hand.
PUSH:
When a new dealer replaces an existing
dealer at a particular table.
PUSHING
BETS: The situation in which two
or more players make an agreement to return
bets to each other when one of them wins
a pot in which the other or others play.
Also called saving bets.
RACK:
(1) A container in which chips are stored
while being transported.
(2)
A tray in front of the dealer, used to
hold chips and cards.
Rags : Cards
generally not worth playing. IE: 2,7 in
Texas Hold'em.
RAISE:
To increase the amount of a previous wager.
This increase must meet certain specifications,
depending on the game, to reopen the betting
and count toward a limit on the number
of raises allowed.
RERAISE:
To raise someone’s raise.
River
: The final card dealt.
SAVING
BETS: Same as pushing bets.
SCOOP:
To win both the high and the low portions
of a pot in a split-pot game.
SCRAMBLE:
A facedown mixing of the cards.
SETUP:
Two suited decks, each with different
colored backs, to replace the current
decks in a game.
SIDE
POT: A separate pot formed when
one or more players are all in.
SHORT
BUY: A buy-in that is less than
the required minimum buy-in.
SHOWDOWN:
The final act of determining the winner
of the pot after all betting has been
completed.
SHUFFLE:
The act of mixing the cards before a hand.
SMALL
BLIND:
In a game with multiple blind bets, the
smallest blind.
SPLIT
POT:
A pot that is divided among players, either
because of a tie for the best hand or
by agreement prior to the showdown.
SPLITTING
BLINDS:
When no one else has entered the pot,
an agreement between the big blind and
small blind to each take back their blind
bets instead of playing the deal (chopping).
SPLITTING
OPENERS:
In high draw jacks-or-better poker, dividing
openers in hopes of making a different
type of hand. Example: You open the pot
with a pair of aces. One of your aces
is a spade, as are the three other cards
in the hand. If you throw away the non-spade
ace to go for the flush, you announce
to the table, “Splitting openers.”
STACK:
Chips in front of a player.
Steal
: To bet or raise causing an opponent
to fold when you may not hold the best
hand.
STRADDLE:
An additional blind bet placed after the
forced blinds, usually double the big
blind in size or in lowball, a multiple
blind game.
STRAIGHT:
Five cards in consecutive rank.
STRAIGHT
FLUSH: Five cards in consecutive
rank of the same suit.
STREET:
Cards dealt on a particular round in stud
games. For instance, the fourth card in
a player’s hand is often known as fourth
street, the sixth card as sixth street,
and so on.
STRING
RAISE:
A bet made in more than one motion, without
the declaration of a raise (not allowed).
STUB:
The portion of the deck which has not
been dealt.
SUPERVISOR:
A cardroom employee qualified to make
rulings, such as a floorperson, shift
supervisor, or the cardroom manager.
Suited
: Cards are of the same suit.
TABLE
STAKES: (1) The amount of money
you have on the table. This is the maximum
amount that you can lose or that anyone
can win from you on any one hand. (
2)
The requirement that players can wager
only the money in front of them at the
start of a hand, and can only buy more
chips between hands.
Tight
: Playing fewer hands than normal.
Tight game - A game with less players
than normal in fewer hands.
“TIME”:
An expression used to stop the action
on a hand. Equivalent to “Hold it.”
TIME
COLLECTION: A fee for a seat rental,
paid in advance.
Top
Pair : Pairing the highest card
on the board.
TOURNAMENT:
A poker competition, normally with an
entry fee and prizes.
Turn
: The fourth card dealt on the
board during community card games.
TURNCARD:
The fourth street card in hold'em or Omaha.
UPCARDS:
Cards that are dealt faceup for opponents
to see in stud games.
WAGER:
(1) To bet or raise.
(2) The chips used for betting or raising.
Weak
: One who folds too many hands.
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