Whether you are an amateur or a professional player, you may feel lost among the many terms that make up the poker vocabulary. Whether it’s a game for fun or a tournament, you need to know most of them to understand the game.
We’ve put together the general poker terms for you in this poker vocabulary glossary.
A
Acting: The ability of a player to hide his game or intentions.
Action player – a rather active or aggressive style of play
Add-on – An addition of chips during a tournament. The number of chips and their price are defined in advance. The add-on can only be done once and is not mandatory.
All-in or all-in – This means that you bet all your chips.
American Airlines – This is the nickname for a pair of Aces.
Ante – This is the mandatory bet that all players must place before the cards are dealt
Ax: In a hand an Ax consists of an Ace and any other card.
B
Babies: Low cards like 2, 3, 4 or 5.
Back to back: In a tournament, a player who wins twice in a row.
Bad beat : A bad beat when the hand was advantageous.
Bad run : A series of losses and bad beats
Backdoor : When a combination of cards is formed with the last two cards on the board (turn and river)
Bankroll : This refers to the capital held by the player. Good bankroll management helps to avoid too many losses.
Bet : The action of betting or the bet.
Blank : or brick. This is a card that arrives on the turn or river and does not change anything in a player’s hand.
Blinds: These are the bets that the first two players must make before the cards are dealt. The small blind for the first player and the big blind for the second player on the left.
Blocking bet : A bet that is supposed to block the opponent’s action.
Board : The common cards on the table (flop, turn and river)
Button : A worthless chip that indicates which player will be the dealer.
Broadway : All cards from 10 upwards
Broke : This term is used when a player has lost everything.
Burn : This refers to the action of discarding a card before dealing the flop, turn or river to prevent cheating.
Bubble : The first unpaid seat in a tournament.
Bullets : This is another nickname for a pair of aces.
Busto : This term means to be ruined, but it also refers to a player who is eliminated in a tournament.
Buy-in : In a tournament, the buy-in is the entry fee.
C
Calling station: This refers to a player who calls all bets.
Carnival: This term refers to a player who plays any way.
Common cards : This refers to the cards in the centre of the table that are used to create combinations
Cash game : This is a poker game in which players can enter and exit the game whenever they want as long as they are not committed to a hand. Players play their money converted into chips.
Cave : This refers to the amount of money you have to buy-in to participate in a cash game.
Check in the dark : When a player checks before the first community card is revealed
Check-raise : Checking and then raising after the opponent has bet
Chip count : The ranking of players according to the number of chips they have.
Chip dumping : An illegal transfer of chips between two players during the game
Chip leader : This refers to the leader of the tournament by chip count.
Clubs : Refers to the clubs cards.
Coin flip : This is a duel between two players who have the same chance of winning.
Collusion : This is when two or more players play as a team, this practice is obviously forbidden.
Consecutive connectors : This is two cards of the same suit that follow each other.
Continuation bet : This is when a player who is playing a continuation bet is not allowed to do so. This is when a player who raised before the flop bets when the flop is revealed.
Color : These are the four symbols in a pack of cards: Hearts, Diamonds, Spades or Clubs. Be careful not to confuse this with red or black.
Cowboys : This is a name given to a pair of kings.
D
Dead Draw: This term refers to the fact that no more cards can help win the round.
Draw: This is when the player needs one or two cards to make a combination.
Dealer: or the giver. The player or dealer who deals the cards.
Deck: The action of taking the rug from an opposing player or this refers to the pack of cards.
Diamonds : These are the diamond cards.
Donk : Derived from the word donkey, meaning a bad player
Donkament : Refers to a tournament with low level players
Double up : The action of doubling up.
Drawing dead : To draw dead. This means that no more cards can be used to make a combination.
Ducks : Name given to a pair of 2’s
E
Edge: This means to have an advantage over an opponent.
Equity: The percentage chance that the hand will win against the opponent’s hand.
Expected Value: Also known as EV. This refers to the expectation of winning.
F
Family pot: This is the pot contested between at least 3 players.
Flasher: This is when a card that is supposed to be hidden has been seen by a player on the table.
Float: This is a game strategy of paying on the flop to bluff or take the pot.
Flop: The first three cards revealed after the first round
Fold: The action of folding.
Fold equity: This refers to the expectation of folding the opposing players.
Freeroll : This is a free poker tournament where an entry fee is not required
Full-ring: This is a table with nine or ten players
G
Good run: This is a succession of wins where the winnings accumulate.
Grinder: A player who plays below his or her true skill level to amass more winnings.
H
Hand: The cards the player has in his hand. This refers to the cards the player holds.
Hand History: This is a player’s history of hands played.
Heads-up: This refers to a duel between two players at the table.
Heads-Up Display (HUD): This is the display of statistics in real time with tracking software.
High: A high card. When a player has not made a combination then his hand is evaluated with the highest card.
High roller: This is a player or tournament that plays with high stakes and large amounts.
High stakes: This is a game with high stakes.
Hole cards: This refers to the cards dealt to each player.
I
Isolate: The act of over-raising in order to be in a duel with only one other player.
K
Kicker: This refers to the card that accompanies the best card in a hand.
Kojak: This is a name given to a hand consisting of a king and a jack.
L
Ladies: The name given to a pair of queens.
LAG: A player who plays several hands at once and aggressively
Limper: This is when you pay the big blind on the first round of preflop betting
Lose or Large: This term refers to a player who plays a very wide range of hands.
M
Muck : This is a discard. This means throwing away your cards without showing them.
Multi-Table Tournament (MTT): This is a multi-table tournament.
N
No Limit: A variant of poker where there is no limit to the amount of money that can be bet.
Noob: This refers to a beginner player.
O
Odds: These are the odds.
Offsuit: These are cards that are not the same suit.
Omaha: This is a variant of poker where players hold 4 cards in their hand
Open Pair: This is a pair displayed in the player’s hand.
Orbit: This refers to a full round of betting.
Overbet: A disproportionately large bet compared to the amount of the pot. It is a bluffing and deterring technique.
P
Passive: This is one of the poker playing styles where the player hardly ever raises.
Poker face: The face of a player that is impassive.
Poker closed : This is a variant of poker where there are no community cards and the players’ cards are hidden.
Poker open : Conversely, players’ cards are displayed.
Post-flop: This is the action immediately after the first 3 community cards are revealed (flop).
Pot: The chips involved in an ongoing hand.
Pre-Flop: This is the action before the first 3 community cards are dealt.
Premium: This refers to the best starting hands.
Prizepool: The total prize pool in a tournament
Probe bet: This is a bet that will be used to position yourself in the game and measure the strengths of your opponents.
Q
Quads: Also known as four of a kind. This refers to four identical cards.
R
Rag: A bad card, usually low.
Railbird: A spectator in a live tournament.
Rake: This is a share of the pot taken by the organizer, casino or online poker room to cover expenses
Range: This is all the possible hands a player can hold.
Read: This is when a sign or play pattern reveals something about an opposing player’s game.
Rebuy or recaver: This is the act of buying back chips when you lose your stack.
Re-raise: This is the action of re-raising.
Rigged: This means rigged.
Ring game: This is a name given to cash game play
Risk/reward: This is the evaluation of the risk/reward ratio.
River: This is the fifth and final community card revealed.
Return on Investment (ROI): This is the percentage rate of return between the money invested and the money won. It is calculated as follows: ((return – capital invested) / capital invested) x 100.
Runner-runner: This term refers to making a combination with the last two cards, the turn and the river.
Runner-up: This is the second place finish in a tournament
Rush: This refers to a lucky streak over several hands or over a period of time.
S
Satellite: A tournament that qualifies you for a larger tournament.
Small Blind : This is the mandatory bet of half a unit before the first round begins. This is the mandatory bet of half a unit before the first round begins.
Set : This is a three-way tie.
Set up: This is a three of a kind showdown against a higher three of a kind.
Shark: A very good player. A very good player, often dangerous.
Short stack: This term is used to describe a player who is close to being eliminated in a tournament.
Shove : The act of going all-in.
Showdown: This is when the last players show up. This is when the last players reveal their cards at the end of a game to see what suits each player has and therefore who wins.
Shuffle: This is the action of shuffling the cards at the beginning of a game.
Side pot: The side pot. This is the pot formed when a player is all-in and the other players want to continue betting. The player who is all-in remains in the game but will not be able to access this side pot.
Sit out: This is the action of leaving the table.
Slow play: This is a strategy of checking or calling while holding a good hand.
Small ball: This is a strategy of making only small bets.
Sit and go: This is a traditional phrase used to mark the start of the tournament.
Spades: This term refers to spades
Spot: This refers to a situation in poker
Squeeze: This is a preflop raise where one player has already raised and another has called.
Stack: The stack or chips of the players
Steam: Actions taken by a player under the influence of emotion.
Swings: This is the profit and loss curve of an online poker player.
T
Tableau: This term refers to the players’ 5 face-up cards as well as the community cards. First 3 cards are revealed (flop), then the fourth (turn) and finally the last (river).
Tight: This is a style of play in which the player has to play the hand. This refers to a style of play where the player only plays good hands.
Top pair: This is the combination of a pair with the highest card on the flop.
Trash talk: Aggressive or mocking talk during a game between players in order to destabilize opponents
Turn: The fourth card on the board.
U
Under The Gun – This refers to the position of the player who bets first just after the blinds.
V
Value bet: This is the bet that will be used to make the hand profitable either immediately or in the long term.
Voluntary Put $ in the Pot: This is an indicator of how involved a player is in a hand.
